By Kathy Richardson

1. ByKathy Richardson Assessment #4 Number Arrangements Overview & Description of Strategies

2. Learning to Identify Parts of Numbers • When children know the parts of numbers, they automatically know the basic facts. • Children need to understand that numbers are not just a collection of single units, but are made up of parts. • Learning how to recognize and describe parts of numbers is essential to learning basic facts.

3. What are we trying to determine with this assessment? Can students recognize the parts of numbers? Can they recognize numbers to 5 in a variety of situations? Can students combine parts of numbers without counting all? Common Core Alignment K.OA.3. Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1).

4. What will my students be asked to do during the Number Arrangement assessment? • Students will be presented with a series of dot cards and asked to identify groups of dots to figure out how many dots there are. • They will also be asked to explain how they found out and identify the largest group that they saw. • Note: Dot cards are available in the “Downloads” section of amcanwhere.com.

5. Where can I learn more about the mathematics behind this assessment? The Assessing Math Concept series by Kathy Richardson contains important information for educators. It is recommended that teachers read the following information from Number Arrangements Concept 4. • Learning to Count • Example of Student Interview • Grade Level Expectations • Assessing Children at Work • Linking Assessment to Instruction

6. Tips for “Identifying & Combining Parts of Numbers” “How many dots are there? How did you find out? Adds groups: Students are able to see groups and to quickly combine them accurately. Counts on: Student identifies one group in the arrangement and needs counts on to determine how many altogether. Counts all by 1s/2s: Student doesn’t see parts of the number and must count all by 1s, or may count by 2s. Guess/No answer: Student not able to answer and has no strategy for figuring it out.

7. Tips for “Recognizes Small Groups” Note: If student is not successful in identifying and combining parts of numbers in initial dot cards – the program will drop them down to cards labeled A-D. These have fewer dots and you are trying to determine if student can recognize small groups. “How many dots do you see? Knows quickly– Child recognizes groups and doesn’t need to count. Counts– Child still needs to count all dots. Guess/No answer – Student not able to answer and has no strategy for figuring it out.

8. Assessment Results Summarized at end of assessment as: A – Ready to Apply P – Needs Practice I – Needs Instruction Complete descriptions included in assessment guide.

9. Interpreting & Using Assessment Results • Use AMC Anywhere reporting to view student results. Select Reports Select from a variety of reports.

10. Use “Linking Assessment to Instruction” guides for instructional support from Developing Number Concepts Select Downloads Select Linking Assessment