Estimation

Happy Tuesday, friends!

We've been STAAR testing all day...luckily, I haven't had to administer the test..BUT we share a wall with a testing class so that is almost as awful as giving the test, right?! I mean, Kindergarteners were not meant to be silent! My blog name is "Rowdy" for a reason!

This week in math we are introducing estimation. Is this concept abstract, or what?! To begin, I spend an entire day on making REASONABLE guesses. What is reasonable to a 5 or 6 year old? 

Well, running around Firehouse Subs while smacking your little brother with the plastic firefighter hat is what my daughter apparently believes is reasonable. Oy 've!

{she really is sweet most of the time..but c'mon! they all lose their marbles periodically}

You get the point. 

They are so not reasonable! So, we have to explicitly teach the difference between reasonable and unreasonable...well, as well as you can teach a 6 year old.

I began by giving some oral examples. 

"I think I might need 400 glue bottles to finish this art project."

{hysterical laughter ensues}

"No, Mrs. Alderson, it would only take 1 glue bottle!"

and the list goes on. It really is hilarious to a kindergartener to talk about "unreasonable" estimations. Although we were forced to be silent, we had fun coming up with some silly unreasonable and reasonable estimations. I put my students in partners and we came up with some scenarios to share with the class. We worked in groups together to sort these cards:

I'll be back tomorrow with the second part of our estimation introduction!