evidence of student learning in educ 364: kindergarten...
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Evidence of Student Learning in EDUC 364: Kindergarten Labs
Overview of the Assignment
The “Kindergarten Lab X Reflection and Lab (X+1) Plan” is a running assignment in EDUC 364
connected to the students’ kindergarten teaching experiences at Longfellow Elementary School. Over the
course of the fall term, pairs of Augustana students worked closely with triads of Longfellow
kindergarteners. There were a total of 7 teaching encounters during the term.
For each teaching encounter, students were required to reflect on what occurred during the previous
encounter, assess the kindergarteners’ numerical knowledge based on the previous encounter, and use
their reflections and assessments in planning their next lesson with the children. For the first teaching
encounter, Augustana students were required to view a video of their instructor (me) administering a
numeracy assessment to the children in their teaching group (I administered and videotaped these
assessments in early August, prior to the Augie school year). Thus, even for the first teaching experience,
the EDUC 364 students had some basis for assessing the children’s knowledge.
An MS Word form, complete with writing prompts, is available to students on Moodle. Students were
required to use this form for each of their 7 “Reflections/Plans” during the term. The students typed their
responses to the writing prompts, and then emailed their reflection/plans to the instructor for feedback
(and grading) prior to the kindergarten teaching experience.
As noted on the on the introductory page for EDUC 364 in the e-portfolio, I believe that this sequence of
assignments provides the most compelling evidence that worthwhile learning is happening in this course.
This document provides evidence supporting this claim. The table of contents below indicates what is
included in this document and how the contents are indicative of student learning.
Page 2: The description of this assignment provided to students in the course syllabus.
Pages 3-4: The “Lab X Reflection and Lab (X+1) Plan” form. This lets readers know the questions
that EDUC 364 students are responding to.
Pages 5-7: The scoring rubric used to assess each submission of the “reflection/lab” assignment. This
rubric was made available to students at the beginning of the term.
Pages 8-32: The work of “Cathy and Chris” (pseudonyms) over the course of the term. The first two
pages show “Cathy and Chris’s” first reflection/lab, followed by their grade and my
comments. This is followed by their 2nd
reflection/lab, then my comments; their 3rd
reflection/lab, etc. “Cathy and Chris’s” work represents the “lower end” of the
reflection/lab assignments produced in EDUC 364. Note, however, that while “Cathy and
Chris’s” earlier assignments received low scores, their work showed clear improvement
over the course of the term.
Pages 33-65: The work of “Betty and Ben” (pseudonyms), presented in the same format as “Cathy and
Chris.” “Betty and Ben’s” work is closer to average relative to the rest of the class. As
above, however, note that “Betty and Ben” took critical comments from their instructor
seriously after early submissions, and their work improved during the term.
Pages 66-97: The work of “Alex and Andy.” Their work is on the “high end” relative to the class.
“Alex and Andy” produced high quality work throughout the term.
2 Kindergarten Reflection/Lab Assignment Description; Drawn from pages 7-8 of the EDUC 364 Syllabus
Kindergarten Number Sense Labs (26%). Over the course of the term, pairs of Augustana students
you will work closely with groups of 3 kindergarten students, assessing the kindergarteners’ numerical
ideas and providing learning experiences appropriate for your kindergarteners’ numerical development.
You will work with your kindergarteners on seven different occasions, providing you several
opportunities to work through the teaching cycle of assessing knowledge, using assessment to inform
instructional planning, engaging in instruction, and reflecting on instruction. Since your work with these
kindergarteners will be somewhat extended (7 sessions over 9 weeks), you should also be in a position to
document how the children progressed over time.
You will be provided with a flowchart (handed out in class and available on Moodle) highlighting some
of the competencies to look for with kindergarten students and suggesting learning activities which are
appropriate for a given child at a given state of numerical development. This flowchart should serve to
frame your work with your students, but you are also strongly encouraged to use your own ideas
regarding how to most effectively reach your students. Are they physically active? Do they have
particular interests that you’ve picked up on? You will know things about your kindergarteners that can’t
be anticipated by a generic flowchart. You should incorporate your knowledge about your students in
crafting learning experiences which will be well suited to them.
The documentation you will submit for ED364 relating to your work with your kindergarteners should
meet the following specifications:
August 26 [3%]: “Counting Assessment and Lab 1 Plan”: The counting skills of 2 of the 3
kindergarteners in your group were assessed earlier in August using Kathy Richardson’s
“Counting Objects” assessment.1 On Friday, August 28, one member of your “Augie pair” will
administer the Richardson Counting Objects Assessment to the 3rd
kindergartener, while the other
partner will engage the two children who have already been assessed with an appropriate activity.
Both partners should participate in the planning for all of the children, however. You and your
partner should view the video of the assessment sessions for the 2 who have already been assessed
(the videos are on Moodle), and use the Richardson recording form to assess the children’s
counting. Then, plan at least 2 activities you can do with these children on Friday, August 28,
which will help advance their numerical knowledge. (Given that children of this age have trouble
focusing on anything for too long, it is important that you have more than one activity ready to go
in case the child loses interest in an activity). A template for the lesson plan will be provided.
Both the lesson plan and the completed Richardson assessment form should be submitted on
August 26.
Aug. 31 [3%], Sept. 9 [3%], Sept. 14 [3%], Sept. 21 [3%], Sept. 28 [3%], and Oct. 5 [3%]: “Lab
X Reflection and Lab (X + 1) Plan”: The assignments due on these dates all follow the same
format. First, you must reflect on the kindergarten teaching experience which you just completed.
A form with guiding questions will be provided to help focus your reflection. Second, a lesson
plan for the next kindergarten teaching session is due. Again, a template for this plan will be
provided.
1 Richardson, K. (2002). Assessing math concepts: Counting objects. Bellingham, WA: Mathematical Perspectives.
3 Lab X Reflection and Lab (X+1) Plan Form
Your Names Here
Your Kindergarteners’ Names Here
Today’s Date Here
Lab __ Reflection and Lab __ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners2.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
2 If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
4 Lab X Reflection and Lab (X+1) Plan Form
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities3 for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed:
Brief Description of the Activity:
Activity 2
Materials Needed:
Brief Description of the Activity:
Activity 3 (optional)
Materials Needed:
Brief Description of the Activity:
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
3 Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
5 Kindergarten Labs Scoring Rubric
“Lab X Reflection and Lab (X+1) Plan” Scoring Rubric
Name:
Seven separate “Lab X Reflection and Lab (X+1) Plan” assignments will be collected during term. Each
assignment includes 3 components (a reflection on the previous encounter, planned activity 1, and
planned activity 2), and each assignment will be scored out of 3 possible points. Scores will be awarded
according to the following criteria:
Lab X Reflection (1 point)
1 = Reflection on recent encounter with the kindergarteners is thoughtful. A clear summary
of the encounter is provided. Based on the encounter, a reasonable assessment of the children’s
current skill set is provided, and evidence is used to support the assessment. If
appropriate, further anecdotal observations about the children are provided (such as the
children’s interests, apparent learning style, etc.) which might contribute to the success of future
lessons. [Note: if you are unable to make such anecdotal observations (because the children are
shy or unresponsive; the children are “all business” and show little sign of a preferred interactive
approach, etc.), note this as well.]
0.75 = Three of the four bold, italicized components listed above are adequately completed.
0.5 = Two of the four bold, italicized components listed above are adequately completed.
0.25 = One of the four bold, italicized components listed above is adequately completed.
0 = None of the bold, italicized components listed above is adequately completed.
Activity 1
1 = A clear description of the learning activity to be executed during the next lab session is
provided (clear enough so that another adult, such as a substitute teacher, would be able
to execute the plan based on your description). The activity is developmentally
appropriate for the children (that is, it utilizes the children’s existing knowledge while pushing
the children toward deeper understanding of number). A clear statement about the
connection between this activity and the reflection is provided.
0.75 = Three of the four bold, italicized components listed above are adequately completed.
0.5 = Two of the four bold, italicized components listed above are adequately completed.
0.25 = One of the four bold, italicized components listed above is adequately completed.
0 = None of the bold, italicized components listed above is adequately completed.
Activity 2
1 = A clear description of the learning activity to be executed during the next lab session is
provided (clear enough so that another adult, such as a substitute teacher, would be able
6 Kindergarten Labs Scoring Rubric
to execute the plan based on your description). The activity is developmentally
appropriate for the children (that is, it utilizes the children’s existing knowledge while pushing
the children toward deeper understanding of number). A clear statement about the
connection between this activity and the reflection is provided.
0.75 = Three of the four bold, italicized components listed above are adequately completed.
0.5 = Two of the four bold, italicized components listed above are adequately completed.
0.25 = One of the four bold, italicized components listed above is adequately completed.
0 = None of the bold, italicized components listed above is adequately completed.
The record of your scores for each assignment is shown on the next page:
7 Kindergarten Labs Scoring Rubric
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Counting
Assessment
and Lab 1
Plan
8/26
Lab 1
Reflection
and Lab 2
Plan
8/31
Lab 2
Reflection
and Lab 3
Plan
9/9
Lab 3
Reflection
and Lab 4
Plan
9/14
Lab 4
Reflection
and Lab 5
Plan
9/21
Lab 5
Reflection
and Lab 6
Plan
9/28
Lab 6
Reflection
and Lab 7
Plan
10/5
8 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan
Cathy and Chris
Student A, Student B, Student C [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
August 26, 2009
Lab0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners.
We first watched the videos for Student A and Student B in which they were being assessed. Both
of the kindergarteners displayed similar traits when it came to counting the chips. For the first task
of the assessment both students were able to successfully count the chips up to twelve and both
were able to easily make a separate pile of nine from the twelve chips. In the third task, both
Student B and Student A recounted each time a chip was either added or taken way. Finally For
the “pretend” question both students had difficulty answering the questions once the numbers got
larger. We noticed that Student B was much more talkative then Student A, but both
kindergarteners seemed to be comfortable talking with a new person.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
Based on the assessment, Student A seems to generally understand the ideas of keeping track, one-
to-one and cardinality up to 12. When resented with thirty-two chips she was unsuccessful, so
based on this we could assume that she is beginning to grasp these concepts though she is not able
to fully understand them yet. Student A does have familiarity counting in order, but she has not
grasped the sequencing concept fully. For example in task three she has to recount the chips each
time in order to correctly be able to tell how many chips there are. For these reasons we can say
that Student A has be introduced to the main concepts regarding number sense, but she still needs
to practice more so that the concepts can become stronger.
Like Student A, Student B displays similar traits of number sense. He was able to count
successfully up to twelve and has grasped the basic ideas of cardinality. Also, Student B needed
to recount all of the chips each time one was added or taken away in task three. He was able to
answer most of the questions correctly, but did have one wrong. This may have due to the fact that
he was not paying attention to what he was doing and not the fact that he has problems counting in
sequence. However Aston did struggle, like Student A, in the “pretend” part of the assessment.
Aston was able to correctly answer a few questions, but he seemed to guess on a couple and was
not able to answer some. For these reasons, we can say that Student B, like Student A, has been
introduced to the main concepts dealing with number sense, but the stills needs more practice and
instruction.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
Both of the children seemed to be comfortable talking to new people. Although we did notice that
Student B was more interested in stacking up the chips. We could incorporate his playfulness in to
the activities. For example we could use building blocks to get him to keep focused and interested
in the activities.
9 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1-- Ah Chute
Materials Needed: Two-colored chips, game board, spinner.
Brief Description of the Activity: The students will take turns spinning to see how many chips they can
place in the chutes. Also, the students will decide on who goes first after each spin. The student who has
the most chips of their color at the top of the chutes is the winner.
Activity 2
Materials Needed: Multi-connecting blocks.
Brief Description of the Activity: The students will have to make a figure matching one that has been
presented to them using the multi-connecting blocks. The idea is to allow the students to become familiar
with patterns. For this activity the students can come up with their own designs and the others copy,
taking turns showing off their designs. The students will have to count up the blocks and eventually form
and recognize some patterns that aide them in knowing how many blocks are in the figure with out
recounting each time the figure is rearranged.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
We noticed that both Student A and Student B did not move the chips when counting them. This is
one basic skill that we wanted to introduce to the students. Ah Chute forces the students to move the
specific number of ships into their color circle, but also in to the chutes themselves. This will allow the
students to keep track of the chips and also reinforces the ideas on cardinality. This also introduces the
idea of part to whole and allows the students to become familiar with the anchor number five.
The second activity will help the students understand that they can form certain patterns to help
them know how many objects there is in a pattern without having to recount each time one is removed,
added, or the pattern is simply rearranged so that it looks different. We came up with this idea based on
Student B’s interest in stacking up the chips and enjoying playing with them. We also picked this activity
because it allows the students to strengthen their number sense in terms of recognizing patterns and part-
part-whole relationships of a certain number.
10 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Counting Assessment
and Lab 1 Plan
8/26 1 0.75 0.75 2.5 You clearly described what you saw in the video of Student B and
Student A, and did a nice job of laying out your assessment of their
knowledge. You also adequately described the two learning activities
you plan for them, and made a convincing case for how these activities
might “push the children toward deeper understanding” of number (e.g.,
“Ah Chute” should help them build the skill of moving objects in order to
count them and begin to get them thinking about “5 families”; the pattern
game will begin to get the children to move beyond simple counting and
toward instantaneous recognition of number). I did sense a bit of a
“missing link” between your learning activities and your
assessment/reflection however. You established in the reflection section
that both Student B and Student A are strong at counting up to 12 objects.
Your activities, at least the way you described them, don’t seem to push
them toward comfort in counting larger groups of numbers, however. Ah
Chute is essentially about counting up to five objects at a time, and I
doubt that you’d be presenting the children number patterns with
quantities greater than 12 (as even adults are unlikely to be able to
recognize a quantity that large). Ah Chute could certainly be modified a
bit by asking students to count out, say, all 25 circles once the chutes are
filled, in which case this “missing link” would have been covered…you
made no mention of this approach, however.
11 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan
Cathy and Chris
Student A, Student B, Student C [pseudonyms for kindergarteners]
August 31, 2009
Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners4.
In our last encounter with the kindergarteners, we were personally introduced to them. This
was the first time that we met the students at Longfellow. Cathy took one of our students to assess
her for her number sense skills. While this transpired, Cathy and the student were in the cafeteria
during the 20 minute lesson. Meanwhile Chris and the other two students, Student A and Student
B played the number sense game learned in class, “Ah Chute”, which helped the students in their
counting, as well as allowing them to practice moving objects as they counted them. While they
thoroughly enjoyed the game, the two students each one a game, so we moved onto our second
activity. Although we were out of time, we managed to make one or two more shapes before we
had to leave.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
The students’ number sense seems to have risen slightly since the assessment video that we
saw at the beginning of the school year. The students are able to now count to 1 through 5 without
any difficulty. This was experienced while we playing the Ah Chute game with the students.
However this is in comparison with the video of the students’ assessment that we saw. While
although the students were not incapable of counting to 5 easy, the students seem to have an easier
time while they were playing the game then in the video. This could be because they were in a
more comfortable setting, or because they were playing a game that they could understand and get
involved in. Regardless, there seemed to be a slight progression in the students’ number sense,
even if this was only in terms of confidence in counting.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
Based on playing the Ah Chute game, it can easily be determined that the students enjoy
the competitive and lighter-mood of playing a math game. While although it may seem like a
rather obvious observation (students like games) the level of involvement and excitement the
students displayed while they played the game was a surprise. They did also respond (mildly) well
to the competitive edge of the game, as if they each competed to be a better counter than the other.
