This week is our first week back from Spring Break and the kids are just bouncing off of the walls! They didn't focus at all during their centers and Mrs. Anderson just decided to teach them some math instead. After lunch, we all were learning turn around facts of addition and subtraction (Commutative property). Most of the students actually grasped this very well, but some of the students did not. One student in particular that I was helping did not understand this at all. He couldn't grasp the idea that 2 + 4 is the same as 4 + 2 and that
6 - 4 = 2 is the same as 6 - 2 = 4. To help him understand this, I made him draw 6 little circles and write the number six under his drawing. Then, with his hand towel, I had him cover 2 of the circles up and had him write - 2. I then asked what it would be if he took away the two circles. He said he would have 4 left. Then, for him to understand the turn around fact, I had him take 4 away and I asked him how many circles he had left. He responded with the correct answer of 2 after a minute of thinking. I then asked if he understood that each problem was the same, but just with the numbers mixed up. He, of course, said yes.
Working with this student made me realize that you sort of have to explain exactly what the students to do before making the students do it, such as the commutative property. I think I helped him understand a little bit better than he originally understood.
6 - 4 = 2 is the same as 6 - 2 = 4. To help him understand this, I made him draw 6 little circles and write the number six under his drawing. Then, with his hand towel, I had him cover 2 of the circles up and had him write - 2. I then asked what it would be if he took away the two circles. He said he would have 4 left. Then, for him to understand the turn around fact, I had him take 4 away and I asked him how many circles he had left. He responded with the correct answer of 2 after a minute of thinking. I then asked if he understood that each problem was the same, but just with the numbers mixed up. He, of course, said yes.
Working with this student made me realize that you sort of have to explain exactly what the students to do before making the students do it, such as the commutative property. I think I helped him understand a little bit better than he originally understood.