First grade students broke off into small groups to practice visualizing addition through various games and activities. Yael Cushman, First Grade Teacher, and Lani Wenger, First Grade Associate Teacher, use visuals and manipulatives (such as the tens frames shown here) to build students’ conceptual understanding and number sense. Students here are visualizing how 7+6 can also be seen as 10+3. Students become more flexible problem-solvers by using a variety of strategies and tools to solve a single problem. Yael constantly encourages her students “to slow down and think through the process.”