This can be something that we can include in a lesson if it is not detrimental to it. As of now, it
seems like it can go either way. Another element of the students that was noticed as we progressed
through the lesson was the “antsy-ness” of the students while we played the game. At some future
meeting with the Longfellow students, we will have to incorporate a large amount of movement
into the math lesson in order to fully utilize the energy and focus of the students.
4 If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
12 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities5 for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed: Multi-connecting blocks
Brief Description of the Activity: This will be a continuation of the activity started in lesson 1. Since we
did not fully engage in this activity, I feel that a second time is necessary in order for us to determine if
the activity is useful or not. This will help them again to call on their number sense to determine that
despite different shapes, the number of blocks stay the same. Although, for this round of problems, it is
necessary for us to use larger numbers, because 5 and 7 was not challenging when we attempted this
activity the first time.
Activity 2
Materials Needed: Index Cards (made up as matching cards)
Brief Description of the Activity: This game will be similar to any other sort of memory-matching games.
A card with a written number and another card with that many dots on it are scattered across a surface.
The students will lift up two cards at a time, matching the number of dots with the written number. This
will help to develop the students’ cardinality of numbers, as well as test their overall memory skills. The
fact that it is a game will also keep the students thoroughly involved.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
These activities build off what we found out in the reflection section because one-half is a straight-
forward continuation of the subject; where as the second-half of the lesson is pushing the students to a
deeper understanding of numbers. By making the students see, and recognize, both forms of the numbers,
we are attempting to craft the number sense of cardinality as early as possible.
The main way that we are drawing on the children’s interest is to incorporate a mathematical
game. The aforementioned math game will help the students to stay interested in the lesson while at the
same time challenging them to think in new ways about numbers. This element as well as taking
advantage of the competitive nature of the students will help this lesson to be successful, and will make
the students much more willingly involved than other possible lessons dealing with number sense.
5 Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
13 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 1 Reflection and
Lab 2 Plan
8/31 0.67 1 1 2.67 You provide a helpful reflection on your last encounter with Student B
and Student A, and you make a good case for how your chosen activities
for Lab 2 build off your reflections/informal assessments of Student B
and Student A. There is no mention of the new child in your group,
Student C, however. Did you look at Student C’s assessment data? How
will you know if your learning activities are appropriate for her? [Note:
I chose to give you the unusual score of “2.67” since you reflected
on/informally assessed 2 of your 3 children. I recognize that the term
“reflect” is not the best word to describe your assessment of Student C,
since you have not yet met her, but there should be some assessment of
where she stands and mention of how the learning activities are
appropriate for her.]
14 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
Cathy and Chris
Student A, Student B and Student C [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
9/9/09
Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners.
In our last visit we worked with all three students using the multi-connecting cubes in the
classroom. Chris began by presenting the kindergartners with a figure made with the blocks and
asking each one to count the blocks. We noticed that the students had a bit of a difficulty when the
figure included blocks that overlapped and then changed direction. After a few more of these types
of questions, we then gave each student a small pile of blocks and asked them to form figures
using a specific number of blocks. The students did do better in this part because they were able to
move the blocks and separate them from the larger pile. One of the last questions we asked each
student individually was to make a figure using fifteen blocks. Student C went first and she
seemed to be doing okay until the last moment. She may have lost count and only used fourteen
blocks. Student A went next and she was able to count out fifteen blocks, but she struggled as
well. Finally Student B went and he was not able to count up to fifteen. We then moved on to our
next activity, which was a matching/memory game. All three students seemed to struggle,
however Student C was able to make one pair. We think this game may have been too complicated
because it used numbers greater than 10. Close to the end, Student B said that he did not like the
game and chose to sit out and just watch. Student A did not feel too comfortable playing either,
but since it was close to the end of time we decided to keep on playing. Student C felt the most
comfortable playing this game and she did seem to enjoy it.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
We think that for our next encounter we will have to come up with some game that is not as
complicated as the matching. Since our previous encounter went very well, we thought that an
activity having larger numbers would be more entertaining, but we think we may have over
estimated the knowledge they have pertaining to number sense. Student A and Student B have a
sense of counting objects up to 10 or 12, but any number greater than that confuses them. Student
C seemed to be able to count past 10, but she, like Student A and Student B, lacks the concept of
one-to-one.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
Student C seemed to like the matching game and all three students definitely liked working with
the blocks. For the next encounter we think we may include some different kind of manipulatives,
since all three like working with the blocks. The students were well behaved, but we might look
into incorporating some more movement activities to help them focused. We think that for the
next time we are going to try to include activities that are a bit less challenging or an activity that
is less complicated than the matching. We think that it is important for the students to be able to
15 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
recognize and know larger numbers, so we will be thinking about some activities that will allow
them to grow in this area.
16 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1 Math Bingo
Materials Needed: Various Bingo cards, bingo cards with the numbers to call out, chips to use as
markers, prizes for the winners.
Brief Description of the Activity:
For this activity the students will be playing bingo, trying to get four numbers in a row (horizontally,
vertically or diagonally). The students will have to keep attention to the number that are being called, and
will have to be able to match the number called out with the number on their bingo card. The first student
to do this is the winner and must call out “BINGO!” This activity will allow the students to become more
familiar with number larger than 10. This will allow them to be more exposed to such numbers, while
keeping them engaged in the activity.
Activity 2 Connect-the-dots
Materials Needed: Several Connect-the-dot worksheets, pencils, crayons
Brief Description of the Activity:
This activity allows the students to learn number sequence and recognize certain numbers, especially
those numbers past 10. The students have to connect the numbers in the right sequence in order to form
the picture. After the students successfully connect the dots, then they will have the opportunity to color
in the pictures. This activity will allow the students to strengthen their number recognition and number
sequences, which they seemed to struggle with the previous encounter.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
The first activity allows the students to become more comfortable with numbers larger than 10.
This was particularly important for us to take into consideration because in our last encounter the students
did not feel very confident during the matching game. They seemed to struggle recognizing the numbers
and their values. We think that it is important for the students to feel comfortable seeing numbers greater
than 10. The number bingo will allow the students to become familiar with bigger numbers and keep them
engaged in the activity. We noticed that the students like the competitive side of the matching game, so
we chose to incorporate that side into this activity. We are pushing the children to go past their comfort
zone, but doing taking small steps. The matching was too complicated, so we chose a game that is less
complicated and had less rules than the matching game.
17 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
The connect-the-dots worksheets will also allow the students recognize number past 10. These
worksheets allow the students to also recognize the numbers and their correct sequence. This activity will
allow the students to keep focus because they will want to see what the dots will end up making. We want
to learn more about the students’ interest, so having a variety of worksheets to choose from will allow us
to see what the students like. This activity is less competitive than the other and will let the students settle
down before they return to their class. Finally, this activity will allow the students to be creative and color
in the picture after they have successfully connected the dots.
18 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 2 Reflection and
Lab 3 Plan
9/9 1 0.75 1 2.75 Your reflection was very well done. You provide many useful details
about your last encounter with Student B, Student A, and Student C, and
provide a reasonable assessment of each child’s numerical ability based
on your observations. You have also chosen sensible activities which I
believe the children will enjoy. I had a slight hang-up on the “BINGO”
game though. You indicated that the children will be “matching
numbers”…does this mean that they will be matching the number
symbols with the oral number words which are called out? That is, if you
call out “four,” and the child has the symbol “4” on his or her BINGO
card, then the child can cover the “4”? If this is the case, then neither of
your activities involves counting objects, something your students need
help with, so there is a disconnect from the reflection. On the other hand,
if the game is designed so that if you call out a “four” and the child has,
for instance, a dot pattern showing four dots (which the child would have
to count), then this would be an appropriate counting game, but I believe
points should still be docked from this assignment for not clearly
explaining this aspect of the game.
19 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
Cathy and Chris
Student A, Student B and Student C [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
9/14/09
Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners.
In our last visit with the kindergarteners, we took a much more initially casual approach to our
lesson then we have in previous encounters. We had two elements planned for our lesson: a
connect-the-dots sheet and a game of math bingo. We started with the connect-the-dots sheet and
were planning on working our way to play the math bingo. All three of the kindergarteners seem
to really enjoy the connect the dots activity so we let them do multiple sheets of them, and realized
that we had run out of enough time to attempt math bingo, so with the remainder of the time, we
let the students color in their connect the dots picture. This was to reward them for their well-
behaved manner the past several labs.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
The best the children seem capable in terms of number sense is the ability to count to about 12 or
13. This was exhibited in the connect the dots activity, in which the students counted up to about
12 or 13 fine, but needed help with almost all of the numbers there after. This is a step up from
their counting abilities from the past couple weeks, in which they had an easy time just making it
to 10. While although they are making progress in terms of the limits of their counting, they still
do not have any element of “one-to-one” or cardinality. They can count the numbers but they can’t
do much more than that with the numbers.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
All of the students definitely enjoy two distinct activities. The first of those activities being games
that use manipulatives. Whenever the students are playing with something physical that they can
count, they are more engaged, entertained, and seem to understand us slightly better when we try
to correct them. This makes the whole lab process much easier. Other activities that do not directly
relate to math on pieces of paper, such as the connect-the-dots activities, are others that the
students genuinely enjoy. Usually it is because they have the tendency to not really think of the
activity as a math lesson, but rather just a different worksheet. Other than those, the personalities
of the students are the only difference that we really saw. Student B likes to move around a lot, so
we should try to incorporate a lesson that involves movement. Student C and Student A both enjoy
what we have been doing, and do not seem to have any strong leanings one way or another.
20 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1 Math Bingo
Materials Needed: Various Bingo cards, bingo cards with the numbers to call out, chips to use as
markers, prizes for the winners.
Brief Description of the Activity:
This game will be similar to the regular bingo game, in which participates are required to get a row of
spaces filled, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. This will use numbers and other representations
of the numbers in order for the students to make various connections between the numbers called and
what that means on the game itself.
Activity 2 What Comes Next
Materials Needed: Several “What comes next” worksheets, pencils
Brief Description of the Activity:
This activity will allow the students to be able to use their counting knowledge in terms of picking out the
next logical choice amongst the choices given. The worksheet simply consists of different sets of
numbers, each have to in their correct order and then a blank. The goal is to fit in the correct number that
would come next. There is also a number bank on the side of the sheet that will narrow down the
possibilities of what the next number can be.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
This activity is building off of the previous activities because, first, we did not get to play the math
bingo game that we originally intended to play. We would not have necessarily decided to play the math
bingo game had the students not stated at the end of the last lesson that they love bingo. We naturally
thought this would be a great way to incorporate math, based on their own personal interest in the game of
bingo.
The other element that we are building off of the last lesson is the use of simple worksheets to
keep the students interested in the lesson. While this is not necessarily as interesting as a game, which we
hope to achieve through the use of math bingo, it is a natural continuation of the connect the dots
worksheets that we constructed in the last lesson. These new sheets are not as fun as the connect the dots
sheet, but are a natural continuation of the information contained in them.
21 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 3 Reflection and
Lab 4 Plan
9/14 0.5 0.75 0.75 2 There continues to be a rift between the assessment data and the planned
activities. I’m concerned that you may be doing activities with the
children for activity’s sake, and you are beginning to lose focus on the
current knowledge of the students and the knowledge you wish to lead
them toward. Notice that in your first couple of encounters with the
children, you indicated that the children were having trouble counting an
amount of objects. In your last encounter and this next one which is
planned, though, you aren’t providing any activities for the children
designed to build their ability to count objects. Rather, these activities
are geared toward helping students know the oral and symbolic counting
sequence (e.g., recognizing the words, symbols and sequence of 1, 2, 3,
4, …. rather than using these to count actual objects). Though you did a
“connect the dots” activity with students last time, you have indicated
that this “connect the dots” activity provides evidence that the children
have not yet mastered “cardinality.” This can’t be the case, though,
because “connect the dots” is related to the ordinal property of numbers,
not the cardinal property.
I encourage you to meet and consult with me prior to writing your next
lab/reflection so that we can be sure that you have a firm grasp on how to
use reflection and assessment to inform instruction, and how to make
valid assessment judgments from teaching experiences.
22 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan
Chris and Cathy
Student C, Student A & Student B [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
9/21/09
Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners.
In our last encounter much of the time was spent playing math bingo. All three students seemed to greatly advance
in their counting skills. We had each student take turns choosing a card that had the number to call out. Instead of
just having the number, we had specific numbers of dots up to 20. Since the dots were organized in a pattern
formation, it was easy for the kindergartners to keep track and correctly count the number of dots. All three seemed
to enjoy this game, but had a hard time keeping focus, especially Student A and Student B. Chris and I made sure to
keep them focused and listening for the numbers that were being called. It was a fun game and we really noticed
that the students seemed to be able to count up to twenty easily. Although, Student B would say “I can’t count that
many,” he was able to count up to 19 and 18. Towards the end we gave them a worksheet that required them to fill
in the next number in the sequence because there was not enough time to play another round of bingo. They seemed
to have a good grasp of writing the numbers and easily did 2 worksheets within 5 or 6 minutes.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to know
regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment (e.g., refer to data
obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children in which they exhibited
knowledge, etc.).
All three students seem to grasp the concept of cardinality and one-to-one with objects that are somewhat
organized. They seemed to have difficulty identifying the numbers (written out form) past ten. For example,
Student B could count up 19 using the dots, but had difficulty finding the number 196 on his bingo sheet. Both
Student C and Student A seemed to have this problem too. They definitely have a good grasp of counting up to 20,
or maybe past 20 and know the sequence of numbers up to 10.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important observations you
can make which might influence your future interactions with the children? (That is, are you seeing signs
that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain activities as opposed to others, have any of
the child revealed a personal interest which you might tap into in future lessons, etc.).
They seem to work better and are able to keep more focus when they work with each other, but each had a turn at
doing something. It also seems that they like to play semi-competitive games. We would like to incorporate these
aspects into our future plans because they seem to enjoy playing with each other, and not just doing individual
work. It would be nice if we could find an activity that allowed them to work or play as a group but they each had
something in front of them that they could work on themselves, like the Bingo game.
23 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on working with
the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children with the practice and/or
instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to progress.
Activity 1- Save the Caterpillar!
Materials Needed: Dice, Save the Caterpillar game board- one for each student, 25 chips for each player.
Brief Description of the Activity: Each player is given a game board and 25 chips. The students cover up the
caterpillar with the twenty chips, the chips can be placed anywhere on the board, but should cover up the
caterpillar. The first player rolls the dice and removes the number of chips that comes up on the dice from the
caterpillar. The first player to remove all the chips from their caterpillar is the winner.
Activity 2 –Counting Cups
Materials Needed: Pair of numbered dice, 10-15 small paper cups labeled with a number, several chips used to fill
the cups with the specific number.
Brief Description of the Activity: This activity allows the students to move the chips from a big pile in the middle,
to their corresponding cup. In this case we will use 10 cups labeled from 10-22, and the dice will have these same
numbers also. First the players need to put the cups in numerical order. Then, the first player rolls 1 dice, which will
indicate which cup they need to fill. The player counts out the chips from the big pile and places the chips into the
correct cup. The next player does the same, and they take turns until all the cups have been filled.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do your
activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a deeper
understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the children’s learning
styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
Both activities focus on having the children organize an unorganized number of objects. We noticed that they easily
counted dots or objects when they had some sort of pattern. Now we want to challenge the students to deepen their
counting skills by being able to count and sort an unorganized set of objects. The Save the Caterpillar game
integrates the competitive aspect with this organized counting skill. The students each have their own caterpillar
they are trying to save and each take turns observing each other count. The second activity allows the students to
get a better grasp of also moving objects to count them, but also focus on bigger numbers. By incorporating the
numeral form, the students will be more exposed to numbers past ten and be able to better understand what these
numbers represent. We noticed that the students had difficulty recognizing numbers past 10 when they were in
numerical form and we wanted to further develop this skill.
