Lindsey Seu

November 30, 2014

Math Child Study
Child Study
Every Wednesday and Thursday I go to Gustav H Webling Elementary
to observe and teach a Kindergarten located in room A5. The class I observe
is one of two Kindergarten classes, consisting of twenty-four students. Of
those twenty-four, 13 are girls and 11 are boys. My classroom is comprised of
students who are from Filipino, Japanese, African American and Samoan
decent. Majority of the students in room A5 derive from military families.
For my Math Child Study, I decided to choose a student name *Dylan.
Dylan is a Junior Kindergartner at Webling Elementary. He is Samoan and has
dark fair skin with wavy black hair that falls at the nape of his neck. Looking
at Dylan he is appears to be a little taller than average height. Dylan has a
round face with round dark brown eyes. I chose to do my study on this
student because I work with him on individual work. Every morning I work
with him on his math skills. So far he has learned how to count and write his
numbers. Dylan is considered a slow learner.
In the Common Core Standards, I focused on The Kindergarten
standard CCSS.MATH.CONTENTK.CC, which focuses on Counting and
Cardinality. Using the activity Grab and Count, I analyzed the students
ability to write and recognize the number sequence. For the child study I plan
to compile evidence of Dylans progress using his class work, video
recordings, and various assessments.

Looking at Dylans classwork, I can conclude that his relational

understanding with numbers is pretty strong. However his results varies
everyday. I realized that Dylan gets distracted easily and is not consistent
with his numeric values. On a good day, Dylan can write and recite all of his
numbers if the teacher asks. But when the teacher assessed him on his
numbers, he could not remember that the number three looked like a 3. He
struggles to understands the concept that 3 can be matched with the
words one, two and three. However when Dylan used the connecting cubes
(manipulative), he can identify the number of cubes in front of him. I can see
that Dylan is slowly improving though. Looking at mathematical
proficiencies, his conceptual understanding of numbers has grown. Dylan can
write and tell me his numbers from 1-10. Using counting blocks Dylan can
represent different numbers and give the numeric value of the blocks too. As
Dylan familiarizes himself with numbers, his ability to subsidize has become
more automatic. Subsidizing is the ability to identify a number quickly
without counting. For example, when I show him 4 blocks, hell automatically
tell me what he sees without counting out loud.
In the afternoon between 11:50am and 12:25pm on November 13th, I
will reserve that time to conduct my child study with Dylan. I believe that
there are less distractions to prevent him from focusing. I plan to scaffold
and build upon what Dylan knows. I noticed that Dylan does not know how to
distinguish numbers that are more and less. In order to gain good
number sense, I will use an activity on page 144, Activity 8.26. I will show

Dylan different manipulates and ask him to verbally identify the set that has
more and less. Id like to also use connecting cubes to build a tower to show
difference in height and length. As an assessment tool, I will give Dylan a
number and he will have to draw and state the amount of cubes. I will then
ask him to choose and model a number that is either higher or lower than
the number I gave. The second task I will ask my student to do relates to the
Activity 8.26 as well. I will show Dylan a number line and give him two
numbers. I will point to two numbers and ask which is more and which is
less. Id like Dylan to visually see where the numbers lie on the number line. I
believe he will gain a better sense of number order in a number line.
The final task I will give to Dylan is figure 8.18 on page 145. This will
be the harder task. For this task I will give him the bar graph with different
amounts of fruits. The bar graph on p 145 shows different amounts of fruit
snacks. Using the bar graph I will ask him to compare two different bars and
tell me which is more or less. I will then ask him to give me the difference
between the two values. Id like to hear his reasoning and thinking behind his
thought process.
I plan to ask Dylan the following questions:
Hello Dylan. Do you think you can help me? I need your help for a
class that Im taking. Do you want to help me?
Then Id ask Dylan the following question:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Do you like math?

Did you learn anything new?
What do you like about math? What do you dislike about it?
What numbers do you not like to write?

