Developing Number Sense in Your Kindergarten Classroom
Developing our young learners' Number Sense is critical. Did you know that a student's early mathematical skills has been found to be one of the best indicators of future success in school and predictor of high school graduation!? So, yes, building our students' Number Sense is THAT important!
There are so many ways that you can help your students build Number Sense:
- Weave math into your day
- Help students to develop skills in subitizing (the ability to instantly recognize small quantities)
- Use manipulatives, such as the Rekenrek and 5-Frame
- Encourage students to talk about math through Number Talks and just plain 'ole conversations about numbers and patterns and shapes
- Encourage parents to do these things at home, too
For this post, let's focus on the third item: Use Manipulatives
"Rekenrek" -- wreck and what??
It was right about this time exactly one year ago that I was first introduced to the Rekenrek (or Math Rack, as it is also called). Working with PreK and K was new to me, so there was much I needed to learn. I sat listening to an entire conversation having no idea what the people (who clearly knew exactly what they were talking about) were saying. They were discussing how powerful the Rekenrek was for early numeracy skills and building number sense -- I had never heard this word "Rekenrek" before and couldn't wrap my head around the conversation. I had to Google the word, see an image, and read about activities you can do with the Rekenrek before I fully understood. In the year that has passed, I have learned a lot about the power of the Rekenrek. This simple little bead and wire tool does an amazing job of helping students to build skills in subitizing, mathematical language, reasoning, and Number Sense.
*The image below is an electronic version of a Rekenrek that you may want to use in your classroom – although using the real thing offers students the concrete experience they may need to build a deep understanding.
Meet the Rekenrek: Begin by asking children what they NOTICE about the rekenrek. Then introduce the ‘start position’(all beads over to the far right -- just remember "white on right" -- If you are demonstrating from behind the Rekenrek, remember the white beads are on the right when viewed by the audience, not from the teacher perspective). Have students practice sliding beads in groups rather than one by one “Put your beads in start position. Now, without touching the beads, count the first three beads in your mind. On the count of three, slide all three beads at once across the string. One… two…three!” Repeat with other numbers.
Quick Images: Push some beads across and display them briefly before covering them. Ask, “How many beads did you see? How do you know?”
The Rekenrek instructional ideas above come from K-5 Math Teaching Resources.
 |
| https://www.mathlearningcenter.org/web-apps/number-rack/
* TIP: You may be able to use some ideas from the other grade level pages with some simple modifications. Check 'em out!
|
