button problems

This week we had two new kinds of story problems using combinations of 5. We have worked with five in many different ways, showing combinations using five frames, numbers, pictures, and number trees! 

We have been solving addition story problems showing how many in all, but this week we needed to solve for what was missing in the combination. 

Jill is wearing a new vest, too!
It has 5 buttons on it. 2 of the buttons are red.
The rest of the buttons are blue.
How many buttons are blue?

Presenting a familiar number combination through a different kind of story problem provided a challenge and many powerful mistakes! We talked about how we were solving for the missing part in the story, not for how many in all.

We noticed that we were able to show the combination using pictures or equations, but worked together to think about what we were solving for; how many blue buttons!

We connected showing number combinations in different ways to our morning message on Thursday. With a button drawing on the message, children were invited to show it with a five frame and then with a number tree. 

The mathematicians brought a similar problem home to solve on Wednesday. 

The children also had an optional challenge on Wednesday. They were invited to use their red and blue tiles and five frames to show all of the combinations of five they could make.

Below is a picture of Sam's work from home. She took on our math challenge and was so persistent! She used five frames and equations to show her different combinations of five and then circled each combination after she counted it, ensuring her counting was organized. She was able to figure out that you can make six different combinations of five- counting my example!

I've included two pictures Kindergarteners giving the math challenge a try and providing powerful work. 

We solved the math challenge together on Friday morning during our meeting, with Lily helping us by sharing her work from home. We figured out that you can make 6 different combinations using red and blue tiles and a five frame!