Kindergarten Math Assignment
Overview
Kindergarten students write equations and number bonds to represent two addition and subtraction problems. This assignment is strong because it builds students’ conceptual understanding of addition and subtraction and how both operations can be represented in multiple ways.
Why is this assignment strongly aligned?
Focus
This assignment is well-aligned with K.OA.A.1, which requires students to represent addition and subtraction in a variety of ways, including symbolic representations such as expressions and equations. In this assignment, students have to represent one addition and one subtraction problem symbolically in two ways: equations and number bonds. The numbers used in both problems (5+3=8 and 8-3=5) are appropriate, because kindergarten standards require students to add and subtract within 10. The methods for adding (counting all) and subtracting (taking away) are also appropriate for kindergarten; more complex methods, such as finding an unknown addend, are more appropriate for first grade.
Rigor
This assignment builds students’ conceptual understanding of addition and subtraction, the aspect of rigor outlined in K.OA.A.1. Kindergarten students begin learning what addition and subtraction represent by acting them out in concrete ways, such as using fingers or other objects to add and subtract, and they also learn that addition and subtraction can be represented symbolically using mathematical language such as equations. Number bonds are another symbolic representation that help students grasp the concepts of addition and subtraction by visualizing the relationship of parts to a whole.
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From EngageNY.org of the New York State Education Department. Kindergarten Mathematics Module 4, Topic H, Lesson 37: Add or subtract 0 to get the same number and relate to word problems wherein the same quantity that joins a set, separates. Internet. Available from https://www.engageny.org/resource/kindergarten-mathematics-module-4-topic-h-lesson-37, and derived from Eureka Math as licensed by Great Minds; accessed June 21, 2018.