24 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 4 Reflection and
Lab 5 Plan
9/21 1 1 0.75 2.75 Good. This reflection/plan is much improved over the last one. You
make the connections between your assessment of the children and you
planned activities much clearer. This time, it is clear that you are helping
the students to count objects (particularly an unorganized set of objects),
but also trying to help them learn the numeral symbols.
The description for the second activity was a bit unclear. You indicated,
for example, that you would have “10 cups labeled from 10-22”; but
there are thirteen numbers between 10 and 22 inclusive…will you have
13 cups, or will you skip some of the values between 10 and 22? How
will you get dice which can model the numbers 10-22? Will you make
these dice yourself? What will you do when most of the cups are full,
and, therefore, it becomes very unlikely that a student will roll a number
value which hasn’t already been filled? Clearly there are many details
you need to think through about this game before you present it to
children.
25 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
Cathy and Chris
Student A, Student B and Student C [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
9/28/09
Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners.
In our last visit with the kindergarteners, we had the students playing a game in which the students
had to “save the caterpillar” by removing the counters that were on top of him. We played two
rounds of this game because the students liked it so much the first time that we played it a second
time. All three of the students seemed fairly interested in the activity and challenged to some
degree. Student A, who was not particularly troubled by the activity, sometimes lost focus and got
a little spacey, possibly, reflecting the quality of the activity. Student B and Student C were both
excited during the whole game, and enjoyed the competition of the activity, as well as their
gradually mastering of the counting of the game. After we finished the second game, we had a
couple of minutes left. We decided to have the students, individually tell us the number on a die.
After each of the three students answered twice, we asked the students if they saw any similarity
between the pictures on the die, and the number they got as they counted up each side of the die.
We sensed that they were starting to make this connection right before we had to leave.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
The number sense of the students was very well demonstrated during the activity. For the most
part the students understand cardinality and have an easy time with counting. When they are asked
to count out so many counters, each of them can count out that many counters with ease. While
Student C and Student A sometimes need to be asked to count (when removing the counters)
again, this is a once per game situation, in which they are off only by one number. Usually when
this is happening they are really excited or are not paying 100 percent attention, so I feel that these
slip-ups can be attributed to that as opposed to any serious problems with their counting. Student
B does not have this same problem, but sometimes needs to be encouraged to count to a number
that he deems “too high”. While although this was not a problem in this lesson with the
kindergarteners, Student C and Student A’s mistakes happened, but only about once for each of
the students. The students didn’t not need to count the numbers on the die every time they rolled,
as well, to find the number of counters he or she needed to remove. This could have been because
they did the counting very fast in their heads, which would be a good sign because they haven’t
internalized counting yet, or that they recognize the patter and can make the connection to what
number it is. Regardless of the reasoning for the speed in reading the die, the students’ number
sense skills are at the point in which they have “one-to-one” because they can answer (without
recounting) how many counters they need to remove from the caterpillar by just originally
counting the numbers on the die. They do, however have had little experience with the symbols of
numbers (i.e. 2, 3, 4, etc.). I think that these symbols, as well as regular patterns seen in items like
dice, are the next element of number sense that the students need to grasp.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
26 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
Based on this previous lesson, as well as past lessons that we have had with the kindergartener, we
can determine that the students favorite lessons are ones in which they get to be competitive.
While although our activities are not games that promote the idea of winning, they have a goal that
one student will reach before the other. This only really happens because we have to take turns to
allow each of the students a chance to roll the die, draw a card, or something else on a one on one
interaction with the students. They do not seem to even care if they win or lose when doing the
activity, and are good natured in their competitiveness. And when the student is in the one on one
role with us, he or she is usually trying his or her best to count as well as they can, in a veiled
attempt to show off to the other too. While although this might be something that can be
problematic later on, the students are still well-natured in their competitions, and is the most
important influencing factor in This is something that has been successful whenever we have tried
activities with mild amounts of competitiveness. There might not be a lot of lessons with the
kindergarteners, but this is a successful method that should be used later on with them in future
lessons.
27 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1 Number Matching
Materials Needed: Index cards with die-like symbols on them, index cards with number (1,2,3,etc)
written on them, counters.
Brief Description of the Activity:
This will challenge the students to match the counted number of counters, the index card value, and the
die-like arrangement. We will give the students a given number of counters to count (we will tell them the
number), and then tell them to pick the card that has that number on it, and then have them pick the card
with the correct die-like image on it (ideally without counting them). At any point during each of the
students turns, we will ask them to justify why they picked the card that they did, looking for an
explanation, as opposed to a guess.
Activity 2 Walk Around and Think
Materials Needed: Die, Pencil, Pieces of paper
Brief Description of the Activity:
This activity will introduce the concept of one more and one less to the students. We can have a student
roll a die, and write out the number (the word, symbol, or number of dots like the die would be
acceptable). The students would then walk around the table or desk, or possibly just in a circle that
number of times. While the students are walking, or soon after they are done, we will have the two
students who didn’t roll the die to think of what one more and one less of the rolled number would be.
After the question is answered and the students are sitting, we can start this over again.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
This activity is building off of the previous activities because we are fairly certain, based on our
previous activities with the students, that they grasp cardinality, but still do not understand that counting
out six counters is the same as the symbol (6) for it, as well as the basic arrangements of dots seen on a
die, are all interchangeable and inter-related. But to make certain of this leap in number sense, we are still
having the students count out chips, and be able to recognize that they apply to these different things. So
if our activity crashes and burns in the first segment of the first activity, then we know that our previous
assessments were incorrect, and that we need to go back to square one. We are playing off of the
students’ competitiveness, something that they all have common in their learning style, in hopes that they
will get into the activity more decisively and be more apt to give correct answers than something that they
28 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
only thought about briefly. They will all be more eager to participate and will hopefully create a more
valuable learning experience. This could also be the beginning of their exposure to “one more” or “one
less” concepts. While although we remain confident that all three of the students will not have a great
amount of difficulty, it will be interesting to see where they stand with that concept, something that we
have never directly worked with them with.
29 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 5 Reflection and
Lab 6 Plan
9/28 1 1 1 3 Very nice job. Your reflection on your last encounter is very sensible.
You were appropriately cautious in some of your assessment
judgments….I really appreciated the point you made that, just because
the students seemed to recognize the number on the die quickly, it
doesn’t necessarily mean that they now recognize the dot patterns
instantly. Perhaps they were just counting quickly, as you note. So,
your assessment of the students was appropriately cautious but still
useful. You clearly identified a sensible learning goal for your next
encounter based on your last experience. Both of the activities you
suggest connect well to this learning goal, and you did a really nice job of
linking your lab 6 plan with your lab 5 reflection.
30 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan
Cathy and Chris
Student A, Student B and Student C [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
10/19/09
Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners.
In our last encounter with the kindergartners both of the activities went relatively well. For the
first activity we gave each student a specific number of counter that they would have to match up
an index card that had a dots arranged to look lie that of a die. The kindergartners did good in this
activity, ideally we wanted them to be able to match up the number pattern with the number,
without having to count. This happened with a few of the numbers for all three kindergartners. We
noticed that they were able to recognize numbers like 6, 1, and 2. All three seemed to have to
count out the number 4 on the dice, which seemed strange because they were able to recognize the
larger numbers. After this activity we had the kindergartners stand up and they would each take a
turn rolling the dice. The number it landed on indicated the number of times they would have to
walk around the table. They also did really well on this, but they lost track of how many times
they had walked around the table, so we changed it to the number of steps. They seemed to enjoy
getting out of their seats and moving around, so we think we will include another similar activity
for our next encounter.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
All three kindergartners seem to be at the beginning stage of grasping number patterns and their
value. In many occasion, especially in the beginning, we asked them not to count the dots on the
dice and match it with the correct number. Student B finished faster that Student A and Student C,
which signaled to us that he had grasped the concept quickly. Student A seemed to need the most
help, which showed that she may have not been exposed to these patterns as much as the other
two. When we would ask them “how did you know that without counting?” they immediately said
“I recognized it!” Student B seemed to grasp this concept better than Student A and Student C, but
overall all three kindergartners did well.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
We noticed than the students seem to like moving around and getting out of their seats. In our
previous encounters we had developed a routine and we think that this was a good change. They
all paid more attention and were eager to walk around the table and get back to their chair. Based
on this, for out next encounter we would make sure to include some movement activity that
challenged them in a different way, other than pattern recognition.
31 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities6 for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1 – One more/One less
Materials Needed: Index cards with numbers on them, paper
Brief Description of the Activity: We are going to have the students understand the concept of one more
and one less by allowing them to look at the number on the card. When they look, the students will then
use what they have mastered in number skills to explain what one more and one less is of that given
number. The students will then draw write the number down and if time allows, draw a diagram for the
number in a pattern similar to a face of a die. We can model this information for the students if they need
too, but if they constantly need help with it, we might scrap the die image drawing and focus more on the
one- more and one- less comprehension.
Activity 2 Higher Level Counting
Materials Needed: Counters, sheet of paper
Brief Description of the Activity: This is a method to see how the number skills of the students have
increased, with the work we have been doing inside of the classroom as well as work in their regular
classroom. We will simply have the students count out a number that we will verbally give them and then
have them physically write the number down on a sheet of paper. Depending on how well they do we can
increase the number drastically or have them be slightly above 6. This again depends on their
performance.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
We know that the students have a strong understanding of number sense and the symbols of 1
through 6. They also have a good understanding of that information, so we felt that as we close our
lessons with them, we should try and push their understanding and see how well they have developed
number sense. We are trying to see how well understand number sense and cardinality in larger number as
well as rudimentary addition and subtraction, through the use of simply asking for one more and one less.
The reason that we are presenting the activates this way, with no frills and rather straight-forward is that it
has worked with these students so far (with positive results and responses from the students) and we are
hoping to really be able to understand them in terms of mathematics, without the possibility of them
getting lost in a confusing activity the last day of our labs there.
6 Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
32 “Cathy and Chris”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 6 Reflection and
Lab 7 Plan
10/5 1 0.75 0.75 2.5 You do a nice job of summarizing the last encounter, stating what the
children did and the pieces of knowledge they exhibited.
Your activities seem to map onto to the students’ skills appropriately
(with one exception mentioned below), particularly since your goal is to
get a sense of how they have developed since the beginning of the term.
However, given what you reported in the reflection, it doesn’t seem
appropriate that the students should be expected to write numerals as part
of their activities is Lab 7 (something which is required in both of the
activities you’ve planned). Your assessment indicates the students can
recognize the numerals, but being able to read numerals and being able to
write numerals are entirely different skills. You didn’t mention in the
reflection that the students demonstrated an ability to write
numerals…indeed, I re-read you plan for Lab 6, and the plan indicated
that you would provide them opportunities to write numerals during Lab
6, but your reflection on Lab 6 provided no indication that the children
had actually done this. So, be prepared for the possibility that the
children will not know how to write their numerals. You may wish to
consider bringing along “numeral traceables,” such as those available at
http://www.ziggityzoom.com/activities.php?a=339 .
33 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan
Betty and Ben
Student D, Student E [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
Wednesday August 26, 2009
Lab _1_ Reflection and Lab _1_ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners7.
a. In our encounter with Student D, we observed that she needs a lot of provided instruction.
She was unable to count at all. She did not attempt to estimate or count the objects at all.
Instead she sat there and looked confused and frustrated. In our encounter with Student E,
we observed that she lacked one-to-one. At her first attempt, Student E was able to
successfully count to nine, however on her second attempt she seemed to skip around the
numbers one through nine. For example she would skip many numbers in between (11, 17,
19, 12). It seemed as though she does not grasp the concept of counting one through ten.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
a. Our two students seem to lack a “number sense.” Student D did not even attempt to count,
while Student E struggled to understand that numbers have an order. Neither of the
students has attached meaning to their counts. On Student E’s first attempt it seemed as
though she could successfully count to nine, although given a smaller number to count she
did not successfully do this again, therefore she is inconsistent. Also, neither of the
students estimated a number. It is obvious to us that both of these students need instruction
with simple counting.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. Although Student D did not respond to Dr. Egan, we are hoping she will respond to a
female instructor. The atmosphere could have played a role in Student D’s shyness. It was
evident that Student E wanted to learn and seemed confident in her counting. She would
point to the counters. We think it might be beneficial for her to pull the counters aside
while she points to them and arranges them in an organized fashion. This will help her not
to lose track while counting. It also seemed like Student E counted fast. By slowing down
she might improve her consistency.
7 If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
34 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities8 for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed:
blocks
Brief Description of the Activity:
Our goal of this activity is to have the students be able to organize the blocks in a line. This will
help them to keep the counted separated from the non counted objects. If the students can
successfully do this, then they can start counting the number of blocks, starting with three blocks.
Because both students are lacking the basic concepts of “number sense” we think it is important to
begin with just moving and playing with the objects before being asked to count the blocks. By
moving and playing with the blocks, the students will become comfortable with us, instead of
jumping into counting, which is a difficult concept for them to grasp at this time.
Activity 2
Materials Needed: none
Brief Description of the Activity:
This activity incorporates movement into counting. The student will start the activity sitting down.
Then they will stand up and sit back down, this is one. The student will repeat this action until
they count up to five. By standing up and sitting down the student is moving around which helps
get oxygen to the brain which enhances their learning.
Activity 3 (optional)
Materials Needed:
Pairs of cards one through five
Brief Description of the Activity:
This game is called memory. The pairs of cards will be face down aligned in a square on the desk.
Each student will take turns turning over two cards and trying to find a match. As the students
turn over a card, they will have to tell us what number it is and attempt to count that many dots on
the card. This will help the students with recognition and matching alike numbers. Since the
students are able to see the number along with that number of dots we believe this will help their
progress because they are seeing the number in a variety of ways.
8 Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
35 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
Based off of the assessments of our students, we believe it is important to use less complex
activities. Our students need to be given instruction at the simplest level possible. Since neither
student can successfully count to five, that is our main goal for these activities. Our focus is not
on them understanding order, however just recognizing the numbers one through five. In our first
activity we hope to make the students more comfortable around us by having them play with the
blocks before actually moving them. We also have the students playing games and interacting
with each other.
36 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Counting Assessment
and Lab 1 Plan
8/26 0.75 1 1 2.75 Good. As we discussed in class, you have a particularly challenging
teaching assignment with Student D and Student E. I think you have
proposed some very reasonable, and potentially very helpful, learning
experiences which are well-suited to their needs. You link these
activities to your reflection/assessment quite well…e.g., you recognize
that these children need practice even in the basic skill of moving and
lining up objects in order to count them, and you provide a nice, “stress-
free,” and potentially fun means of doing this. Like you, I am hopeful
that little Student D will respond more favorably to a female teacher. I’m
also willing to bet that she’ll feel more comfortable if another child,
Student E, is present. The lost “quarter point” in the reflection section
was due to the sentences, “[Student D] was unable to count at all. She
did not attempt to estimate or count at all.” The second sentence is
certainly accurate, but the first sentence is unfounded. We have no
evidence regarding whether or not Student D can count…all we know is
that she chose not to during the video. Maybe Student D can count, but
was just too uncomfortable to demonstrate her ability that day. I
certainly know your meaning…my guess is that you are fully aware of
this distinction as well. Still, teachers must be very cautious in their
choices of words in describing children…imagine how a parent might
react to the statement “Student D can’t count,” particularly if that parent
has counted with Student D in the home. So, in the future, be sure that
you always have evidence to support your assessment claims.
