Mathematics Learning Profile

This mathematics profile focuses on the abilities of a 5-year-old kindergarten

student named Sreeja. The task we completed was a kindergarten math assessment

aligned with the Common Core Standards. The task included 16 questions that addressed

number sense, geometry, operations and data. The task was completed during morning

meeting at about 9:15. Sreeja and I sat at a small table outside of the classroom, in a small

hallway. While completing the task, Sreeja seemed very alert and eager to participate. We

completed each question one at a time at Sreeja’s pace. I was able to interview Sreeja

during the task and ask her about her thoughts.

I was able to learn a lot about Sreeja’s math ability by analyzing an assessment

that she completed in October. The assessment contained 14 questions, which were also

aligned with the Common Core. There were many mathematical concepts in which Sreeja

has greatly improved since her last assessment. Since her assessment in October, Sreeja

has greatly improved her understanding of number sense. For example, in October Sreeja

incorrectly answered the question, “ is 2 more than 15?”. In the task that Sreeja

completed recently, she was able to identify the number 7 as larger than the number 5.

This shows that over the past six months, Sreeja has learned the mathematical concept of 

comparing whole numbers. Although Sreeja was able to compare the numbers 5 and 7,

she could not compare the groups without using manipulatives. When I asked Sreeja

about her counting she explained that she could count cubes in her head. When I put out

two groups of cubes and asked Sreeja to compare them, she explained that she needed to

count them out loud because there were “too many”. As Sreeja counted the cubes I also

observed that she had one to one correspondence. One thing that I would work on with

 

Sreeja is her use of mathematic vocabulary. For example, Sreeja was not familiar with the

terms less than, greater than and equal to. In order for her to compare numbers, I had to

use phrases such as, “Is 7 bigger than 5?”.

While Sreeja was completing the task I also observed that she has a fairly well

developed understanding of mathematical operations. When given 3 cubes, Sreeja was

able to tell me that she needed 2 more cubes to make 5. She was able to give me the

correct answer without using additional manipulatives. I asked Sreeja how she got the

answer so quickly without using blocks. Sreeja explained that she lined the 3 blocks up

and knew that the other two went next to them to make 5. Sreeja was probably able to

make a visual representation in her head due to her use of Ten-Frames in class. This skill

was not apparent in Sreeja’s October assessment. In October, Sreeja was not able to add

mentally. While completing my task, Sreeja was not able to do the subtraction question as

easily as she did the addition question. When asked, “ What is 5 minus 3?” Sreeja used

addition and answered 8. I asked sreeja the meaning of the word minus. She explained

that minus is “taking away” and then proceeded to correct her answer. I do not think this

error was due to a lack of understanding of operations. When prompted to recall the

definition of the word minus, Sreeja corrected her mistake without being asked.

After getting a sense of Sreeja’s knowledge of numbers and operations, I gave her 

the part of the task that focused on data analysis. I gave Sreeja a group of shapes in

various colors and sizes. I asked Sreeja to sort the blocks whatever way made the most

sense to her. Sreeja was able to sort the shapes by color very quickly. When asked about

her thinking, Sreeja explained that she saw the colors first and “put them in order”. I then

asked Sreeja to sort the shapes a different way and she seemed confused. As she started

 

sorting the shapes for a second time, I observed that she was making patterns with the

 blocks. Sreeja explained that she was “making the blocks make sense”. She sorted them

again by color; this time in an alternating pattern. After Sreeja finished her pattern I

asked, “How are these objects different? You already told me they are different colors.

Are they different in any other way”? Sreeja realized that the objects also differed by

shapes but could not sort them appropriately. Sreeja was only able to sort the objects

when I set up categories for her and set a rule. This shows that Sreeja has a developing

understanding of shapes and their attributes. Sreeja knows the names of most 2-D shapes,

 but cannot yet organize information into logical groups. Sreeja is also developing

knowledge about the relative positions of objects using words such as above and below.

Overall, Sreeja is progressing quickly in her acquisition of mathematical skills.

Currently, she meets most of the Common Core Standards for kindergarten. Sreeja has

excellent number sense and can count to 100 with no errors. Sreeja is also able to count

up from any number without starting at 1. Sreeja can also represent numbers in written

form, as well as, compare groups of numbers. Sreeja is still developing in the areas of 

data analysis and geometric understanding. Although there is still much to learn, it is

evident from reviewing previous assessments that Sreeja has greatly improved in

mathematical ability over the past 6 months.