Grade Two - Sample Three

Work samples show changes in students’ strategies and their ability to communicate. Here are three samples of one second grader’s work, showing his development from October to June. In each case, the student is solving a picture problem posed by one of his classmates.


Late October Hungry Ants Picture Problem


April Presents & Parcels Picture Problem


June Toy Store Picture Problem

Like many (but certainly not all) second graders, this student started and ended the year as a counter. He drew and counted marks of some sort to solve all three problems. The big change is that by June he is working in chunks of 100’s, 10’s, and 1’s instead of counting individual tally marks or packages.

His diagrams became more abstract as the year progressed. In October, he drew all 6 ants in question, making 6 legs for each and then counted them all by 1’s. In April he used tiny squares (units) to represent the presents children bought. By June he moved to quicker, more schematic sketches. He is also quite careful to label his diagrams in April and in June, marking them as 1’s, 10’s, or 100’s.

The student was able to explain his work using words from the very beginning, but his writing and explanation became fuller as the year progressed; he told a more complete story each time.

While it is clear that he solved all three problems with pictures rather than numbers, he was able to write number sentences to accompany his sketches and words in the later part of the year.