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Math problem set Kindergarten Math

The Class Rain Gauge: A Kindergarten Counting Story Problem Set

A kindergarten math set where students add and subtract raindrop stickers on a class rain gauge chart across one week, building a running total within 10.

Objectives

  1. Students will add and subtract within 10 to track a running total of raindrop stickers across a week.
  2. Students will compare two totals and tell whether they are equal or one is greater.
  3. Students will find how many more are needed to reach a target number within 10.

Vocabulary

Key words: total, in all, equal, more

Teacher overview

Room 6 keeps a rain gauge outside the classroom window. Every day the class checks it and adds raindrop stickers to a chart, one sticker for a light rain and a few more for a hard rain, so the chart's total grows and shrinks across the school week. This problem set follows that one chart from Monday through the next Monday, with each problem building on the total found in the problem before it, so students practice a running addition and subtraction story instead of separate, unrelated number sentences. A common misconception in this math is thinking that a day with no rain sends the total back to zero, rather than understanding that the total simply stays the same as the day before until something is added or taken away.

Every number in this problem set stays at or below 10, matching where kindergarten addition and subtraction word problems belong. Read each problem aloud, and let students use counters or draw pictures to solve if writing numerals independently is still difficult.

The Class Rain Gauge: A Kindergarten Counting Story Problem Set — Kindergarten Math
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Problems

  1. Monday: The chart has 0 stickers. It rains. We add 3 stickers. How many stickers now?
  2. Tuesday: It rains again. We add 2 more stickers. How many stickers now?
  3. Wednesday: No rain falls. We add 0 stickers. How many stickers are still on the chart?
  4. Thursday: It rains hard. We add 3 more stickers. How many stickers now?
  5. Friday: The wind blows. 2 stickers fall off. How many stickers are left?
  6. Last week we had 6 stickers. Look at the chart on Friday. Are the two weeks equal?
  7. We want 10 stickers in all. We have 6. How many more do we need?
  8. We add those new stickers next Monday. How many stickers in all?

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: 3 stickers. Starting at 0 stickers and adding 3 for Monday's rain gives 0 + 3 = 3 stickers.
  2. Answer: 5 stickers. Monday's 3 stickers plus 2 more for Tuesday's rain is 3 + 2 = 5 stickers.
  3. Answer: 5 stickers. No rain fell on Wednesday, so no stickers were added or removed, and the total stays at 5.
  4. Answer: 8 stickers. Wednesday's 5 stickers plus 3 more for Thursday's hard rain is 5 + 3 = 8 stickers.
  5. Answer: 6 stickers. Thursday's 8 stickers minus the 2 that blew off is 8 − 2 = 6 stickers.
  6. Answer: Equal. Last week's total of 6 stickers is the same as this Friday's total of 6 stickers, so the two weeks are equal.
  7. Answer: 4 stickers. To go from Friday's 6 stickers to 10 stickers, the class needs 10 − 6 = 4 more stickers.
  8. Answer: 10 stickers. Friday's 6 stickers plus the 4 new stickers added Monday is 6 + 4 = 10 stickers in all.

Differentiation

Support

Provide a printed strip with a box for each day of the week and a small stack of counters, so students can physically add or remove a counter for each problem instead of tracking the running total in their heads.

Extension

Ask students to invent one more day for the story, choosing a number of stickers to add or take away that keeps the total at or below 10, and to write the number sentence that matches their new day.

ELL supports

Pre-teach total, in all, and equal with simple gestures (hands sweeping together for total, two flat hands level for equal). Provide a sentence frame for the answers: "The chart has ___ stickers now."

Extensions

Set up a real rain gauge or a simple cup outside the classroom window and let students add a sticker to a chart each day it rains for two real weeks, then compare the two real totals using the same equal-or-more language from this problem set.