This week Kathy led a math activity with the whole class while individual students were assessed. In this math activity, students worked in small groups to collect items from outdoors that shared attributes such as green, pointy, rough, etc. In general, an attribute is a characteristic or property of an object - color, shape, size, etc. Students displayed their items and others tried to guess what attribute those items shared.
Sorting and patterning skills involve understanding relationships among sets, how those sets are represented, and analysis of those sets. By identifying attributes, children understand that things are alike and different as well as that they can belong to and be organized into certain groups. This type of thinking starts them on the path of applying logical thinking to objects, mathematical concepts, and everyday life in general.
Extending the activity at home:
- How might you group your collection of stuffed animals? Can you find more than one way?
- How might you group items in your pantry by shared attributes? Does it make sense to have all the soup together? What do you notice about how items are grouped in grocery stores?
- How would you decide how to organize a shelf of books? What about a bag of seashells?
