Math Story Problems

This year one of my goals has been to pose more problems with my kindergartens. It's difficult to get it all in when there is so much to teach! I was inspired by the book Math Exchanges by Kassia Wedekind to really carve out some time to meet with small groups of students and pose some problems. I think this book really paints a picture of how it can look in your classroom.

Snow Problems

It has been snowing where I live! We read the beautiful book the READER and it lead to some sled problems. This is a beautiful book. It has noting to do with math but it is the perfect book to read on a snowy day.  When I do make story problems I use the names of student's in my class. After a few weeks of snow problems I will have students create their own.


Step One: I will read the problem
Step Two: The child will retell the problem in their own words. I know in kindergarten kids have a difficult time retelling the problem many want to shout out the answer. I found that teaching kids to retell in a small group of four kids has helped me. If a child struggles with this I will help retell with them.
Step Three: When solving problems I make sure I have many tools at the table.
A bucket of cubes, a tens frame, a number line, hundredth chart and pencils etc.
Step Four: Share the different ways we solved the problem.

The following are some winter theme problems.

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Snow problems

Pattern Problems
These are some story problems we worked on during our pattern unit.

I love the idea of leaving a blank for the number! That way kids can be working at a just right level for them!  It also discourages kids from getting the answer from their neighbor. The idea of leaving the blank comes from Math Exchanges.

Quick sheet 

The unit piece is so tricky 

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Pattern Problems

Happy Math!