In this section, students represent and solve Put Together/Take Apart story problems—first where the total is unknown, and later where both addends are unknown. Students also see equations and learn the term for the first time.

Jada made 6 paletas with her brother.
They made two flavors, lime and coconut.
How many of the paletas were lime?
Then how many of the paletas were coconut?

Problems where both addends are unknown may be more challenging, because there is no action in the story and more than one solution is possible. Students work to find multiple solutions but are not expected to find all the solutions in kindergarten.

To represent and solve story problems, students continue to use math tools and drawings, and to explain how their representation shows the story. Students may use methods such as clearly separating the groups, using 2 colors, or using letter, word, and number labels to make their drawings easier for others to understand. Students also write expressions independently to record the solutions to story problems.

Equations are introduced as a way to record the quantities and solutions in story problems. For instance, as a student explains a solution to the paleta problem, the teacher writes “ ” and says: “Jada made 6 paletas, 2 in coconut flavor and 4 in lime flavor. We can write that as 6 is 2 plus 4.”

All equations in this unit are written with the total first (on the left side of the equal sign). Equations are read as “6 is 2 plus 4,” rather than “6 equals 2 plus 4.” Note that students are not expected to interpret equations at this time.

In this section, students compose and decompose numbers to 9. They work with physical objects, such as counters and connecting cubes, to show ways to make and break apart numbers.

As they progress through the lessons, students come to understand that there are different ways to compose and decompose a given number. They write expressions to record compositions and decompositions.

 

This section focuses exclusively on composing and decomposing 10. This number is foundational to the understanding of place value and the work on numbers and operations in later grades.

Previously, students developed their understanding of the numbers 6–9 by relating it to 5 and using 5-frames. In this section, students use a 10-frame—by putting together two 5-frames—and their fingers as tools to represent numbers and make and break apart 10 in different ways. The blank squares in the 10-frame and the fingers that are down allow students to see or count how many more are needed to make 10.

Throughout the section, students continue to build their familiarity with equations. Students connect compositions and decompositions of 10 represented on their fingers and on 10-frames to addition equations. Students also write missing numbers in addition equations.

Students are not expected to write equations independently in kindergarten. Although students may start to learn combinations that make 10 from memory, fluency with sums of 10 is not required until grade 1.