Each indicator is followed by activities which illustrate how it can be addressed in the classroom in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. Select and use calculators, software, manipulatives, and other tools based on their utility and limitations and on the problem situation. Students participate in races to complete a set of computation problems between some students who use calculators and others who use mental math. In problem solving situations, students are regularly provided with calculators, manipulatives, and other tools so that they may choose for themselves what will be useful to help solve the problem. Use physical objects and manipulatives to model problem situations, and to develop and explain mathematical concepts involving number, space, and data.
Students use pipe cleaners and straws to make models of two-dimensional geometric shapes.
They then compare, contrast, and sort all the shapes using whatever criteria they think are important, including number of corners, straight or curvy sides, number of sides, and so on. Students work through the Shapetown lesson that is described in the First Four Standards of this Framework. Students in kindergarten are challenged to build towns with attribute blocks and loops based on a rule or pattern they make up. Kindergarten students each use a cubic inch block to represent himself or herself in a bar graph that describes the favorite flavors of ice cream of all the students in the class. On a table in the front of the room, the teacher has placed mats that say Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry .