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‘You Are Already Bigger Than the Giraffe!’—The Use of Adjectives in Measurement Activities in Kindergarten

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Mathematics Education in the Early Years

Abstract

This chapter deals with the support of language learning in settings planned for mathematical learning by kindergarten teachers in small group interactions. In the sense of interactional linguistics, we analyse the usage and meaning of adjectives within the interaction processes between kindergarten teachers (The German Kindergarten is a non-mandatory institution for children between the age of 3 and 6) and children in 14 different situations dealing with length (9) or weight (While the mathematically and physically correct term would be mass, German curricular like the ‘Bildungsstandards’ (Sekretariat der Ständigen Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bildungsstandards im Fach Mathematik für den Primarbereich (Jahrgangsstufe 4). München, Wolters Kluwer, 2005) use the term Gewicht [weight]. In our data, the kindergarten teachers only talk about weight, so we decided also to use this word in this chapter) (5). These considerations are made against the background of measuring length and weight as basic topics in early mathematics education. The analysis shows that talking about measurement offers rich opportunities to acquire an understanding of adjectives. However, few kindergarten teachers seem to possess enough language awareness to productively use the emerging learning opportunities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/grosz

  2. 2.

    https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/lang_Adjektiv_auch_raeumlich

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technical University Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany

    Sarah Keuch & Birgit Brandt

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  1. Sarah Keuch
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  2. Birgit Brandt
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Correspondence to Sarah Keuch .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematical Sciences Faculty of Engineering and Science, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

    Martin Carlsen , Ingvald Erfjord  & Per Sigurd Hundeland ,  & 

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Keuch, S., Brandt, B. (2020). ‘You Are Already Bigger Than the Giraffe!’—The Use of Adjectives in Measurement Activities in Kindergarten. In: Carlsen, M., Erfjord, I., Hundeland, P.S. (eds) Mathematics Education in the Early Years. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34776-5_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34776-5_22

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