Part-Part-10: A Kindergarten Lesson Study on Combinations

• In Event: Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Environments: Indoors and Outdoors

Abstract

This paper describes a lesson study cycle through which three kindergarten teachers helped their students learn combinations of 10 using a part-part-whole context. By making both parts of the whole unknown, teachers shifted the focus from finding one combination to reasoning about relationships among combinations. Most students found the combination 5 + 5, and the next most frequent combinations were ones that started with a smaller number; students rarely found combinations involving zero. The use of Unifix cubes and 10-frames provided multiple access points and supported students as they developed strategies to determine the total possible combinations. Furthermore, the lesson study enabled teachers to develop a researcher lens, which they used to examine their practice and focus on student thinking.

Authors

• Laura Bofferding, Purdue University

• Melissa Kemmerle, Stanford University

• Aki Murata, University of California - Berkeley