Winter Math and Measuring!
13 January 2012
I thought that today I would share what we did in Math this week. Our measurement unit has always been one that I haven't really enjoyed. And of course when the teacher isn't enjoying herself, the students are not either! So I decided to spruce things up a bit and write my own measuring unit and I was SOOO much more enthusiastic teaching it this week and I think my students had fun, too! PLUS, we covered one of our Common Core Math Standards and this is important, too!
So here are some pictures of what we did.... actually, let me first share how I organize my math centers. It's not rocket science, but it has taken me YEARS to find something that worked for me and made sense to my students. I was lucky enough to rescue a movable cart from an untimely death a few years ago and it has become my faithful friend! :) I am sure that if you are a teacher, you recognize the plastic boxes from Really Good Stuff. I attached green, blue, red, and yellow colored sticky dots onto each box in different orders and numbered them 1, 2, 3, 4. The children are divided into 4 math groups and their groups are labeled by color i.e. I have a red math group, a blue math group, a yellow math group, and a green math group. The children work in ONE color math group a day. (On the fifth day, we do large group math activities.) Here are some pictures of my boxes. The numbers denote DAYS. So on Day 1, I put the Box with the number 1 on it on the Red group's table, the box with the Number 1 on it on the Yellow group's table, the box with the number one on it on the Green group's table, and the box with the number one on the Blue group's table. Then on Day 2, each group gets the box with the number 2 on it and so on until day 4. Each box has a different center in it so that by Day 4 each group has done all 4 centers. When the children have finished their "have to" center, they may go to a choice math center until math time is over. Make sense????
Now on to the fun stuff.... !
I will start with the favorite center - the volume center! Why was it the favorite? Why the children could pour water into containers and make a mess and their teacher was okay with it! :)
One child was the "pourer" and one child was the "counter and recorder". They used a 1 cup measuring instrument as their measuring tool. Were their measurements accurate? Not really - especially when one group told me that there were 47 cups of water in the 2 quart pitcher! BUT they did get the general idea of how to measure volume and that is all we do in kindergarten - introduce ourselves to new concepts!
Another fun center was measuring weight. The children used a balance scale to compare weight to an apple. They walked around the classroom looking for items that were heavier, lighter, and equal to the weight of an apple. They found out that finding something that was equal to the weight of an apple was hard! They recorded their findings on a recording sheet.
To measure length, they used Unifix cubes to measure Winter pictures and then recorded and graphed their findings on a recording sheet.
They also used Unifix cubes to measure and cut yarn different lengths and then tape onto their recording sheet.
Next week, they will use Unifix cubes to measure area and play a size game with Unifix cube towers in 2 of their math centers.
If you are a teacher and would be interested in this unit, it is posted in my TPT store. Just click the picture and it will take you there!
Until next time!