37 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan
Betty and Ben
Student D, Student E, Student F [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
August 30, 2009
Lab _1_ Reflection and Lab _2_ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners9.
a. We were surprised by our last encounter with our kindergarteners. We were expecting
Student D not to be as successful as she was on Friday morning. Because of her assessment
with Dr. Egan, we did not expect her to be as advanced as she was. We were worried that
Student D would be behind Student E, but in fact it was the opposite. While Betty was
giving the assessment, Ben showed Student D and Student E flashcards of numbers and
asked them to repeat the numbers. Student D appeared to successfully know her numbers
one through five. While Student E struggled to recognize the numbers one through five.
More specifically, it seemed like she would forget to start with the number one and just
start with two or she would forget what would come after four. This mistake seems
consistent with Student E because on another time, she started counting at two and stopped
at six when she should have started at one and stopped at five. It seems that Student E still
needs a lot of instruction recognizing the numbers one through five, while, Student D has
mastered basic counting. When playing the game memory we noticed that Student D acted
as a leader in our group and was very helpful with Student E.
b. In the assessment with Rosadalia, it was apparent to Betty that she was a lot more
advanced than Student D and Student E. She was able to count successfully to 32 and then
when asked how many there were total she was able to recall that there was in fact 32
blocks. She was also able to add and subtract without using the blocks for a visual aid.
Although, she did tell Betty that she was counting in her head. From looking at Student F’s
assessment results we see that he struggles with numbers one through seven. It is hard to
be sure this is all he is capable of because we have not seen him in action. Also, we do not
want to make a false judgment like we did about Student D.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
a. Both Student D and Student E lack cardinality. When asked what number was in the group
after just counting both had to re-count or did not just know. Student D seems to have a
good sense of one-to-one, however Student E lacks one-to-one. She often mixes her
numbers up or does not start with number one for instance. Student D seems to be able to
do simple addition problems such as two plus two. She does count the dots or cubes to find
the answer though. It appeared that Student D has mastered counting numbers one through
ten, while Student E still needs instruction with this task. When someone starts Student E
off in counting, it appeared to make things easier for her and she did not mess up as much
this way.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
9 If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
38 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. After Friday’s class Dr. Egan informed us that Student E is an ELL student. This is
important to take into consideration because she is not as fluent in English as the other
students. Therefore, it might take her more time to come up with the right word that she is
looking for and we should be patient because she might know the correct answer, but is
having trouble communicating it to us. Student D does speak English, however she seems
very shy. For example, while Betty was doing an assessment Student D opened up with
Ben and was answering questions and participating in the game. When Betty got back from
the assessment, Student D became very quiet and reserved. When Rosadalia returned to the
group she wanted to answer everyone’s questions because she was quick to know the
answer. We think the more encounters we have with our students, they will begin to feel
more comfortable with us.
39 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities10
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed: Ah Chute board with chips
Brief Description of the Activity: The purpose of this activity is for students to practice counting the
numbers one through five. This is a good activity for our students because they will have to read the dice
and then count that number of chips out. This will especially be good practice for the students because
they will be seeing the numbers in different forms, such as the number on five on a dice as opposed to five
chips lined in a row. It will also be good for the students to be playing games with their peers. Since there
are three students in a group one of us will take the student that needs the most help and play with him or
her. The other teacher will oversee the two students playing against each other. This will help the student
who needs the most help because the teacher can ask more questions.
Activity 2
Materials Needed: A deck of card with cards one through ten and cubes
Brief Description of the Activity: This is a game called war. The students will each get the same number
of cards and flip one over simultaneously. Then they will have to determine what card is the higher card
and that is the person who keeps those cards. If they flip the same number over then they will just flip
another card over. This is a good activity for our students because they will start to understand that order
is important. If they are having difficulty determining what card is bigger than they can use the cubes to
count out the number and see a visual, hands on example.
Activity 3 (optional)
Materials Needed:
Brief Description of the Activity:
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
10
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
40 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 1 Reflection and
Lab 2 Plan
8/31 1 1 0.75 2.75 You provide a very helpful reflection/informal assessment for Student E
and Student D based on your last encounter with them. This is
particularly helpful in the case of Student D since we really had no
assessment data on her at all after the videos. You make some reasonable
judgments about each child’s current skill set. I’m also glad that you
took note of Student E’s status as an English language learner. Perhaps
her counting struggles have more to do with language than with “number
sense” (e.g., perhaps she knows the concept of counting, but hasn’t yet
mastered the English words used for counting). Your two learning
activities are worthwhile, but I felt you could have been a bit more
explicit about how these activities connect with your reflections from part
1. You seemed to have sown in a few “connecting” comments with the
activity descriptions themselves, but it would have been helpful for more
explicitness here. This was particularly true for activity 2…how do the
number dot cards connect to the numbers you know your 3 kids can and
cannot count to at the moment? In the future, I’d suggest that you go
ahead and answer question B in that section of the template as a separate
paragraph…this should prompt you to be more explicit in making those
connections.
41 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
Betty and Ben
Student D, Student E, Student F [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
September 8, 2009
Lab _2_ Reflection and Lab _3_ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
4. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners11
.
a. During our last encounter with our kindergarteners, we started out as a group of five and
then split into two different groups. In the group of five, we started out playing the game
war. Each student turned over a card and then had to tell us what number it was. If they did
not know right away, they could count the dots on the cards to help them. After all three
students turned their card over, they each took a turn deciding what the biggest card was.
Student D was able to do this successfully at times. Student E and Student F struggled with
doing this task. While observing the students, we noticed that they were becoming
frustrated and antsy with this game. We think they struggled with this because they have
trouble with number order (what number is more than the other) and had to wait their turn,
while the other students turned their cards over. This game seemed challenging and
appropriate for Student D because she does not have trouble counting, but struggles with
number recognition and order. It also seemed appropriate for Student E and Student F
because they need to work on simple counting. Because they were struggling with this, we
decided to break up and play Ah Chute. Ben worked with Student D and Student E, while
Betty worked with Student F. Student D and Student E did not grasp the concept of getting
the most amount of chips in the top row, they just filled the rows that were closest to them.
They both seemed like they could count the dots on the dice, but when asked to place that
amount of chips in the rows only Student D was able to do this successfully. Student E
seemed to always count over or under the correct amount. Since Student F has difficulty
with simple counting, Betty gave him different numbers that he could count out that
number of chips. For example, she told him five and he would have to count out five chips.
I noticed that when I moved the chips for him, he was able to successfully count, however
when he had to count and move the chips himself he usually counted past the correct
number. We think he might have to work on his organization skills and slowing down
while he does this. While reflecting on our last experience it is evident that we still need to
work at the beginning levels of counting.
5. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
a. Student D still has not developed cardinality. She has to recount the numbers in order to
tell us what number she just counted. She recognizes small numbers (both actual number,
as well as dots) usually up to five. Anything higher than five she usually has to count.
b. Student E does has not developed one-to-one. Sometimes she does not start counting at one
and she usually counts past the number she is supposed to. Also, we usually have to say the
number one in order for her to start counting, otherwise she will start at a random number
like three.
11
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
42 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
c. Student F also lacks one-to-one. He usually starts at number one, however he then counts
out of order. For example 1, 2, 5, 9, 11, 7. I also think that he was bored with the activity
because it was so simple, but yet he could not grasp it.
6. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. Based on our observations we believe that all three students need to be more organized
while counting. For example, when moving chips while they count they should line them
up instead of having them in a big blob. Also, we think we need to start doing activities
which involve movement because our students have trouble sitting still for long periods of
time. Our new task at hand is to bring activities where the students are up and moving
around. Student D and Student E seemed to enjoy Ah Chute. We think this is because it is
something that they have never seen before and it is new to them. Sometimes we think that
the students just guess at what number it is, instead of actually counting.
43 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities12
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed: footprints printed out on paper
Brief Description of the Activity: With footprints printed on the paper, we will line them up down the
hallway. The students will step on each footprint while counting as they go. One student will go at a time
and all three students will count out loud each number of steps.
Activity 2
Materials Needed: Five Little Monkeys, Seven Spunky Monkeys, Mother Goose: Numbers on the Loose
Brief Description of the Activity: For this activity we will be reading a book to the students. We will be
asking them questions such as do you know what number this is, can you count the objects on this page,
etc.
Activity 3 (optional)
Materials Needed:
Brief Description of the Activity:
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
For Student D, we believe the footprint activity will help keep her focused. Because there are two
footprints on each sheet of paper, it will allow her to be challenged to count to a higher number.
Also, this activity will give her the opportunity to help the other two students to count since they
will all be counting as a group. We think the book will help reinforce the number order that
Student D sometimes struggles with. The pictures will also help to give her a visual aid.
We think the footprint activity will help Student E because it will help her with learning the order
of numbers. Because she will be moving around, she will be less anxious to guess at the number.
Hopefully she will be able to just keep counting as she keeps moving forward. The book will help
Student E visually see that numbers have an order, while reinforcing that numbers begin with one.
12
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
44 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
The footprint activity will hopefully help Student F because he will be up and moving. When he is
just sitting he loses focus easily. This is also a simple counting activity, but it is not just sitting
there and counting chips, which he was bored with last time. We think the book will help him
because it will help him realize there is order to counting and that he cannot just skip numbers.
45 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 2 Reflection and
Lab 3 Plan
9/9 1 1 1 3 You have an interesting group of children and clearly they are forcing
you to think deeply about your teaching! Your reflection on the last
experience was very clearly written, and the reflection provided a
reasonable basis for your assessment of the students’ current knowledge.
Both of your activities seem well suited to your group. You did a really
nice job this time of clearly explaining how these activities might help
push each of the children to deeper understanding…you made clear and
relevant connections to the assessment piece.
46 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
Betty and Ben
Student D, Student E, and Student F [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
September 14, 2009
Lab _3_ Reflection and Lab _4_ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners13
.
The first activity that we introduced to our students was counting footprints. We thought
by having the students up and moving would help to hold their attention and they would be
able to focus longer. However, that did not happen. All of the students seemed to shy away
from the activity and did not want to participate. To show the students how the activity
worked Ben went first and showed them what to do while they attempted to count her
footprints. Student D then went first and she was able to count the footprints up until 23.
Student E was having trouble starting with one and counting past five. It seems like one
day she makes progress and then falls back the next day. To help her count the footprints
we held up our fingers, which seemed to help her. We think that maybe she needs to see
the visuals in order to count. Student F seemed to be on the same page as Student E. Every
time he counted he always skipped the number four. Also, if he did not know what number
to say next he always guessed eleven. We were really surprised that they did not take to
this activity, especially since Dani’s students loved it when they did it. After this activity
we then went to reading the books. The first book we read was Five Little Monkeys
Jumping on the Bed. Student E and Student F seemed like the book and were excited to
read it. However, it was not advanced enough for Student D. We observed this right away
and decided to split up. Betty went with Student D and read Mother Goose Numbers on the
Loose, while Ben stayed with Student E and Student F. We can’t seem to figure out why
Student E and Student F cannot grasp the order of numbers one through five. Ben tried
pointing to the monkeys and holding up her fingers while she read to emphasize what
number she was on, but they still did not grasp numbers one through five. They were able
to understand numbers one and two. Student D seemed to like the book, however, I think it
seemed too easy in the beginning but the numbers were getting higher right when we had
to end. We still need to continue doing beginner level activities.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
Student D is starting to develop cardinality. She knows some numbers, but still struggles
with others. She is also getting better at not mixing up the number order from one to ten.
Her recognition of numbers is also getting faster. While reading the book we were able to
point to a number and she would know which one it is.
Student E still continues to struggle with one to one. She still doesn’t understand that you
start counting with the number one. Even if the number she guesses is wrong, she still says
it and smiles with confidence.
13
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
47 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
Student F still lacks one to one. He usually starts with number one however lately he has
been skipping number four and continues to count out of order. He was really excited to
read the books so hopefully this will help him.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
Based on our observations we think we should try a youtube video that involves counting.
This video can be a song and maybe even be in Spanish and English. Also, providing the
students with more than one visual representation might help them, such as when Ben held
up her fingers during the footprint activity. On our next visit we are going to even practice
counting one to ten in Spanish to see if that will benefit them.
48 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities14
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed: Counting chips and Mother Goose on the Loose and Seven Spunky Monkeys
Brief Description of the Activity: We will read the books to the students and have them count out chips
whenever we say a number. We will say the number in both Spanish and English.
Activity 2
Materials Needed: Bingo sheets and Chips
Brief Description of the Activity: We will call out a number in both English and Spanish and if the
number is on the students Bingo card they will cover it with a chip. The goal is for them to recognize the
numbers one through ten.
Activity 3 (optional)
Materials Needed: Computer and internet access (Barney- Count to ten)
Brief Description of the Activity: We will play a Barney youtube video where he counts from one to ten
using a song and rhyme.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
For Student D, we think the book will be more challenging toward the end because the
numbers get higher (up to 27) and one time she was able to count to 30. Also, since we are
working with her on an independent basis we will be able to give her our undivided
attention and see exactly what she can accomplish. Her bingo card will consist of the
numbers one through 15. Since we are unsure if she can recognize higher numbers this will
help us determine if she can not only count them, but recognize them as well. The last
activity may not challenge her, but be a review that she will enjoy.
Student E will use counters to help her recognize the numbers in Seven Spunky Monkeys,
since she is still struggling with organization of numbers. Also the counters will give her a
second visual aid, which from the past has been beneficial. Her bingo card will consist of
14
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
49 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
the numbers one through ten. Since she is ELL we will say the numbers in Spanish as well
as English. We think the song will help her learn the order since is rhymes and is catchy.
Since Student F is similar to Student E, he will also benefit from using counters. Student F
needs to learn to organize his way of counting, such as putting objects in a line. His bingo
card will have the numbers one through ten as well. Even though he is not ELL we think
he will benefit from hearing the number in Spanish. Our goal for these two activities is for
him to not simply guess what number comes next in order. This is why seeing the youtube
video will be valuable for him. We are continuing to do repetitive activities until he can
grasp the order of numbers.
We believe that watching the Barney video will allow us to see some of the students’
interests which we will then incorporate into our next activities. We think they are
benefiting from being split up (Student D with one of us and Student E and Student F with
the other) because they are receiving more one on one attention. It is obvious that all of our
students are visual learners and this is the only way they will be successful with grasping
numbers.
50 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 3 Reflection and
Lab 4 Plan
9/14 1 1 1 3 While you have been frustrated in your efforts to “reach” Student E and
Student F (and, for different reasons, Student D) in your teaching, I
believe it is beneficial that you are experiencing firsthand the
complexities of teaching at such an early stage in your careers. Teaching
requires a great deal of patience, persistence, and a willingness to
continually try to better reach students: you have already demonstrated
your capacity to do these things. Once again, your reflection on the last
encounter is helpful. Though the last encounter did not go as smoothly as
you would have hoped, it is clear that you have learned something from
that experience and that this experiential learning is being applied in your
plan for the next lesson. All 3 of the activities are appropriate and well
grounded in your assessment of the children.
BTW, I’ve attempted once again to contact Longfellow’s principal about
the internet access situation, but I’m not holding my breath for a
response. I’ll probably have to “grab him” tomorrow morning and get
that access code from him…I’m very confident that we’ll be able to get
you internet access in time for your lesson. So, I’d encourage you to go
ahead and bring your laptop(s).
