The First Step in Our Operations Adventure. Number Decomposition.

Now let’s take a look at an example of a teaching pathway.

In the Workshop “Quantity 1-4,” students learn to recognize quantities from 1 to 4 through the dance of the 4 Cricks. They also start learning about decomposition, through understanding that the quantity 4 contains smaller quantities and experiencing that 4 can be formed with 2 and 2, for example.

This initial contact with the idea that a number can be formed in various ways lays the foundation for the number’s decomposition.

Later on, in the Workshop “The Number 5 (Part 2),” students play games to discover different pairs that add to 5. They also begin to represent the number using the plus sign (e.g., 3 + 2 or 4 + 1.) At this point, we’re not only looking at a possible decomposition of 5; rather, we are looking for pairs that add to 5.

In the following decomposition workshops, students apply their previous knowledge to larger numbers. Take a look at these examples of student representations in the next Workshops The Number 7 (part 1) and The Number 9 (part 2):

You get to see how students go from understanding decomposition as parts of a whole to finding several solutions and strategies. You can also see how their representations evolve from pictures to increasingly complex mathematical language.

If you know where each student is in their learning journey, you can adapt your interventions and boost their confidence. I encourage you to continue supporting every student’s progress individually, as it’s one of our greatest achievements as teachers!

See you next time!

Judith