Goals/Objectives:

Mathematical Ideas:

In this activity, I want students to begin their exploration of real-world word problems
involving joining with the result unknown. Additionally, the construction of the tasks puts a
large emphasis on students clearly explaining their strategies and their thinking. The
problem allows for a variety of strategies, allowing students various points of entry for
exploring this topic.

Math Practices:

● Attend to precision → Students in my class are working on communicating their

strategies and mathematical ideas to other students. In this activity, they will have to
show their work, share with a partner, and share with the group.
● Use appropriate tools strategically → As a class, we have not really talked about
choosing tools. We have used counters for very specific and structured activities, and
the workbook often encourages drawing pictures, but again, within very strict and
structured confines. In this activity, students will have to choose the tools they think
will most help them as well as understand the use of tools that other students have
chosen.

PA Core Standards:

● CC.2.1.K.A.2 Apply one-to-one-correspondence to count the number of objects

● CC.2.2.K.A.1 Extend the concepts of putting together and taking apart to add and
subtract within 10

The Task:

Addison had 3 pieces of candy left over from Halloween. Her mother gives her 6 more
pieces of candy. How much candy does Addison have now? Show how you found your
answer.

Unpacking the Mathematics:

The mathematics implicated in this problem have not been covered in my kindergarten
class yet. The main mathematical idea in this problem is addition. While we are scheduled
to start discussing addition soon, our focus thus far has mostly been on comparing numbers
using various strategies. We have had some discussion around decomposing five and ten,
but it has never been labeled as addition or demonstrated in a word-problem.

To solve this problem, the most basic strategies they could use are Early Counting
Strategies, in which they directly model all parts of the problem and then count by ones to
find their answer (OGAP). To successfully use this strategy, students would need to be what
Van de Walle calls Counters and Producers, able to count a group of objects, label it, and
remember which counters they have counted (Van de Walle, 146). This would mean they
need to understand cardinality, or the concept that “the last count word state in a count
indicates the amount of the set” (Van de Walle, 146). I am also expecting some students to
use Counting Strategies, employing count lists or their fingers to count on from one number
to the other (OGAP). This would require similar knowledge, but would be at the Counter
From Any Number stage, meaning they could start counting from any number in the count
list, not just 1 (Van de Walle, 146).

The two largest difficulties I expect to come up are error in calculation and using incorrect
operation (OGAP). Students will need to be careful in tracking their work, whichever way
they do it, and I expect students to have some difficulties in doing this accurately.
Conceptually, I expect there to be some misconceptions about the operation to perform
with this word problem. Given that the problem is a join problem with result-unknown, this
is the easiest type of word problem to interpret as it most closely aligns with the problems
students experience in their lives (Chapin & Johnson, 57). However, it is still possible that
they will incorrectly apply another operation such as subtracting 3 from 6 or comparing 3
and 6. To solve this problem, they must first be able to accurately interpret it.

Anticipating Student Strategies:

Student Strategy Representation

Direct modeling (either counters or

drawing)

Direct modeling on a tens frame

or
Counting all

Counting from first - using fingers

Counting from first - using number line

Counting from larger - using fingers

Counting from larger - using number line

Materials and Preparation:

● Pencils and paper

● Counters

Classroom arrangement and management issues:

● I will have my group on the carpet.

● Materials will be on the carpet next to me, accessible to the students but out of their
way. They will use them as needed, so I will not be handing them out.
● Tool use
○ I will establish the need to use the tools for math only.
○ If students do not use the tools appropriately, I will give one warning and
then they will lose the option of using the tool.
 ● Isabella refusing to work with a partner
○ Preview with her earlier → I will be pulling a small math group and want you
to be a part of it! We will be using partners, so I wanted to check with you about
who you want to work with. Do you want to work with Sean or Addison?

Before: (10 minutes)

Norm Setting:

● Individual Work: When I tell you to work individually, you should be focused on your
own work and not talking to your friends.
● Partner Work: When I tell you to work with a partner, you should explain your answer
and your thinking to your partner and ask questions to understand their thinking.
○ Model with a student by showing a dot card with 3 dots. I ask the student
how many dots there are and then ask them to explain how they saw that.
Then I explain to the group my partner’s strategy.
● Tool Use: There are many different tools on the table, you are welcome to use whatever
will help you solve the problem. These are tools for math learning. If you are playing
with them or not using them appropriately, you will not be able to use them anymore.
● I am going to read the problem to you, you can ask me to repeat it as many times as
you need. This task might seem tricky, but you are not being tested on getting the
correct answer. Try your best and if you get stuck, I can help!

