DMG Blog

Articles tagged as kindergarten math (view all)

Off to Atlanta and NAEYC Conference

01 November, 2012

Debra and I are heading down to Atlanta to present and exhibit at the national convention for NAEYC (National Association for the Education of the Young Child). We are excited to share our knowledge and materials to be used with young children to help them develop an understanding of number.

We will be presenting on Thursday from 8-9:30 in room B201. We will focus on the pre-number and essential early number concepts. We will be showing the importance and the reason behind each of the concepts along with activities that children can be exposed to.

We will be in the convention center at booth 1042. If you are at the conference, please stop by and see our products and say hi. We enjoy the feedback that we get from teachers and parents who are using our materials with their students and children. Let's give ALL children a great start in learning math!!

Now on Facebook

24 August, 2012

We launched our Facebook page. Please visit and "Like" us!

Our first article was:

As school begins, remember to have children talk about math on a daily basis.
Each week, we will write activities that can be done with young children.
Have children count out loud as you are driving in the car or walking home from school or being in the classroom. Have them count starting with different numbers. Listen to hear if the words are in the correct order.
To begin the year:
Prekindergarten- Count up to 10

Kindergarten - Count up to 20. Listen for those tricky numbers from 11-20.

Grade 1 - Count up to 100. Start with different numbers. Listen for counting through the decade numbers (27, 28, 29...30)
Grade 2 - Count up to 120. Start with different numbers. Listen for counting past 100 (110, 111, 112 etc.)

Girls' Math Skills May Fall Short Of Boys' Because Of Male Impulsiveness

08 August, 2012

By: LiveScience.com, staff

From an early age, boys tend to take a more impulsive approach to math problems in the classroom, which might help them get ahead of girls in the long-run, suggests the latest study to touch on the gender gap in math.

The research claims girls may tend to favor a slow and accurate approach - often computing an answer by counting - while boys may take a faster, but more error-prone tack, calling out an answer from memory. The difference in strategies seems to benefit girls early in elementary school but swings in favor of boys by middle school.

"In our study, we found that boys were more likely to call out answers than girls, even though they were less accurate early in school," Drew Bailey, who led the study, said in a statement. "Over time, though, this practice at remembering answers may have allowed boys to surpass girls in accuracy." [Cool Math Games - See http://www.livescience.com/19453-cool-math-games.html ]

The University of Missouri study followed 300 students from first grade to sixth grade. During those first two years, the boys called out more answers in class than the girls but also had more wrong answers. Girls were more often right, but answered fewer questions and responded more slowly, according to the university. By sixth grade, the boys were still answering more problems than the girls and were also getting more correct.

Several recent studies have argued that gender differences in math performance have more to do with culture than aptitude - see http://www.livescience.com/5482-girls-math-culture-skewed.html ]. Research published last year found that certain countries - generally ones with more gender equality, better teachers and fewer students living in poverty - showed a smaller gap between males and females in math and some had no gap at all. [See http://www.livescience.com/17429-math-gender-differences-myths.html ]

Other research has pointed to inherent gender biases in the classroom. One such study found that high school math teachers tended to rate girls' math abilities lower than those of male students, even when the girls' grades and test scores were comparable to boys. [See http://www.livescience.com/19552-girls-math-teachers-bias.html ]

Gender issues aside, the researchers of the Missouri study - which was published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology - had some advice for parents based on the findings. "Parents can give their children an advantage by making them comfortable with numbers and basic math before they start grade school, so that the children will have fewer trepidations about calling out answers," David Geary, a co-author of the study, said in a statement.

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics Workshops

17 May, 2012

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics Workshops

Grade level workshops have been designed for grades K-3.

The workshops begin with an introduction to the eight practices that are to be integrated into the teaching of the grade level content. The practices are introduced using teacher friendly language and using appropriate grade level examples and activities. The practices are mentioned and used throughout the workshops.

All the standards are introduced with examples or activities.

DMG suggests having a workshop for each grade level since there are new standards at each grade level and not the repetition found in previous standards. We have combined grade one with grade two in the past. This works but is not as effective as having them alone. There are new things at each grade level and it is difficult to get it all covered.

At the end of a grade level CCSSM workshop, teachers will know exactly what they are required to teach and they will have activities and resources to use.

Kindergarten

The standards are organized into the framework of word, quantity, symbol, and relationships. The practices are integrated into the content. Four types of situations for addition and subtraction are introduced.

The foundation for place and value is set with learning about the value of teen numbers as ten ones and some more. First grade is the first time students begin to think of ten ones as one ten.

Number is the most important topic in kindergarten but there are standards for measurement, data and geometry, these are covered in the workshop.

First Grade

The workshop covers developing understanding of addition and subtraction, place value, linear measurement and reasoning about attributes of, and composing and decomposing geometric shapes. Time is spent on developing strategies for learning the basic facts using ten and double ten frames and solving word problems involving situations using mats. Strategies for adding within a hundred will be presented using algorithms based on place value and the empty number line. An eight step method for developing place value concepts will be presented. Resources used are the 99/100 board, grouping materials, small ten frames, place value mats and games.

Second grade

The focus is on extending understanding of place value using an eight step method and hands on resources: 99/100 board, grouping materials, small ten frames, base ten blocks and place and value mats. Another focus is building fluency with addition and subtraction within a hundred and solving problems within 1000 using models such as number lines and pre-grouped materials.

Using standard units of measure and describing and analyzing shapes will be covered.

Third Grade

Focus is on developing understanding of multiplication and division, fractions, and the structure of rectangular arrays and of area, and describing and analyzing two- dimensional figures.

Strategies for learning basic facts for multiplication and division will be introduced along with an algorithm based on place and value.

The place value steps will be reviewed. Resources used are base ten models, 99/100 Board, number lines, fraction models, and array models.

Contact us for pricing. dmg6@mac.com

National Conference in Philadelphia

23 April, 2012

Debra and I are off tomorrow to attend the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) Conference. We will be both presenting and exhibiting. We are excited to share our knowledge with other teachers who have a passion to help children in their learning of mathematics. We will have an e-workshop on Thursday where we will present all of our products to those who attend. Friday, will be a gallery workshop where teachers will be working with our materials and will have the opportunity to take samples with them. On Saturday, our focus will be on Place and Value with what we consider to be eight essential steps to helping teach place and value to young students.

If you are in Philadelphia, please stop by our booth (1040) and say hi. We would love to chat about our assessment and materials we have produced to help the young student and those that struggle with math.

NCTM in St. Louis

23 September, 2011

October 26, 27, 28 and 29 we will have a booth at the Regional National Teachers of Mathematics conference in St. Louis. Please stop by and say hi and take a look at the many products that we now have to help teachers instruct in their classrooms. We will be presenting on Friday at 8:30 am. on the use of Bears and Chairs and our other products to help students learn the essential pre-number and early number concepts. We are excited to be able to share our experiences and knowledge with you.