51 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan
Betty and Ben
Student D, Student E, Student F [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
September 20, 2009
Lab _4_ Reflection and Lab _5_ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners15
.
a. When we arrived at Longfellow we tried to use the computer to show the students a
youtube video of Barney counting. Unfortunately, we were unable to access youtube at the
school. We then read a story called Seven Spunky Monkeys. The students really seemed to
enjoy this. We also had them count with foam monkeys. In this activity, it seemed that the
students were making some progress with the numbers 1-5. This was not the case though
for Student D, she was able to successfully count to 7. Since she accomplished this task we
challenged her to start adding on to a number given. For instance, if there were 4 monkeys
we asked her to add on 2 more monkeys. She was able to do this, however, she had to
count the final number of monkeys to get the answer. We think that Student F just needs a
lot of encouragement. We see that he works better when we are constantly saying “good
job Student F, you can do it.” We also observed that when we hold up the correct amount
of fingers, Student F is more able to count accurately. Student E still continues to struggle
with starting at the number 1 and going through 5. The next activity included Bingo.
Student D had a slightly more difficult card than Student E and Student F, which included
higher numbers on her card. Student E and Student F had trouble making the connection
between the numbers on the dice and the numbers on the card. In order to help them, we
think we should make bingo cards that have the patterns of the dice along with the number
to help them make the connection. Besides this fact, we think this activity was beneficial
for our students and they seemed to enjoy it which is a big plus. This was the first time that
our students actually seemed to be engaged in all of our activities.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
a. Student D continues to develop cardinality. When we would ask her how many monkeys
were on the page, she knew the answer without having to count. However, when we asked
her to add one on, she then needed to count the monkeys and double check her answer.
Like last time, when we pointed to a number she could quickly recall it.
b. With Student E we have tried many different strategies for her to understand that numbers
have order. She still is not grasping this concept. We still have to remind her to start with
the number 1. Most of the time she will then continue with the numbers 2 and 3, but then
she starts guessing. It is still obvious to us that we need to have beginning activities for her.
c. We can see that Student F is starting to make some progress. Although he cannot count to
5 by himself, it helps when we hold up our fingers for him to count. Whenever we ask him
a question his first response is always “I don’t know.” With encouragement we can usually
get him to answer or in his case guess a number.
15
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
52 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. Based on our observations we are going to try a Dora the Explorer video that involves
counting in both English and Spanish. Also, on the bingo card we will have both the
number and the dice patterns so the students can make connections. Last time we forgot to
try counting in Spanish for them. This time we really want to see if this is helpful. We will
also continue to give the students more than one visual representation since this has
benefited them in a positive way. For instance with the Dora the Explorer video we will
provide them with a mat in which they can count and jump like the girl in the video. This
way the students will become more engaged in the activity.
53 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities16
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed: Dora the Explorer video, mat, and computer
Brief Description of the Activity: Students will watch the Dora the Explorer video and jump from number
to number on the mat like the girl in the video does. After the video is done playing we can have them
practice counting 1 to 5 in both English and Spanish.
Activity 2
Materials Needed: Bingo cards, chips, and dice
Brief Description of the Activity: We will roll the dice and announce the number in both English and
Spanish and if the number is on the students Bingo card they will cover it with a chip. The goal is for
them to recognize the numbers one through ten.
Activity 3 (optional)
Materials Needed:
Brief Description of the Activity:
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
Although the first activity for Student D will not necessarily challenge her, we think she will enjoy
the activity. Also, since the numbers are being counted in both Spanish and English, we can
observe how she reacts to hearing the numbers in Spanish. With this activity we can continue to
ask Student D more advanced questions, such as stepping on one number and adding onto that
number. Again her bingo card will consist of the numbers 1-15. We will continue to be able to see
if she has mastered counting past 10 on her own. This will be challenging for her because with
some number she struggled making the connection from the dice pattern to the actual number.
Since Student E is ELL we will remember to count in Spanish to see if she benefits from this. We
still are not sure if she can count in Spanish. We think she will really enjoy the Dora video
because it’s new and catchy. This will help us to see if Spanish will help her. Since the bingo
activity this time will have patterns and numbers on the cards, Student E may have the potential to
16
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
54 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan
recognize at least the numbers 1-3. Our goal for these 2 activities is for Student E to stop guessing
numbers.
We think Student F will benefit from the Dora video because he likes seeing visual aids. Also, it
will give Student F the opportunity to hear the numbers in Spanish. His bingo card will again have
the numbers 1-10. To make sure Student F is staying on task, we will have him sometimes roll the
dice. This should help his attention span. With continued encouragement we hope to make
progress with Student F and the numbers 1-5 this week.
After our activities we will ask the students some of their interests so that next time we can
incorporate activities in which they will be sure to be engaged in.
55 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 4 Reflection and
Lab 5 Plan
9/21 1 1 1 3 It was nice to see that all of your students were involved (if not
mastering) your last lesson. You seem to be making reasonable
judgments about the students’ ability levels based on the limited amount
of interaction you’ve gotten from them in recent encounters.
Furthermore, you are using appropriate cautious language in
communicating what you do know (e.g., you acknowledged that you
don’t really know if Student E can count in Spanish either, but that it’s
worth a shot since you know she is ELL). Your activities for next time
seem well suited to your group. I’m impressed with the accommodations
you’ve made for Student D in the Bingo game, and also how your
reflections on the last dice game influenced your modification of this
week’s Bingo game. Hopefully the Dora video will go well….if it is well
received, you might want to consider showing it 2 or 3 times so that the
students can continually improve with following along with the song,
dancing, and doing the jumping movements.
56 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
Betty and Ben
Student D, Student E, Student F [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
September 26, 2009
Lab _5_ Reflection and Lab _6_ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners17
.
a. We started our day at Longfellow showing the three students a Dora the Explorer video,
which practices counting 1 to 5. They first watched the video of Dora. Then we had them
practice by calling out a number in both English and Spanish and had them jump to that
part of the mat. We then had them watch the video and followed along with what Dora was
doing. The video with Dora seemed to go too fast for them, so instead we just called out
numbers again in both English and Spanish. Student F and Student D seemed to understand
how to jump from the numbers 1-5. On the other hand, Student E needed special
instruction. For Student E we had to continue holding up our fingers to help her see which
number to go to. Unfortunately, she still struggled with this activity, but seemed to like it.
We think Student F and Student D may have benefited from the Spanish, but it was hard to
tell for sure. The next activity we had them do was Bingo again. Student D had a more
advanced card since she can count past ten. Student F and Student E both had cards up to
ten. Right off the bat we knew that Student F and Student D were especially enjoying the
activity. We think that this is because they finally understand number order which made
the game more enjoyable for them. Since Student E was still struggling Betty and I split up
and Betty worked with Student D and Student F, while I worked with Student E at a slower
pace. Student E still has trouble counting the dots on the dice and cannot recognize
different number patterns. She needs to constantly be reminded that you start with the
number one, while also we have to whisper the number to her to get her started. After both
of the activities, we asked the students some of their interests so we could incorporate
these into our next activities. The students expressed to us that they liked playing the
Bingo game and would enjoy the opportunity to participate in this activity in our next
encounter.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
a. Student D continues to develop cardinality. When we would ask her how many dots were
on the dice, she knew the answer sometimes, and other times had to count. For the Dora
activity she succeeded at moving to the correct number on the mat. When Student E did
not understand which number to move to, we would ask Student D to help her. Also,
Student D was successful with recognizing her numbers on the Bingo card. She was able to
find the number more than once without any instruction. Student D is becoming a leader
because she understands her numbers. The Spanish seemed to help Student D, but not the
others.
b. With Student E we have tried many different strategies for her to understand that numbers
have order. For the Dora activity we used the strategy of holding up our fingers so she
17
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
57 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
could count. Also, we emphasized to her that she could use the dots on the mat to know
which number to stand on. She still is not grasping this concept of order. We still have to
remind her to start with the number 1. Most of the time she will then continue with the
numbers 2 and 3, but then she starts guessing. It is still obvious to us that we need to have
beginning activities for her. This may include having a Bingo card with only the numbers
1-5. It is essential that she receives one on one attention to help her better understand.
c. We can see that Student F is starting to make some progress. Although he cannot count to
5 by himself, it helps when we hold up our fingers for him to count or when he can count
the dots on the dice. With the Dora activity, it seemed that he finally was able to
sometimes start to recognize the numbers 1-5 along with the patterns. He seemed excited
when he moved to the correct number. For the bingo activity he seemed to recognize the
numbers faster than the last time and is becoming more confident in his answers.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. We think that the students had fun jumping from number to number with the Dora video.
This is because the activity related to their interests. They also seemed to enjoy the Bingo
game and even said that they would like to play again next time. We think that it is
important for our next activities to really relate to the students so that we can better keep
their attention. This is why our next activity of color by number will relate to their
interests. Such as having a picture of a dinosaur for Student F to color, and having the girls
color daisies/flowers. Even having the students up and moving using songs will possibly
help them continue to make progress. Also, we will count in Spanish to see if that
continues to help their learning and continue splitting up if need be.
58 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities18
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed: Color by number pages and crayons
Brief Description of the Activity: Students will match the number with the correct color crayon and color
the picture.
Activity 2
Materials Needed: Bingo cards, chips, and dice
Brief Description of the Activity: We will roll the dice and announce the number in both English and
Spanish and if the number is on the students Bingo card they will cover it with a chip. The goal is for
them to recognize the numbers one through ten.
Activity 3 (optional)
Materials Needed: Sheets with counting songs on them
Brief Description of the Activity: We have a variety of counting songs to sing with the students. Some are
more challenging than others and will be more beneficial for Student D, while there are also easier songs
to understand for Student E and Student F. Also, there are finger plays to incorporate movement, while
the students are also practicing counting.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
Although the first activity is only coloring the color by numbers go up to ten, so it still should be
somewhat of a challenge for Student D. We will continue to see her progress of recognizing
numbers and how many times she can recognize a number since multiple will be present during
the activity. Again her bingo card will consist of the numbers 1-15. We will continue to be able to
see if she has mastered counting past 10 on her own. This will be challenging for her because with
some number she struggled making the connection from the dice pattern to the actual number.
Instead of us rolling the dice and calling out numbers we will give Student D the opportunity to
call out the numbers on her own. This will give us a better idea if she has fully grasped
recognizing the numbers.
18
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
59 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
Since Student E is ELL we will remember to count in Spanish to see if she benefits from this. We
still are not sure if she can count in Spanish. We think she will enjoy the coloring activity because
it is not just strictly counting. Hopefully she will be entertained enough to stay on task with this
activity. Since the bingo activity this time will have patterns and numbers on the cards, Student E
may have the potential to recognize at least the numbers 1-3. Our goal for these 2 activities is for
Student E to be able to count on her own without the help of us holding up our fingers or giving
her hints.
We think Student F will benefit from coloring the numbers because he will have to recognize a
specific number more than once. At times, Student F will be able to recognize the number 4 and
other times he won’t. Sometimes we feel that it is more of a guess than Student F actually
knowing his numbers. His bingo card will again have the numbers 1-10. The Bingo activity will
especially benefit him because he is the one who specifically said he wanted to play next time. We
think it is because he is starting to feel confident with some of the numbers on the card.
Our last activity that includes singing different counting songs and having the students participate
in finger plays gives our students the opportunity to practice their numbers. Although many of the
songs are repetitive, it gives students the chance to have fun, while they will continue to
understand number order as it is presented in the songs.
From these last activities we want to be able to plan really good/creative last activities to see their
overall progress throughout the term. At the end of our activities we will ask the students if they
have any specific game they want to play for our last encounter.
Although at times we have both been frustrated with our students, we do feel that our students are
beginning to make some progress, even if it is not a lot. Our students do have the capability to
succeed at understanding “number sense”. It just is taking them a bit longer to grasp the concepts
of number patterns. We understand how to alter our activities to fit the needs of our three students.
60 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 5 Reflection and
Lab 6 Plan
9/28 1 1 1 3 Your reflection on the last encounter was clear, and you made reasonable
assessments of the students’ numerical abilities and their preferences for
activities. Though the students have a long way to go, you are doing a
nice job of identifying what they do know already, and thus making
reasonable plans for moving forward with them. Your comments at the
end are indicative of your maturation as teachers…you’re avoiding the
impulse to get frustrated over the children’s relatively slow pace of
development, but rather you are acknowledging the development which
is occurring. This was particularly true with your reflections on Student
F this time. Your planned activities for next time seem sensible, and you
do a nice job of accommodating the needs of each student in your
activities.
61 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan
Betty and Ben
Student D, Student E, Student F
October 19, 2009
Lab _6_ Reflection and Lab _7_ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners19
.
a. In our last encounter the students first did a color by number worksheet. Student E’s color
by number worksheet was very basic; it only had the numbers 1 through 3. At first she
needed help to identify the different numbers, however once we showed her one of the
numbers she was able to find the others that matched. Student F’s color by number
worksheet was focused on the numbers 1 through 8. He was able to recognize most of the
numbers by himself, but he still is unsure of the numbers 4 and 7. Student D’s worksheet
had numbers 1 through twelve. Student D struggled with identifying the numbers ten,
eleven and twelve. We felt this was a beneficial activity for the students because they were
able to demonstrate their understanding of the numbers that they knew. This was good
practice for them to be able to recognize a number more than once on the worksheet. We
believe that the students really enjoyed this activity because it was something new. Since
Student D and Student F had more difficult color by number worksheets, it took them
longer to complete. While Betty was helping them finish up, Ben was teaching Student E a
number poem called Turtles. After color by number, we played Bingo. Since we had done
this activity before, all of the students understood how to play. Through the few times we
have played Bingo, we have seen progress in the students. They are recognizing the
smaller number patterns more easily.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
a. Student D is continuing to develop cardinality. Sometimes she is able to recall the last
number she had counted and other times she must recount in order to tell us the answer.
She seemed to do well with recognizing the different numbers on the color by number
worksheet. We were impressed with how well she did. Of the three students, Student D is
most successful with recognizing her numbers on the Bingo card. She now helps the other
two students find their numbers on their Bingo cards.
b. Although Student E is still struggling with her numbers, she is beginning to make some
progress. For example, on her color by number worksheet, we would have to show her
where the number 1 was, but then she was able to find the number 1’s that matched. This
also goes for the numbers 2 and 3. We are not sure how beneficial Bingo was to her last
time because she does not really understanding that the dice patterns have a corresponding
number on her sheet. She continues to guess and think she will eventually reach the correct
answer.
c. It is evident that Student F is finally starting to understand number order. This was shown
through the color by number worksheet. He was able to identify different numbers by
himself. Student F is starting to find the numbers on his Bingo card much faster than
19
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
62 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan
before. We do not have to hold up our fingers for him as much anymore. For the most part
he understands to start with the number 1 while counting. However, sometimes he gets
tripped up on the numbers 4 and 7.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. Looking back from day 1 we can remember how frustrated we were with our students. We
were unsure as to how much progress they would make with understanding number sense.
Although it is not a lot of progress our students have shown us that they are capable of
understanding number order. It just takes them a longer period of time to recognize
numbers. We think this small group time where they can receive more attention is really
beneficial for them. The activities we have been choosing are geared toward helping the
students counting as well as recognizing the different numbers. Our last activities with the
students will focus on these two aspects as well.
63 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities20
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed: Color by number worksheets, crayons
Brief Description of the Activity: students will match the number with the correct color crayon and color
the picture.
Activity 2
Materials Needed: footprint pages
Brief Description of the Activity: With footprints printed on the paper, we will line them up down the
hallway. The students will step on each footprint while counting as they go. One student will go at a time
and all three students will count out loud each number of steps.
