Kindergarten Subtraction Stories Students in Mrs. Kilburn’s Kindergarten class worked together to write subtraction story problems using drawings and equations. From tanks that captured hearts to ladybugs flying away to monkeys jumping on a bed, everyone really had a chance to express their creativity! This was a great opportunity for students to practice working in pairs, compromise with each other, listen to the reasoning of others, reason quantitatively and model with mathematics - all parts of the Common Core Math Practice Standards and the foundations for becoming mathematicians!
These students used a 5-group drawing to express the number 7. 5-group drawings help students understand and make use the of the structure of numbers.
Students modeled their stories with equations. They have previously been learning to model stories with number bonds. This activity built upon that part-whole thinking.
Everyone did a great job sharing their stories with their classmates who were all great listeners. When students practice modeling a story with pictures and numbers they are beginning to reason abstractly and bring numbers to life. Before drawing their own stories, students used objects to model subtraction stories. This lesson built upon that concrete understanding and showed students how to model stories with a pictorial representation and an equation. Equations and numbers are abstract models that children need to learn to connect to visuals in their minds. Activities like this do exactly that!
Students were encouraged to use simple shapes to represent their ideas and were taught to show subtraction by crossing out rather than erasing.
Using personal white boards is very exciting for Kindergartners! Here are some great tips for helping your Kindergartner continue this learning at home.
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