K-2 Math Work Stations Week 3 “Number Concepts”

What are Number Concept stations? Stations that develop a child’s number sense. “Number sense essentially refers to a student's “fluidity and flexibility with numbers” (Gersten & Chard, 2001). If a student has a sense of what numbers actually mean then they are able to understand the relationships between numbers, their representations, and how they can use the numbers in the real world. In Kindergarten think of your Counting and Cardinality (CC) math standards. In 1st and 2nd grade think of your Numbers Base Ten (NBT) math standards.

Number Concept Materials Dot cards Counters Unifix cubes Numeral cubes Dot cubes (cubes with a different colored dot on each side) Cards/ spinners that say more, less, same Calculators Math mats Dominoes Playing cards Numeral cards Ten grid 5 frames 10 frames 100s board Coins Coin stamps Bookmaking supplies (paper, markers, stapler, etc.)

Examples of Number Concept Stations Counting games (Hi-Ho Cherry O, Chutes and Ladders, etc.) Counting and comparing with dominoes “Five Frame Fun” Memory and Go Fish matching games Comparing games with a variety of cards “Grab and Graph” Creating and completing surveys Reading and writing counting books Creating big books and class books about a concept “Odd and Even” “How many to 20?” Task cards Writing numbers Estimation station Counting money pgs. 74-85

Connections to Problem Solving Not the solving of traditional word problems Think…investigations of numbers completed with your class in a whole group and then moved to work stations Examples: Guess my number Student 1 attaches a number on a visor with a clothespin and student 2 wears it. Student 2 tries to guess the number by asking student 1 questions. Write a question Have a number written in the middle of chart paper. Students would determine what the question could be if the answer is “3.” Critical thinking questions There are twice as many birds as rabbits in the garden. How many of each might there be?

Other Information… You’ll receive a list of trade books that are great for including in math stations to reinforce number concepts. According to Diller the best way to differentiate number concepts is to change the range of numbers. Example: Within the same station tub the red dot bag may have numbers 1-3, the green dot bag have numbers 1-5, and the blue dot bag have numbers 1-10 for the task. Novelty keeps student interest alive…put a game away for awhile and then reintroduce it later in the year.