Activity 3 (optional)
Materials Needed: pairs of cards 1 through 10
Brief Description of the Activity: This game is called memory. The pairs of cards will be face down
aligned in a square on the desk. Each student will take turns turning over two cards and trying to find a
match. As the students turn over a card, they will have to tell us what number it is and attempt to count
that many dots on the card. This will help the students with recognition and matching alike numbers.
Since the students are able to see the number along with that number of dots we believe this will help
their progress because they are seeing the number in a variety of ways
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
Although the first activity is color by number it still is beneficial for the students in helping them
recognize different numbers. It will also be a good review because we did this activity last time.
We will continue to see if Student D can improve in recognizing numbers and how many times
she can recognize a number since multiple will be present during the activity. This time we are
giving her an even more challenging color by number. We hope that she will be able to recognize
more numbers above ten. It will be exciting to see what number Student D can count up to for the
footprints. Since Student E seemed to enjoy coloring last time we are also giving her a more
20
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
64 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan
challenging color by number this time. The numbers will go up to 7. When we originally did the
foot print activity, Student E could only get to 3 and sometimes did not start with 1. For this
activity we are hoping that Student E begins with the number 1 and can hopefully get to the
number 5. Student F surprised us last time with how well he did on his color by number. He only
got confused on 2 different numbers. This time we are challenging him with higher numbers in
hopes that he will surprise us again. When we did the foot print activity last time, he did not even
want to participate. Hopefully this time he will feel more confident in his abilities and want to give
it a try. The last activity is a review game to help the students recognize numbers that match. It is
another opportunity for the students to recognize different numbers and patterns.
65 “Betty and Ben”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 6 Reflection and
Lab 7 Plan
10/5 1 0.75 1 2.75 It was nice reading that your “color-by-numbers” activity from Lab 6
seemed pretty much ideal: the students enjoyed it, but it also challenged
each student in that each child’s worksheet was designed to push on their
respective abilities. Your reflection as a whole was very well written.
You provided pertinent details of your last encounter and provided a
detailed record of your assessment of the students’ current skills.
Both of your activities are clearly related to what you learned about the
children in your last encounter. It would have been helpful if you had
been specific about the actual numbers you plan to use for each child.
You mentioned that you’d be giving Student D “more numbers above
ten,” but didn’t mention exactly which numbers. This was also the case
for Student F. These details would have made for a stronger case that
you are “pushing students toward a deeper understanding of number.”
66 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan
Alex & Andy
Student G and Student H [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
8/26/09
Lab _X_ Reflection and Lab _1_ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners21
.
a. In this encounter, we watched our kindergarteners get tested on their counting, and
assessed them with the “counting objects” assessment. We did not get to work personally
with the students, but observed them from watching the video posted on moodle. Student
G had a very bubbly personality, talkative, and was often distracted by other things in the
room. Student G was constantly smiling and excited to do things, especially when she
knew she was getting them right. With counting, Student G knew what she was doing, but
frequently got distracted and lost her place while counting out the colored circles, which
eventually led her to an incorrect answer. Student G did well when it came to “& 1 more”,
but struggled and only gave one correct answer when it came to taking one away. Student
H was quieter than Student G, and appeared to be more timid and shy. She did not speak
out as much as Student G did, and only spoke when answering questions about the circles,
while Student G spoke about what was on her mind. When Student H counted her circles
she just pointed to them and did not move them. She was strong in counting, but lacked a
one-to-one knowledge, and did not seem confident with her answers. Student H also
struggled with adding on numbers, as well as taking away numbers.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
a. At the moment, both children seem to know what it means for a number to have one more
added to the original number. While Student G did her one more section, she started with
the only five counters and she went through to 8 and 1 more correctly and with ease.
Student H could also answer the 5 and 1 more questions accurately till she got to 8, but
Student H still counted every time a circle was taken away. Student G also seems to know
what it means for a number to have one more up to the number 17 on the assessment.
Student G can count, but loses track after a short period of time. Student H can also count,
but is lacking in the one-to-one correspondence with the numbers and the circles. Both
girls were strong when it came to counting the circles, but now it is time for the girls to
learn the meaning of numbers and eventually cardinality.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. When working with the students in the future we will know some of their strengths and
weaknesses. With both girls we know it will be important to talk about and learn more
about what it means to have one less than a number. Also, it will be important to share
21
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
67 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan
with the girls a strategy for counting in which they could organize their circles by moving
them into a certain pattern so they understand a one to one relationship and do not lose
count of their numbers. I also think it would be beneficial to know what it means when
asking how many did they count, and having the girls understand that what the last number
was, was how many circles that they counted. Working on cardinality with the girls will
help them both to understand the numbers while counting. Both girls seemed to be sweet
and very nice, so when working with them we will be sure to be enthusiastic and
encouraging so that they feel comfortable and at ease.
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities22
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed:
A set of 10-12 small counters or blocks
A sheet of paper
Brief Description of the Activity:
The kids will line up the counters or blocks on their desks in a row. With one hand, or a sheet of
paper they will cover a certain number of counters. If they cover 3, they would look at the paper,
say the number of counters being covered and continue counting from that number. For example,
if 3 counters were covered, the students would say 3 and continue counting on starting with 4, then
5 and so on.
A different amount can be covered each time to practice starting to count from different numbers.
Activity 2
Materials Needed:
A set of up to 25 small counters of one color
A of up to 25 small counters of a different color
A spinner
The game board
Brief Description of the Activity:
The object of the game is to be the child with the most amounts of their colored counters on the
top row of the 5 circles x 5 circle game board.
22
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
68 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan
There will be 2 children opposing one another, each with their own color counters. One of the
children goes first by spinning the spinner and having it land on the number. The child then counts
out that number of her colored counters and then puts them into the big circle and waits while the
other child to does the same. They now both have their number of counters and the child who spun
first can now place her counters on any of the 5 x 5 circles. The next child does the same but does
not cover up the other child’s counters. Then is it time for them to spin again and place their
counters on the board. The child with the most amount of their counters in the top row wins.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
The activities we have chosen build off of the first part of the reflection, and push them to
learn new things. The counting on activity will be useful for both girls because it will reinforce
their counting skills and the idea of a number and one more. Student H struggled with the idea of a
number and one more, so I think this activity will be beneficial by seeing how the numbers follow
one another, and how to count on when not beginning with one. Student G does well with adding
one on, so this activity would be easy for her, but for Student G it could be changed so that she
works with taking away one, rather than adding one. With Student G, it would be good to start
with a different number and cover one counter, so that then she could learn about take away one.
At the beginning, she may have to count, but soon she will realize what it means for each number
to have one less.
The Chute activity can help them in numerous ways. The children will practice counting
objects within the game by counting out the circles after they spin and land on the number. This
part of the activity can help them relate words numerals and physical referents as well so they will
be. They will also have the chance to recognize that numbers break apart into a collection of other
numbers (5 can be broken down into a collection of 2 and a collection of 3). Each column is made
up of 5 circles and when the counters are placed in those circles the children will be able to see
what numbers make up 5 depending on the amount of different colored counters in that column.
For example there can be either 2 of one color and 3 counters of the other so the children may be
able to recognize that 3 and 2 make up 5.
69 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 0 Reflection and Lab 1 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Counting Assessment
and Lab 1 Plan
8/26 1 1 1 3 Very clearly written and thoughtful plan! You did a nice job of providing
your assessment of the children’s knowledge, and pointing to evidence
from the video which supported your assessment. Both of your activities
seem well suited to Student G and Student H. I liked the suggested
accommodation for Student G, stating that you might challenge her with
a “one less” question if the “one more” questions were too easy for her.
You also did a very nice job of rationalizing your choice of activities,
clearly stating how they connected to the assessment findings and how
they have potential to expand the girls’ thinking. FYI: I think Student G
was bubbly and talkative during the video because 1) it was her birthday
and 2) she knew me already. The first time I encountered her, however,
she was VERY shy. So, don’t be surprised if she’s not quite as “bubbly”
when you first meet her!
70 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan
Alex & Andy
Student G, Student H & Student I [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
8/31/09
Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners23
.
a. In our first real encounter with our kindergartners, we introduced ourselves and separated
the three students. Alex took Student I to assess him and I stayed in the classroom with
Student G and Student H. I introduced our first activity, Ah Chute, to Student G and
Student H and explained to them that the object of the game was to get more colored
counters in the top row than the opponent. Student G announced that she had had previous
experience playing this game so I understood that she had prior knowledge compared to
Student H and might have an upper hand in the concept. This became clear when Student
G won both games. After the girls played the two games Alex came in with Student I after
assessing him and we then played our second activity. In this game we lined up 10
counters and had them count them and then covered up some of them and had the students
say the number that was being covered and continue counting the rest of the counters that
were showing. We did the activity a variety of times by covering up different number of
counters and altering the questions asked. Student I was an excellent counter as well as
Student G, only messing up a couple times. However, Student H gave incorrect answers
the majority of the time.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
a. The children seem to know how to count consecutively. Student G and Student I are able
to count to at least 32 with only a couple of mistakes. Student H on the other hand has
some difficulty counting to 10 and often skips numbers. Student H can count out up to 5
counters correctly but shows difficulty counting to 10 which shows she’s lacking one-to-
one correspondence with numbers and counters. The children also seem to understand
what it means to add one more to a number presented. However, when I asked who had
won none of the girls answered even though I went over the rules again and explained that
the girl with the most counters in the top row wins. After I had them count that, there were
3 reds and 2 yellows Student G understood that she had indeed one because she had the
most counters which means that she understands that three is more than two. Student G
also understands that when 3 counters is hidden that she has to start at 4 when counting for
the second activity. We noticed that Student G had could not count to 10 the last time we
asked her and instead counted “6, 9, 18…” and then noticed that she was incorrect and
said “wait… I’m counting wrong”. Student I had no problem counting to 10 and played the
second game very well. He even helped out, when it was Student G’s turn to count after
she admitted she admitted that she was wrong, and correctly finished counting to 10.
23
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
71 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. Since we have worked with them once before, we are now aware of things that will help us
when teaching them next time. We are now aware of the children’s personalities, not just
intelligence, which will help us get through to them and teach them concepts. For example,
Student H is shy and quiet. Since we know this, we give her time to answer because
although she knows the answers to some questions she will not say it right away and will
take time to think. Student G, on the other hand, knows the answers most of the time but is
very energetic and happy which sometimes confuses or distracts her from getting the right
answer. Student I is a delightful little boy, who is often quiet, but as we have seen is not
afraid to help out his fellow students when he knows the right answer and sees that they are
struggling. Aside from their personalities we know we need to address a few things from
their assessments as well as the time we spent with them personally. We know that we
need to go over what it means to have one less than a number. We can also go over a
helpful tip with Student H about moving and lining up the counters once they have already
been counting, which will help her with one-to-one. Another big concept we have to work
on with our students is cardinality. They need to know that the last number they counted
represents how many counters are present, which is the correct answer to the majority of
the questions we ask.
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities24
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed:
Cupcake liner, Marker, and counting objects such as disks.
Brief Description of the Activity:
Each cupcake liner will have a number written on the outside, starting off with 1-10.
The students will take the counters and put the amounts into the numbers tins.
As the students progress, the muffin tins will have a larger number on them.
Activity 2
Materials Needed:
Matching game cards
24
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
72 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan
Brief Description of the Activity:
The match cards will be face down on the table
The students will pick two cards trying to match the correct numbers and amount of objects on the
cards. The student with the most pair of matches will have won the game.
After the first game is finished and the numbers have been matched successfully, the students will
play another round where the second card they pick is to be one more than the first. This round
will help the students learn what one more than the previous number is.
Another game could be played where the second card picked must be one less than the first. In this
activity the students will practice learning what it means to be one less than a number.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
a. These activities will further the student knowledge when it comes to counting and recognizing the
cardinality of the number. The activity with the muffin tins will be helpful for all of the students.
In this activity the students will be placing counters in the cupcake liners to represent the number
that is drawn on them. In this activity the students are physically placing objects in the liners so
that they begin to recognize the cardinality of the numbers. For Student H and Student I this will
show them that to count the objects they can pick them up and move them, rather than simply
pointing to the objects. This will also show all of the kids a one-to-one relationship between the
counters and the numbers. Student G will further her knowledge of counting and enhance the idea
of cardinality so she can understand what it means for a number to have an amount.
b. The activity with the matching cards will be beneficial for all of the students. The cards have a
number on them, and an amount of objects that the number represents. The first round will use the
knowledge the kids currently have about matching a number to that same number. After they are
comfortable at this level, then they can progress to a round where the match has to be a number
and one more. This way the kids are learning about ordering of the numbers and what it means to
be one more. After working with the one more strategy, they can do a round where they are trying
to match a number and one less. This will be beneficial for all the students because they can all
work on what it means to be one more and one less. Student G and Student I thought one more
was easy when it dealt with smaller numbers, but struggled when it came to knowing what it
meant to be one less. With the matching game they will be able to practice and expand their
knowledge so they can see what it means to be one less. Student H struggled with knowing one
more and one less so this activity will be especially helpful for her when practicing and seeing on
the cards what the numbers are, and what one less will look like. This game will be helpful to all
of the kids by strengthening and expanding their knowledge on counting and numbers.
73 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 1 Reflection and Lab 2 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 1 Reflection and
Lab 2 Plan
8/31 1 1 1 3 Once again, your write-up is very clear and easy to follow. You clearly
explain your informal assessment of Student G and Student H based on
your last encounter, as well as your formal assessment of Student I’s
skills based on the Richardson assessment. You provide useful
“evidence” explaining your assessments…that is, you clearly describe
exactly what happened during your encounter, which serves as a
reasonable basis for the assessments you make. Your two activities seem
to be particularly well suited to these three children. Each activity can be
adjusted to meet the different abilities of the 3 children. You do a nice
job of explaining exactly how these activities build off of your earlier
reflections of the students, the potential the activities have for moving the
children’s thinking forward.
74 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
Alex and Andy
Student I, Student G, Student H [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
9/9/09
Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners25
.
a. During our last encounter with the Kindergarteners, we played 2 different games to work
on their number sense. We gathered our group of Student I, Student G, and Student H, sat
at a table in the library and started to play our two different math games. The first game we
did was with cupcake liners and counting pieces. Each cupcake liner had a number 1-10
and one with 15 written on the outside for the kids to clearly see. Each student was given a
different cup and was told to put the number of counters that was represented on each cup,
into the cup. For example, if a child had the number 7, they were to count out seven
different chips to put into their cupcake liner. While giving the students the cups we would
ask them questions about the numbers, such as, which number was higher and which
number was the smallest. All the children were very quiet, but Student G spoke up and told
the answers right away. As the children were filling the cups, they began to physically
move the counters and separate them away from the larger pile in the middle. This helped
the students organize their thoughts and then know that they had the right amount to put in
the cups. We did this exercise with the students three different times, giving the students
three different numbers each time. One cup had the number 15 on it, and was given to
Student G because she understood the concept the most. We wanted to challenge her to see
if she could count higher than 10 accurately.
b. The next game we played was memory. We had flashcards with numbers 1-8, also on those
cards was an object presented on the cards, which matched the number. For example, if the
card had a number 2 on it, there would be two sheep on the card as well. We started with a
game of regular memory so that the kids could match up identical numbers. Everyone
seemed to have no problem with this concept and understand which numbers would match.
