A glimpse of SWS math instruction at Kindergarten and 2nd grade

Math at SWS: Investigating, Making Connections, and Relating to Real World Situations

SWS uses a math curriculum called “Investigations,” in which students:

  • explore problems in depth
  • find more than one way to solve many of the problems they encounter
  • reason mathematically and develop problem-solving strategies
  • examine and explain mathematical thinking and reasoning
  • represent their thinking using models, diagrams, and graphs
  • make connections between mathematical ideas

…and more. (Read more about Investigations math curriculum.)

Below, get a glimpse of how math instruction looks at SWS using Investigations in Kindergarten and 2nd grade.

Kindergarten

In kindergarten, students are exploring counting, comparisons, sorting, patterns, and more.

From Mr. Jere:

During our math time we’ve been quite busy!  Each day we take attendance, double check the attendance using our attendance stick (ask your child what that is!), count how many days we’ve been in school (32 as of today!), and consider the different elements of the calendar.  Following our Investigations math curriculum, we have been sorting kids by different characteristics, counting objects in the Counting Jar, making pictures with pattern blocks [as in the photo below], and representing data with numbers, tally marks, and pictures.

SWS-pattern-sorting-kindergarten

counting-k

2nd Grade

Recently, 2nd graders worked on adding 10s.

From Ms. Scofield:

“There were 4 math problems (9+10, 11+10, 15 +10, 22+10) that we worked on together. We were sharing strategies and talking about efficient strategies. There are some complex ideas in this including some algebra. [In the photo  of the student work below] you can see them use each other’s strategies to solve new problems. You can see them working fluently with the open number line as well. There is evidence of using the ten structure, doubles facts, hierarchical inclusion, compensation, taking away to solve addition problems, splitting, and counting on. Fun!

math-by-10s-2nd-oct-15