Developing Structuring

[Alice Gabbard]

Please add your thoughts here for assessing and developing structuring.

[Lynn Hambrick]

Petey gave me an idea. Make a card with just the outline of circles in the 5 domino pattern. Use counters to fill some or all the spaces - Ask the same questions you would for a five frame. How many counters? How many empty spaces or how many needed to make five?

[Julie Dunn]

Some of my favorite materials to use in math are the attached playing number cards with the five and ten frames on them. These cards are great to use with students who still need the 5/10 frame visual to become facile with structuring numbers. I have attached those in this post, as well as a modified version I created with bare numbers. When the students have shown success with the 5/10 frame visual, you can move to the bare number cards for less support. I use these cards all the time to make numbers- 5, 6…10 with Concentration, Go Fish, and other games so that students have plenty of practice with structuring.

Vonda Stamm from Pimser created the 5 and 10 frame playing cards and has given permission for these to be shared.

[carriegary]

I like the idea of using the bare numeral cards in place of the frame cards.

[Cheryl Shewmaker]

I have been using unifix cubes and Nubmer Indicators (shaped like roofs for a house with the number 1-10 on the top)that fix on top of unifix blocks. I also have a unifix stair step frame that has the numeral on top and they have to put the quantity of unifix blocks that is correct under it. Each child counts their own blocks and rechecks for accuracy. They have been combining pairs of numbers(addends) and discovering the sums. It is amazing! They are talking about which number is less and why and also which number is greater! I used the number indicators and unifix stairs when I taught Kindergarten!!!

[Jean Bingham]

My students love playing the game "Money Grab". I take five pennies and have the child to count and verify there are five pennies. Then I put the pennies in a cup, shake them up, dump them out, and I grab some and the child grabs some. After that these are the steps I move the child in:

First: I ask the child, "How many do you have?" I am not concerned with how many the teacher has at this point. Once
they are facile with telling how many they have then:

Second: I ask these questions after dumping and grabbing, "How many do you have?" "How many do I have?" OR "How
many more to make 5?" Then I have them to say the two numbers that make 5 - example: 4 & 1 make 5

Once the child is facile with what two numbers make five, I introduce the nickel. Now I have one nickel and five pennies in the cup. I then ask the first question above until they are facile with how many they have and then I move to asking the second questions above.

The children simply love to "out grab" me. When working with the nickel and pennies together I always make sure they get the nickel at first in order to promote 5+. Once they are facile with 5+ then I grab the nickel and some pennies each time so they have to tell me how many they have (which is less than 5) and then they have to tell me how many I have (which is more than 5). Next they say the number sentence that represents the coin combination we have - example 7 + 3 = 10.

I must give Becky from Richmond, KY credit for this activity. She shared this during a collegial meeting several years ago.