After the first round, we told them to find a match that involved a number and then a card
with one more than that number. Therefore, if the students found a 6, the match would be
one more than that, so the card the students were looking for was 7. This round went much
better than expected because all three knew what one more was for the numbers 1-8. When
they picked up a number that was not one more, they knew it was incorrect.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
a. At the moment, the children seem to know the numbers 1-10 very well, and are gaining
strength on learning what it is to be one more. When filling the cupcake liners with
numbers through 10, the students could easily count out how many were there, and Student
G and Student I would recognize the numbers that were written on the liners. Student H
struggled with recognizing the numbers, and what they were. When asked what her
25
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
75 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
number was she would just shrug her shoulders, but when it came to counting to that
number, she seemed to have a better understanding. When we asked Student H what came
after 8 she replied with “7”. We then showed her the numbers and she seemed to
understand that 9 was actually after 8 which showed that she did not understand the
numbers without physical representation or the number itself. When Student G was given
the cup with the number 15, she struggled at first with counting higher by going to 17, but
with helpful hints(such as counting along with her, to make sure she counts slower, as she
pointed to the counters) she realized her error. With the memory game, we saw that our
kindergarteners were doing much better than expected with a number and one more, when
the numbers were 1-8. When we played memory with the one more concept, every student
seemed confident in what came after those numbers. Student G became very excited when
she realized there was card on the other side that someone else picked up and she knew it
would be her one more. Student I and Student H also understood one more when playing
the game, and began recognizing the idea after just a couple rounds
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. There were important observations that we made when we worked with our students this
time. We realized that they understand the idea of a number and one more better than we
thought they did. We also saw that Student H specifically had trouble recognizing the
number itself and what it meant, when she saw an 8, she did not know what it meant.
When further working with Student H it will be important to show her visual
representations and connect the number, she counts to a visual representation of the
number 8, and then proceeds without the physical representation to see if she understands
the concept fully. The students did very well with the numbers that went 1-10, and seemed
to be confident when working with those numbers. It seems that Student H was a more shy
than Student G and Student I, therefore we spoke about next time having one of the us
sitting next to her, hoping that this will help increase her confidence and give any extra
help as needed. Our students were extremely well behaved and listened very well, which
shows us that we will be able to do activities that involve movement and other things
without many problems, though there is always a chance for something unexpected to
happen.
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities26
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
26
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
76 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
Materials Needed:
A set of cards numbered 1-10.
Brief Description of the Activity:
The teacher will place the cards face down on the ground in a scattered pattern. Each child will
then take a turn skipping, hopping, or galloping to pick up a card and come back to where the
teacher and other students are waiting.
When the student returns, they will show the number of card to everyone and place it on the table
or floor, depending on where the group is situated.
Another student will gallop to retrieve a card and bring it back. Once he or she is back, they will
show the number, and begin putting the cards into correct numerical order.
and the students will be working with one another the whole time to put the cards in the correct
order.
The goal is for students to move around as well as learn the correct order of the numbers, and The
students will continue traveling to the cards and bringing them back till all cards are collected,
recognize what each number looks like.
Activity 2
Materials Needed:
None
Brief Description of the Activity:
The next step of the activity is to have the students count the number of claps, taps or stomps the
teacher makes.
The students can then imitate the number of movements, they can do the same as the teacher or
different as long as it is the same amount. Examples: clap three times, hop three times, skip five
times, nod six times etc. They can count as a group or separately.
Then it will be their turn to pick a number and act out a movement. The other children and the
teacher will repeat until it is the next students turn.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
These two activities build off our knowledge in part 1 in many ways. We know that the children understood
the concept of one more (when presented with 1-8). Therefore in activity 1 we build off this knowledge and see if
they are able to place the numbers in chronological order to see if they understand that a number has more than the
other number, even if the students have to do it in small increments such as one more. The students will also have
more practice counting to 10 orally due to Activity 2, which will especially help Student H with correct order.
Student G has difficulty sometimes keeping track of her counting so both activities will help the students keep
better track of counting accurately.
Since Student H has difficulty recognizing written numbers the first activity will allow her to
practice with the written number some more in hopes of identifying them because she needs help Student
H also needs help with relating words numerals and physical referents to 10. The concept of placing them
77 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan
chronologically will hopefully also help her understand number order a little better and that 7 actually
comes before 8 instead of after, which she incorrectly answered in our previous activity. As soon as we
see that she is understanding the different numbers we will then see if she can count without the physical
number within activity 2. Even if Student H does not associate the number symbol with the accurate
amount then we know that we will have to try again next time with a different approach. However, we
hope that with activity 2 she achieve a deeper understanding and be able to count without the physical
representation. Adding movements into the activities will help our students in various ways. Movement engages students
in the activity and concept the teacher is trying to convey. Bodily movement also helps with learning and memory.
It increases brain flow, which then moves oxygen through body that turns thoughts into action. The movement
helps with students social skills, which should bring Student H out of her shell a little more to vocalize answers.
The increase in blood flow can also help Student I become more comfortable around us and be more sociable. The
movements within the activity should also help us as teachers focus Student G’s energy a little more so we can
attain her attention.
78 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 2 Reflection and Lab 3 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 2 Reflection and
Lab 3 Plan
9/9 1 1 1 3 This is a very detailed and thoughtful reflection/plan. You took note of
many important aspects of your last encounter with the children, and
clearly incorporated your reflections into your plan for lab 3. You did a
nice job of highlighting each individual student’s apparent ability levels
and then ensuring that your lab 3 activities accommodate each of them. I
sense that Student G may be advancing with her counting (e.g., staying
with numbers less than 10 may soon be too simple for her), so bear this in
mind in your future sessions. Of course, you will get data in this regard
during lab 3, but, if my suspicions about Student G are correct, you may
need to make some accommodations for her in future lessons.
79 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
Alex and Andy
Student G, Student I, Student H [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
9/13/09
Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners27
.
a. During our last encounter with the kindergartens we planned to do activities that involved
movement. For the first activity we placed ten cards on the ground face down. Each
student took turns hopping, skipping, or jumping to a card and bringing it back. They then
showed the card to their fellow students and placed it on the table. As they students
brought back cards, they placed them in the correct order from 1-10. We had the
kindergartners count the numbers and practice telling us what each number stood for. After
we did numbers 1-10, we placed five more cards down that had 11-15 to practice doing
numbers that were more than ten. When doing these numbers, Student G could recognize
the numbers, and so could Student I, but Student I was not sure of the correct number
order. Student H struggled with numbers that were greater than 7, but with extra help from
us we were able to help her along with the counting. While the numbers were in order we
would point to a number and ask the kindergarteners which number it was for number
recognition. They all did well, but Student H struggled with this concept. The
kindergartners enjoyed hopping towards the numbers, but at times Student G seemed
bored. Student G is beginning to show the different levels of counting between her and her
other group members. In later lessons we will look to provide more challenges to Student
G.
b. The next activity we did also involved movement. We would pick a number 1-10 and then
do a physical activity to the amount of claps. For example, we started off with the number
7, and all did seven claps. The kindergarteners then took turns picking a number and
activity to do along with the number. The kindergartners really enjoyed jumping and
twirling to numbers. Student H picked mostly smaller numbers, and Student G and Student
I picked numbers that were greater than five. The kids showed understanding of counting
aloud without physical representation. The activity went well, but at times Student I did
not want to participate and seemed like he had a little attitude at times. Overall, the activity
went well and the kids enjoyed the movement that went along with the counting.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
a. At the moment the Kindergartners are becoming much more comfortable with the idea of
counting and number order. Student G is doing exceptionally well with counting, and has a
higher number recognition than Student I and Student H. For our next activity, we will
have to come up with a more challenging activity for Student G so she is challenged rather
than becoming bored in our time with her. Student H is making progress, however she is
not at the level of Student I or Student G yet, but Student H is coming out of her shell more
often. She is recognizing more numbers, and counting easier up to ten, even though at
27
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
80 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
times she still becomes stuck. Now that she is becoming more comfortable and less shy we
think that she will be more into the activities that we are doing. Student I is doing well, but
had a little attitude during our last encounter. He did well with counting numbers up to 12,
but wanted to put number 15 right next to number 12. He is doing excellent with 1-10 and
also needs to be challenged with numbers that come after 10. For our next activities we
will look for games that will allow each level to be encompassed so no one is left out or is
feeling bored.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. An important observation that we made from working with the kindergarteners is that we
need to make sure that all students are engaged in the activity. At times Student G seemed
to be bored and looking around for different things to do. Student I was interested most of
the time, but started acting up which led us to believe that he also became bored. Student H
was interested at all times but we felt like she stood in the back and was afraid to ask
questions or come to the front when we were explaining things. We will need to keep an
eye on all of the kindergartners to make sure that they are all paying attention to what is
going on in the activity. Student H especially enjoyed the movement and activity and that
is where she came out of her shell and started smiling the most. Student G enjoyed the
movement, but the content of the lower numbers seemed to be boring to her. She began
looking around the library, and through the windows on the library door. We know next
time to pick activities that keep each of the students engaged, and to work to find activities
that can fit all the levels of the students that we have.
81 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities28
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed:
Cupcake liners
Counters
Brief Description of the Activity:
There will be cupcake liners with numbers 1-20 written on them. Each kindergartner will be
given a tin and have to fill the tin with the number of counters that is written on the cup.
After filling a cup, the students will be given another with either a more challenging number,
or a smaller number if they had trouble with the first.
Activity 2
Materials Needed:
Connect the Dots worksheets
Crayons
Brief Description of the Activity:
The students are each given a connect-the-dots worksheet according to their difficulty level.
The students will connect the dots by going in chronological order. We will count the numbers
together if need be.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
The cupcake activity will build on what the children know and push them to learn more. Also,
many of our kids are at different levels with their counting ability, so this will be a good activity for them
to do the same activity, but also the same activity at different levels. We have done this activity before,
but I think it will be a good idea to revisit it to further the kindergartners counting knowledge. Student G
is doing very well counting up to 15, but we want her to start going past that number so that she can
challenge herself. Student H still struggles with the lower numbers, and having her count objects out is a
great way for her to continue learn and strengthen her counting abilities. Student I will also be able to go
to larger numbers and challenge himself as well. We could add to this activity by creating a movement
28
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
82 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan
aspect because each student seemed to really enjoy moving with the previous activity we did. After
counting their chips, they can jump one more or one less that is in their cup to integrate movement.
This activity paired with the first one will give the students a chance to recognize numbers and
their meaning, as well as engaging them and counting. In our second activity, we decided to incorporate
the different learning levels of our students. We have two worksheets for each of the children, one with
appropriate numbers that they recognize and another that will challenge them more by counting higher if
needed. With this activity, we addressed Student G’s ability to count well into the double digits. Her first
worksheet she needs to count to 20, and the second 28. Since we have witnessed Student G’s ability to
count and recognize numbers 1-15. She is also capable of counting all the way to 29 correctly; however,
we will use these activities to see if she can recognize the numbers. For Student I, whose ability is
between Student G’s and Student H’s, we gave him worksheets that counts to 15 and 19. We know that
Student I should be able to count to 15 well enough because he showed little trouble counting to 15 in
Plan 3. With this activity, we have Student H count and connect to 12 for her first task and 15 for her
second worksheet. Since she often has trouble counting to 7, we will be there to help her. However, she
does recognize 10 sometimes so counting to 12 should not be too hard for her.
83 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 3 Reflection and Lab 4 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 3 Reflection and
Lab 4 Plan
9/14 1 1 1 3 Good. Once again, you provided an informative account of your last
meeting. Not surprisingly, Student G is emerging as having more
advanced counting skills than the other two children. You’ve done a nice
job of proposing activities for next time which simultaneously involve all
of the children but allow for different students to work at different levels.
84 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan
Alex and Andy
Student G, Student I, Student H [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
9/21/09
Lab _4_ Reflection and Lab _5_ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners29
.
a. In our last encounter with the kindergartners, we played two games. The first game was a
repeated game that we had done before, the cupcake liner game. This time with the game,
we challenged Student G and Student I with higher numbers, and worked with Student H
on numbers 1-10. Student G did well with higher numbers, but ran into trouble around 12-
14. She knew how to count but could not recognize the numbers and had trouble with the
order. Student I also struggled with higher numbers and got confused when he worked with
numbers over 10. Student H did much better today with her numbers, but still became
confused at times. When Student H moved the pieces into a row, it seemed to organize her
thinking better and visualize what went on. We helped Student H by making her a pyramid
of numbers 1-8 to show how one number is bigger than the other. This idea seemed to
really help her. After the cupcake liner game, we had a connect-the-dot puzzle for each of
the students. Student G had the most challenging puzzle (counting to 19), then Student I (to
15), then Student H (to 12). With this activity, the students were able to do it at their own
unique level, but still do the same activity. Student G and Student I understood connect the
dots very quickly, and did not seem to struggle when it came to counting out their
numbers. Student H struggled at the beginning with the connect-the-dots. She was not
certain about what to do, or which number came next, she was very hesitant about making
the connections between numbers. In this activity, Student H needed a lot of assistance
from us throughout the entire puzzle. She has a good understanding of counting, but
became nervous and struggled with the her connect-the-dots.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.)
a. At the moment the children seem to have a strong counting sense. Student G and Student I
can both count higher numbers than Student H, but struggle when it comes to looking at
numbers 10-15. They can both count to double digits, but do not have cardinality when it
comes to those numbers. Student H is improving a little more each visit with her. She is
gaining more confidence in her counting and becoming more comfortable with numbers 6-
9, when it comes to number 10, she still struggles with the idea. When working with the
kids the next time, we think that using the 5-tables will help them see the progression of
the numbers, and help to develop cardinality of the numbers. With these tables, we will
have one for each student so that they can practice individually, with our observation and
guidance, at different levels.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
29
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
85 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. When working with the kindergartners, we gathered up new ideas to use the next time we
meet with them. Because Student G and Student I struggle with numbers between 10-15,
and Student H struggles with numbers 5-10, we thought of using the Five-tables. This way
we can have a visual representation of the numbers and work on cardinality with the
students. From the interactions we had in Lab 4, their counting has improved, but when
they were putting numbers in the cupcake liners, Student G got stuck with numbers 12-14,
Student I got stuck with numbers 10-12, and Student H got stuck when it came to numbers
7-9. We would like to use the five tables to work on their counting and cardinality skills.
All of the students seem to be doing well, and improving over time. There have not been
many dramatic jumps, but progress is being made slowly. With the connect-the-dot puzzle
Student H struggled more than we would have liked, so when working with the tables next
time it will be important to monitor her and help her with her confidence. Student H knows
the numbers, but we think she lacks the confidence when it comes to counting aloud and in
front of others.
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities30
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed:
3-15 Five frames
Counters
Brief Description of the Activity:
One counter is permitted per section while no other counters are allowed on the five-frame.
Children place a counter in a section of the five-frame depending upon the number the teacher
wants. The children then will arrange the number of counters in the five-frame in any manner.
The teacher asks children to explain what they observe about the numbers. They can focus on the
relation to five, for example, how many more they need to get to five. On the other hand, if placed
four on the five-frame with a blank space in-between the students can see that four is a
combination of two and two.
Once the children work with the five-frame the teacher can increase difficulty and learning by
adding more five-frames as they go along, and adding ten-frames.
30
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
86 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan
Activity 2
Materials Needed:
Caterpillar board game
Crayons
Bag
Index cards numbered 1-15, and 1-10
Brief Description of the Activity:
Each student is given a caterpillar board game
The students each draw a number from the bag, the highest number goes first
The students take turns drawing numbers from the bag
The number that the students draw is how many spaces they fill in on their caterpillar with their
crayon
The student who fills the caterpillar first, wins.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how
do your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children
toward a deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your
knowledge of the children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning
experience for them?
a. With the Five-frame activity we hope to help the students relate a given to numbers such
as five and ten. For our students it is crucial that they understand cardinality and having
them work with five-frame, and then maybe eventually a ten-frame, is a great way to start.
