Grade One - Sample Three

Number Corner is an interactive calendar display where basic skills are introduced and reinforced throughout the year. First graders engage in an activity called Friday’s Figuring where they look at the calendar setup and figure out combinations that equal the day’s date. For example, January 20 might generate 18+2=20, or 5+7+7+1=20. Bridges utilizes calendar components such as magnetic tiles, hundreds grid, calendar grid, money, and Unifix cubes as pictorial representations that can lead to additional equations or counting patterns. Teachers working with Bridges report that students now realize that there are specific quantities involved in developing an equation, and their equations reflect this.

As you can see in this example from September, students start out writing very simple equations directly related to the calendar grid pocket chart (butterflies, praying mantises, and beetles) and the magnetic tiles which represent the number of days this month. Counting patterns and oral comments have also been recorded.


September Number Corner

As students move through October, the equations become more complex and sophisticated with the addition of money and the hundreds grid. After November, students sometimes write equations on slips of paper and glue them close to the appropriate calendar component. Students are encouraged to make as many combinations possible in the time allotted.


October Number Corner

The paper calendar components can also be offered to the students so they can color them in and record equations independently. This gives the teacher a good indication of how well each child understands the group activity. The following examples are from May. On the left you see a very able student’s work using three of the calendar components. The range of his equation-writing abilities is clearly illustrated. Next to his is a mid-ability student’s work. He chose to focus on the hundreds grids that showed the 153rd day of school by writing seven different equations. The student has developed multiple ways to express 153 using three different models that make sense to him. He has demonstrated that he understands odd/even numbers, patterns (colors on the calendar) as well as equivalent expressions for 153, generated from the 100 grid. This student has incorporated many different strategies to demonstrate his numerical power and number sense. In this classroom, Friday’s Figuring greatly improved students’ equation-writing abilities, especially during problem-solving situations.


Student working with calendar components, Example 1


Student working with calendar components, Example 2