Unit 5, Lesson 3
Snap the Cubes
Kindergarten
Preparation
Lesson Narrative
The purpose of this lesson is for students to find multiple decompositions of a number and look for patterns in decompositions.
In previous lessons, students have composed and decomposed numbers and noticed that numbers can be composed and decomposed in more than one way. In this lesson, students decompose numbers in more than one way. In the first activity, students snap a tower of connecting cubes into 2 parts in different ways. In the second activity, students are given a written number rather than objects. Decomposing a number into parts in different ways deepens their understanding of numbers and their relationships (MP7).
This lesson has a Student Section Summary.
- Action and Expression
- MLR8
- Describe (orally) a cube tower with two parts using number names for each part and the total. Represent it with a drawing.
- Let’s find different ways to break apart numbers.
Required Materials
Activity 3
Required Preparation
- Each group of 2 needs 8 connecting cubes of the same color.
Gather materials from previous centers:
- What’s Behind My Back, Stage 1
- Check it Off, Stage 1
- Find the Value of Expressions, Stage 1
- Bingo, Stages 1–3
- Shake and Spill, Stages 1–3
Suggested Centers
NoneTeacher Reflection Questions
In a future section, students will find more than one solution to a Put Together/Take Apart, Both Addends Unknown story problems. What do you notice in their work from today’s lesson that you might leverage in that future lesson?