For activity 1
1. How many blocks do you see?
2. Which is more? Which is less?
3. How do you know the number you chose is more?
For activity 2
1. What numbers do you see?
2. Is the number closer to 1 or 10?
3. Which number is more? Which number is less?
For activity 3 (taken from figure 8.18)
1. Which snack is most? Least?
2. Which snack is more than the number 5?
3. How much more? How much less?
Part Two

When Dylan began the activity, I asked him questions about his work.
This is Dylan doing activity 8.26. I first gave him a few sample problems for
him to practice. I provided ten cubes and broke it into two pieces: two and
eight. I placed my rods flat on the table and asked him how many were in
each. He counted each rod and told me the numbers. Then I asked him which
rod had less cubes than the other. He was able to point and tell me verbally
that the rod with two cubes was little I then asked him to draw a picture of
what he saw. Without my help he was able to draw the cubes he say and
number the cubes. The next problem I gave him was more. I allowed Dylan
break the rod and follow the same steps I did. He was able to draw a picture
and circle the greater value. Again I asked him how he knew which number
was greater. He told me, They (the rods) dont look the same. Three is little
and seven is bigger. Overall Dylan was able to distinguish which value was
more and less with the guide of visual aids.
For the activity I gave him the numbers 4 and 7. Without the counting
blocks, he struggled to recognize the two numbers. When I asked him which
number was more, he pointed to the number 10. He didnt know that he had

to choose between the numbers I gave him. I had to explain to him that
more was closer to 10 and less was closer to 1. When I asked him to
choose the number he took a while to answer. First I asked him what two
numbers he saw. He pointed to the numbers 4 and 7 in front of him. Then I
asked him which number is closest to 10 and he told me 7. Finally I asked
which number was greater of the two. He was finally able to tell me the
number 7.
I asked Dylan the following questions and these were his recorded
responses:
1. Do you like math?
A: Dont know Ya. This math is hard though. I dont like it.
2. Did you learn anything new?
A: I learned more andumyea. Oh ya and less.
3. What do you like about math? What do you dislike about it?
a. The blocks. Its fun. But sometimes theyre hard to take apart.
I dont like this number math. Its too hard for me. I cannot tell
sometimes which is more and less.
4. What numbers do you not like to write?
a. 3 and 7. I like 5 because I remember big tummy (when he
writes 5 he shows when he makes the curve). I can write my 8
too.
For short-term activity, I feel that Dylan needs to understand the
relationship between his numbers. When Dylan did the number line activity,
it was evident that he didnt fully understand what more and less meant.
In Van De Walle, there is an activity that can help children conceptualize

numbers. Figure 8.9 shows the relationship between 6, 7,and 8. Looking at

the three numbers, students understand how much more and less a number
is. Looking at 6, 7, and 8, students can conceptualize that 7 is one more than
6. Students can build upon this knowledge and scaffold. In the future this
could help him compose and break down numbers. For a long-term activity
Id continue to give him the number line activity on p. 144. With the number
line activity I feel that he will be able to scaffold with this activity. Once he
can automatically tell which number is greater than and less than, he will be
able to say how much more and less the two numbers.
What was my role in the situation?
My role for this child study was to study and interpret a students math
abilities. I chose one student to shadow during the semester and I observed
his strengths and weaknesses in math. I first gave him an activity and
gathered information. Then I developed a lesson to help develop my
students math skills.
So what does this imply about my teaching?
This assignment developed my ability to assess and analyze student
work. Looking at my notes and the questions I asked, I focused on his ability
to conceptualize content. I saw how his feelings towards the subject affected
his outcome and realized that this students attitude towards math affected
his motivation to do well. As a future educator, I feel its my duty to
encourage and support my students. Teaching is more than just feeding

students information to pass standardized tests; Its about making and

building connections with them to get them to where they need to be.
Now what do I need to improve on?
I believe I need to develop my ability to be aware of everything
occurring in the classroom. When I begin teaching, Id like to learn how I can
manage all my students and target their struggles. It was easy doing this
with one student, but I know that it will be challenging in a larger
environment. I believe the right resources will help me develop activities
targeting my students needs.