Unit Plan 23 (Grade K Math): Decompose & Record

Focus: Make multiple decompositions of numbers 6–10 and record matching equations (e.g., 8 = 3 + 5, 8 = 4 + 4); connect concrete models to number bonds, ten-frames, and equations.

Grade Level: K

Subject Area: Mathematics (Operations & Algebraic Thinking)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 30–40 minutes per session

I. Introduction

Students explore how a whole number can be broken into parts in more than one way. Using counters, linking cubes, ten-frames, and number bonds, they generate and record all the ways to make a target number from 6–10. They learn that order of addends doesn’t change the total and that = means “the same as.”

Essential Questions

• How can I break a number into two parts in more than one way?
• How do my model (ten-frame/number bond) and my equation show the same thinking?
• Why does 8 = 3 + 5 and 8 = 5 + 3 both make sense?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Decompose numbers 6–10 into two parts in multiple ways using objects/drawings.
2. Represent decompositions with number bonds, ten-frames, and equations (e.g., 7 = 2 + 5, 7 = 4 + 3).
3. Explain that = means the same as, and that addends can switch while the total stays the same.
4. Use zero as a valid partner (e.g., 6 = 6 + 0, 6 = 0 + 6) when appropriate.

Standards Alignment — CCSS Kindergarten (threaded across the unit)

• K.OA.3: Decompose numbers ≤ 10 into pairs in more than one way; record each decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1).
• Mathematical Practices: MP.2 (reason quantitatively), MP.4 (model), MP.6 (precision), MP.7 (structure).

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can show at least two ways to make a number 6–10.
• I can match my model to an equation (e.g., “I see 3 and 5, so 8 = 3 + 5”).
• I can explain that = means same as, and 5 + 3 is the same total as 3 + 5.