For the Student H, as well as Student I and Student G, it is essential for them to work with
the five-frame so they can sense a numbers relationship to five. For Student G and Student
I however, they might work on a ten-frame if they understand the meaning behind 1-5,
which we believe they do from previous assessment but will continue to assess within this
activity. We hope that these frames will help the students place meaning behind the
numbers they are saying (Student H it would be 5-7, Student I and Student G 10-15) as
well as help them with cardinality.
b. With the caterpillar game, the students are building on their number sense and working on
their cardinality. Each student is strong when it comes to counting, but do not know what
the numbers they are saying means. Student G and Student I struggled with numbers above
10 and lower than 15, and Student H is still having some difficulty with numbers 5-10,
though she is showing improvement. Coloring in the number of spaces drawn will help the
students see how many the number is representing. Because there are different ability
levels, there will be two different bags for the kids to choose from. Student G and Student I
will choose from the bag that goes until 15 since they can count higher. Student H will also
choose from that bag, but if she is struggling, we will help her out, and also have the other
students give advice so that they can feel like a teacher and also feel like they are helping a
friend. The numbers 10-15 will be challenging her, but after working with the 5 tables
from the previous activity, it will test her new knowledge. This activity will give Student G
87 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan
and Student I more practice in the numbers they struggle with and giving them more
confidence and knowledge with the higher numbers.
88 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 4 Reflection and Lab 5 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 4 Reflection and
Lab 5 Plan
9/21 1 1 1 3 I’m impressed with the accuracy of your assessment of each child’s
counting skill. That is, you’ve identified that Student H’s current limit
seems to be in the 6-9 range, while the other two get hung up in the teens
sometime. Both of your proposed activities seem sensible, and I’m
impressed that both of the activities can be easily modified to meet the
more advanced needs of Student G and Student I. Using 5- and 10-
frames will hopefully have the additional benefit of making the children
think about organizing numbers in 5’s and 10’s….though this is not your
primary objective at the moment, it could potentially be a long-term
benefit.
89 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
Alex and Andy
Student G, Student I, Student H [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
9/28/09
Lab _5_ Reflection and Lab _6_ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners31
.
a. During our last encounter with the Kindergartens we planned two activities to help the kids
work on their counting, specifically numbers 10-15 with Student I and Student G, and 6-10
with Student H. At today’s lab Student G was absent so we just had Student H and Student
I. The first activity we did was working on counting with the five frames. We chose this
activity because it would help the students to visually see what the numbers represented
and begin relating the numbers to five. Because there were only two students today we
were able to work individually with the students at the same time. This way they were both
doing the same activity, but were concentrating on different levels. Student H began
working on numbers greater than five, and Student I worked on numbers that were
between 10 and 12. They both did well, but Student I got stuck on some numbers and
would either say 18 or 8. This activity did a great job having them practice counting and
understanding the number sequence, but we noticed that they soon became bored with the
game and wanted to do something more exciting. The next activity we did was a caterpillar
game. With this game the students were each given a caterpillar with open spaces to color
in. The students would draw a number from a paper bag, and then color in the amount of
spaces that were on the card. The student who colored in the caterpillar first would be the
winner of the game. In the bag there were numbers from 1-15. Student H pulled out
numbers 12 and 13 first, so she did a lot of practicing with her counting. Student I pulled
out numbers like 4, 9 and 8. Student I really enjoyed the game and wanted to be the
winner. When he finished he grabbed his paper excitedly and said, “I win, I win”. Student
H enjoyed coloring in the spaces, but we think she would have liked smaller numbers to
work with at first.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
a. Our students seem to be gaining knowledge from our visits slowly but surely. Each time
we work with the kindergarteners they seem to make some improvement. Right now
Student I is comfortable counting numbers up to fifteen, though at some times he becomes
confused and jumps to the number 18. Something that Student I could improve on or work
on is one more one less. He knows one more one less up to ten, but could use practice with
10-15. He seems to be comfortable counting numbers but needs to work on which number
comes after a certain number and which number comes before after he gets to ten. With the
five frame he counted to ten with ease and did much better counting to fifteen than the past
encounters we have had with him. Student H did well today counting the numbers on the
five frame and in the game. She did very well counting up to ten, but at times seemed to
struggle. We think that this was because she got nervous or timid at the time. When it came
31
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
90 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
to the caterpillar game she had some tough numbers at the beginning, but with some
helpful hints she did well filling them out. Student H is also making progress and with
Student I could use work on one more one less, and on numbers that come after ten.
Student G was absent, so we still believe that she can count well up to about 20, but gets
confused with the numbers 10-15. With her it would also help to do one more one less to
work on the correct order number, placement and cardinality.
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
a. We have been working on counting and worked on one more one less on one of the first
labs. Today at the lab the students seemed interested in other activities that were going on
around the room. We think that during the next lab it will be important to incorporate
movement into the activities again to get the students interested and engaged. We were
thinking of beginning the day with a game, like Simon says and have actions be something
like 10 claps, or 8 jumps, and activity that has math and motion incorporated. The children
seemed restless on the last lab, so something that had movement in it would benefit him.
Also movement brings Student H out of her shell and she isn’t as shy so she will have fun
in addition to learning.
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities32
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed:
Play Dough
Numbered Cards
Paper Bag
Sheets of Paper for under play dough
Brief Description of the Activity:
Students will pick a number from the bag (1-15)
Students will then make the amount of play dough balls on the card
For a variation, we will tell the kids to make one more than the amount or one less than the
amount on the card that they draw.
Activity 2
32
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
91 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan
Materials Needed:
None
Brief Description of the Activity:
The teacher will explain to the kids that the game is similar to Simon Says. That the students will
have to do what the teacher says, but only if the teacher says, “Simon says” before she tells them
what to do.
However, instead of any random movements the teacher will instruct the students to do a number
of movements, such as clap five times, hop seven times, skip three times, and touch your toes four
times.
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for t
The Play Dough game will help to build on the counting practice for the kindergartners and also
with the idea of one more or one less. This activity will reinforce the ideas we worked on in the previous
lab, with then going farther and working with one more and one less. The students are also making balls
out of play dough which will have them engaged and hands on in the activity so that they will not lose
interest. Student I, Student G and Student H all need work with the idea of one more one less so this way
they can work together and talk about what they are doing. We will make sure that we facilitate the
conversation and ask the appropriate questions. The play dough and working on one more one less will
further help the students work on their counting skills by giving them more practice and also working
with different manipulatives.
During activity 2 the students will get a chance to practice counting verbally, anywhere from 1-15.
This will give Student G and Student I more practice with ordering her numbers correctly as well as
practice saying the “teens” aloud. Student H may have difficulty at first with numbers 10-15, but she has
been learning and is now able to count to 13 accurately sometimes. This will also allow us to assess them
within their ability on counting without any physical representation. if they cannot then hopefully this will
be good practice and that they get a deeper understanding and eventually build off of this and be able to
eventually count without physical representation or the number symbol. We decided to add movements
within the activity because we noticed that our students attention spans were not what they used to be and
they are either more comfortable with us to act out, or are bored and need to be stimulated some more. We
hope that our movement will engage the students in our activity and the content. Incorporating body
movement will also help the students learning process and memory. It will increase the amount of oxygen
through the body and to the brain, as well as connecting neurons which will help the students comprehend
and come up with ideas or answers.
92 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 5 Reflection and Lab 6 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 5 Reflection and
Lab 6 Plan
9/28 1 1 1 3 Your assessment of the students’ current skill set is very detailed and
clear. You make very explicit connections between these assessments
and your planned activities for the students. At first I wondered if your
Simon Says activity would be appropriately differentiated for your
group…that is, would it be “too easy” for Student G and Student I or “too
hard” for Student H? But, you did a nice job of providing a rationale for
your decision to incorporate this game.
93 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan
Alex and Andy
Student I, Student G, Student H [pseudonyms for the kindergarteners]
10/17/09
Lab _6_ Reflection and Lab _7_ Plan
Part 1: Reflection
In the space below, address the following:
1. Briefly describe what occurred during your last encounter with your kindergarteners33
.
In our last encounter with the kindergartners we did more movement based and physically active
activities. To begin the lesson we started off with a game of Simon Says. When playing the game
the actions were based on numbers and counting. For example we would say, “Simon says, Jump
9 times!” and so on. This activity got the students warmed up and ready to go for the lesson. Each
student was happy to play a game and be able to move around. After a little bit the students began
looking around so we decided to switch and do our next activity. For the next activity we had the
students use play dough. The students would draw a “magical” number from the bag, and then
have to make that many balls of play dough that was the number that they drew. Each student was
very excited about the play dough. Student I made his balls of all different sizes and had to
troubles with the numbers 1-10. He did better with the numbers ranging from 11-15, but still
stopped and questioned what he was doing with the higher numbers. Student G also had fun with
the play dough and made the number of balls quickly and accurately. Student H did well with the
activity too. The balls that she made were extremely small, but she improved on her counting
skills through ten. She still lacks cardinality because when asking how many balls she had, she
would recount to tell us. Towards the end we had them make numbers out of the play dough to
switch it up. Student H made a four faster than anyone else in the group! We were very impressed!
We did this with a few more numbers that were easy to make with the play dough. We also asked
them to make a number of balls that was less than or more than a number. This way we got them
thinking about what came before and what came after. After the students would draw the cards we
would place them on the table in order with the help of the students. The numbers 1-10 were easy
for each of them to understand, but Student I struggled when it came to 11-15. Overall the activity
went very well, the children were happy and engaged in the play dough and had fun with the
numbers.
2. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, what do the children seem to
know regarding “number sense” at the moment? Provide evidence to support your assessment
(e.g., refer to data obtained from a Richardson assessment, describe an exchange with the children
in which they exhibited knowledge, etc.).
We believe that the students have made slow and steady progress with their number sense. Student
H struggled with numbers 6-10 when we first worked with her, but now those numbers have
become much easier for her to do. Though she has improved in her counting, she still lacks the
idea of cardinality. When asked how many after she has found a number of items for an object, she
begins to recount instead of restating the numbers. Student I has also make progress with numbers
after 10. He knows how to count to 20, but gets confused around 13-15, and when he does this he
begins to use the number 18. He does well with one more one less, but needs more practice when
working with numbers in the teens. Student G is the strongest counter of our group, and knows
about cardinality. An area that she could improve on is one more one less with the higher
numbers.
33
If this is your plan for Lab 1, then briefly describe what you saw in the video of your student.
94 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan
3. Based on your previous interaction(s) with your kindergarteners, are there other important
observations you can make which might influence your future interactions with the children?
(That is, are you seeing signs that the one or more of the children respond favorably to certain
activities as opposed to others, have any of the child revealed a personal interest which you might
tap into in future lessons, etc.).
We have learned from working with our kindergarteners that putting a movement activity into our
time with them engages them more with the lesson. We know that they are all at different levels,
and finding a game to fit them all has not been easy, but it is still possible, and this scenario is
what we will see when we enter the classroom as teachers. We know that it is important to
integrate movement with our group as well as find activities that are not too easy and bore them.
When they become bored, they are no longer engage and it is harder to get them back on track. For
our last lesson with the kindergartners we will look for some movement activities or games that
can work with students at a variety of levels, while keeping them all engaged. We found that our
kindergartners was attracted and reacted favorably by actively watching the other group one day
when they were performing an activity with song and dance. So this observation will influence us
to include more movement within our next lesson.
95 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan
Part 2: Plan for Next Encounter
A. Plan at least 2 activities34
for your next encounter with your kindergarteners. You should plan on
working with the children for 20 minutes, and your activities should be designed to provide the children
with the practice and/or instruction that they needs, hence helping the children’s “number sense” to
progress.
Activity 1
Materials Needed:
Memory Cards
Brief Description of the Activity:
All cards will be placed face down on the table
Students pick up one card, then the next card they find is to be one more than the number on the
card they drew. (Another round may be able to be played with one less as well)
If the students have a “match” they pick up both cards.
If the students do not have a match, they put both cards face down on the table, and it is another
student’s turn.
The game is played until all the cards are gone
Activity 2
Materials Needed:
10 little monkeys
Optional: the book 10 Little Monkeys
Brief Description of the Activity:
The teacher presents ten monkeys to the children.
The teacher sings the first verse of the song so the children can listen to the lyrics before they start
subtracting monkeys.
The teacher teaches the kids movements that go along with the story. When the monkey hits his
head the students point to their head, when mama calls the doctor the students will put an
imaginary phone to their ear and when mama scolds the monkeys the students shake their index
finger.
They sing each verse counting down to zero.
The teacher can begin a new song where the monkeys jump back into bed starting with one all the
way to ten.
34
Kindergarteners do not have long spans of attention, hence you should be prepared to change activities in case the children start to lose
focus. It is certainly possible that your kindergarteners will enjoy your first activity and engage with it throughout your teaching
session…this is fine. Use your own judgment regarding whether to stick with one activity during the session or to move on to another one.
96 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan
B. Briefly describe how these planned activities build off of your reflections in Part 1. That is, how do
your activities build on your assessment of what the children know, while pushing the children toward a
deeper understanding of number? In what ways, if any, are you drawing on your knowledge of the
children’s learning styles, interests, etc., in creating a valuable learning experience for them?
The memory game activity will be beneficial for all of the students in our group. By playing
memory with one more and one less, the students are playing a game they like while learning numbers at
the same time. We have done this activity before, and the students really enjoyed it. I think that by doing
this activity again we can see how much the students have improved with one more or one less. Also, this
time we will be using cards with higher numbers up to twelve and fifteen, so that Student I and Student G
are getting more practice with higher numbers. Student H may need extra help with the higher numbers,
but we or the other students can help when needed. Both Student I and Student G can count well up to 15,
but it will be important to work on one more one less with both of them. With this activity we hope that
Student I will have a better understanding of the ordering of the numbers. With this activity, Student G
will be able practice her counting skills and be able to expand on what numbers are one more and one
less.
The 10 little monkeys activity is a great way to keep the students engaged by incorporating
movement as well as teach them the concept of one more one less, as well as helping them with number
order. We believe that not only will our kindergartners have fun with this activity but they will also have
practice with counting 1-10, in which Student H is struggling and the other students can practice more.
This activity will help Student H achieve the relation between words, numerals and physical referents to
10, because with the song and props, Student H will be hearing and saying the word “seven” as well as
seeing the numeral 7, and seven monkeys. This will also help Student G and Student I who seem to be a
little more advanced then Student H, by helping them differentiate between numbers that are one/two
more, and one/two less. This is also a reinforcement of this concept that they have learned about within
the first activity of matching. This activity will also in capture their focus. We have often had a problem
with one or two students becoming bored within an activity, in Student H’s case the activity was beyond
her grasp, where as Student I wanted something to catch his focus and Student G seemed to crave more of
a challenge. This activity is meant to be fun for three of them while incorporating movement, since it
helps hold their focus and help brain flow.
97 “Alex and Andy”: Lab 6 Reflection and Lab 7 Plan Score and Comments
Assignment Due
Date
Lab X
Reflection
Score
Activity
1 Score
Activity
2 Score
Total
Score
Comments
Lab 6 Reflection and
Lab 7 Plan
10/5 1 1 1 3 You’ve done a fine job throughout the term on your kindergarten lab
reflection/plans. For this write-up, you clearly laid out what occurred in
the last lesson and provided specific information about what each child
seems to know. Your planned activities for next time push on a piece of
knowledge that each child still needs work on (recognizing one more/one
less), and you’ve made appropriate accommodations for Student H who
may struggle working at the level of the other two students.
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