Launch:

● What is this problem talking about?

● Can someone explain the problem in their own words?
● What are we trying to find?
● What tools could we use to solve this?
○ Drawing, fingers, numbers lines, tallies, counters

During:

Part 1: Individual Work (5 minutes)

● Students will work individually using any tools they want

● I will help maintain expectations: how to use the tools, working by yourself
● I will be looking/listening for explanations of their work
● I will track on post-its on a clipboard what tools students are using and how they are
solving the problem
 ● Prompting questions:
○ Can you explain what you did here?
○ What tool could you use to help you solve the problem?
○ What can you use to show the candy?
○ How much candy did she have at the beginning?
● Challenges/extensions:
○ Can you find another way to show your answer (or specific pointing towards
a strategy - i.e. can you show your thinking on paper/with counters?)
○ If Sophia has 11 pieces of candy, who has more candy? Show how you know.
○ Can you make up your own word problem with the same answer?

Part 2: Partner Work (5 minutes)

● Students are paired with pre-assigned partners

○ Bennett and Madeline
○ Owen and Sean
○ Isabella and Addison
○ Subs: Lucas/Samantha (high), Harper/Brian (mid), Sophia/Devon (low)
● Students should share with their partners and be able to explain their partners
strategy
● I will be listening for questions that clarify their partners thinking
● I will be looking for students using the tools to communicate their idea
● Prompting questions:
○ Have you shown your partner your strategy?
○ Can you explain to me how your partner got the answer?
○ Did you get the same or different answer?
○ Did you use the same strategy or a different strategy?

After: (10 minutes)

● Norm Setting
○ Respectful Listening: As we talk about our solutions, we are trying to figure out
the correct answer as a group. We will listen to each person explain their
strategy and think about how they solved this problem. Sometimes people
might share an answer that is different than yours. Do you think it would feel
good if someone shares and you say ‘you’re wrong, that’s not the answer’? What
could be a nicer way to say that you did not get the same answer?
○ Correctness: If you are presenting your strategy and you decide to change your
answer because of something we talk about as a group, that is ok! When we
 change our answers because we learn something new, that is called revising
your thinking!
● We will go around and have each person share their strategy. Students will be
watching the student presenting, and I will prompt understanding and reflection on
other’s strategies by asking questions like:
○ Can someone explain what [student] did to find the answer?
○ Does anyone have any questions about [student’s] strategy?
○ [Student 1] and [student 2] have different answers. What did they do
differently?
● I will push their conceptual thinking by asking:
○ Why did you decide to use this tool?
● I will highlight the important mathematical ideas by labeling the students work as
joining two groups. This will also allow me to create connections between students’
strategies by labeling both as joining.
● I will be listening/looking for:
○ Clear explanations of answers.
○ Addition strategies: direct modeling, counting on from first, counting on from
larger, place value
○ Use of tools: fingers, pictures, counters, number lines (right now this just
meets writing out the number list in order and then circling/indicating the
relevant numbers), tens frames
● I will ask them to reflect on their partner work by asking:
○ Did sharing with a partner make you revise your thinking?
○ Did you learn a new strategy from your partner or from someone else in the
group?

Formative Assessment:

● I will assess during the individual work, providing scaffolding as needed.

● I will collect/take pictures of each student’s work and track misconceptions as well
as their place on the OGAP Addition framework.

Accommodations:

● I will prompt students by giving these challenges/extensions:

○ Can you find another way to show your answer (or specific pointing towards
a strategy - i.e. can you show your thinking on paper/with counters?)
○ If Sophia has 11 pieces of candy, who has more candy? Show how you know.
○ Can you make up your own word problem with the same answer?
● Scaffolding
○ I will check in with Isabella and Owen first because I expect them to need the
most scaffolding to get started. I will then move to Sean and Madeline, who
might have some misconceptions early on and need a little guidance.
○ I will prompt the students to break down the problem, suggesting certain
tools if necessary.