Kindergarten Adventures: Whoo Has Eight?

This afternoon, students worked hard with the number 8. We know our number formation poem: start with an S, but do not wait, go back up and that's an eight! Students love to recite this as they practice making very careful eights. We always begin our writing at the top whether it is numbers or letters!

Not only can students write the number 8, but they can draw eight objects. Many students take the step to carefully number each picture they draw so that they know they truly have 8 objects-- not too many and not too few!

Today, students practiced tying together writing and math. It is essential that students know how to communicate their mathematical thinking through words as well as numbers. We explored how to write the word for 8: eight. You can see if your student has memorized the spelling. It is one of the many heart words we learn because you have to remember how to spell it by heart.

Students used owl stickers to create a scene. They needed to use exactly 8 stickers and write a sentence to match their scene: I see eight owls. As you can see, the students did an incredible job using the owls in their pictures and communicating the math.

You can also see that there are many combinations to make 8. Right now, students are focused on using 5 and more. So eight is 5 and 3 more. However, students know that 4 and 4 also make eight. They can see that 3 and 3 and then 2 more equals eight. It was so much fun to see how each student chose to represent eight with their owls.