Innovative Differentiation Strategies for Kindergarten Pre-Assessment Common Core Unit: Operation and Algebraic Thinking
by Andrea Stewart
1. At the end of the unit students will be able to understand addition as putting together and adding, and understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from
2. Stategies for the 5 students who answered most, including the most difficult, of the pre-assessment questions correctly.
2.1. Have students work with numbers within 10. Numbers should increase as student progress.
2.2. Station/small group: Use numbers within 10 for add to/ take away with result unknown questions.
2.3. Station/small group: Use numbers within 10 for put together/take apart and both addends unknown.
2.4. Encourage students to use fingers and manipulatives to keep track of addends and parts pf addends.
2.5. Assessment: Exit tickets and teacher observation during small group and station
3. Strategies for the 12 students who have some knowledge about the topic as shown in their score, but need to develop higher order thinking skills
3.1. Have students work with numbers within 5. Numbers should increase as students progresses.
3.2. Station/small group: Use numbers within 5 for add to/ take away with result unknown questions.
3.3. Station/small group: Use numbers within 5 for put together/take apart and both addends unknown.
3.4. Encourage students to use fingers and manipulatives to keep track of addends and parts pf addends.
3.5. Assessment: Exit tickets and teacher observation during small group and station
4. Strategies for the 5 students who appear to have limited knowledge about the topic.
4.1. Have students work with number 0-5 only. Have students work with numbers 1,2, and 3 as your start number until students demonstrate an understanding of the process of finding 1 more or removing 1.
4.2. Encourage students to use fingers and manipulatives to keep track of addends and parts pf addends.
4.3. Focus attention on small groups in adding and subtracting to help move students from perceptual subtilizing to conceptual subtilizing in which they see and say addends and the total, eg. two and one make three.
4.4. Station/small group: Use numbers 0-3 for add to/ take away with result unknown questions.
4.5. Station/small group: Use numbers 0-3 for put together/take apart and both addends unknown.
4.6. Assessment: Exit tickets and teacher observation during small group and station
