Grade
1

Math in Our World: The Shoe Rack

My empty shoe rack has a top shelf, a middle shelf, and a bottom shelf. Each shelf can probably hold 3 pairs of shoes. I have 7 pairs of shoes to put on the shoe rack.

Today I bought this new shoe rack to help me organize my shoes.
Maybe you can help!

  1. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
  2. Show what you know about the shoes. Use pictures, objects, or numbers.
  3. What math questions can you ask about the shoe rack? Answer all the questions you can!
  • Think about how many shoes there are. Try counting them by 2s.
  • Think about placing the shoes on the shoe rack. How many shoes would you put on the bottom shelf? The middle shelf? The top shelf? It’s okay to have a different number of shoes on each shelf.
  • It looks like each shelf has only enough space for 6 shoes or fewer. Does that change how you might place the shoes on the shoe rack?
  • Try writing an addition equation that matches how you placed the shoes.
  • Show your work to someone else. Explain your thinking. Did they understand?
  • Ask whether they have any other questions you can answer!

Organize some shoes, toys, or other small objects in your home. How would you organize them on 2 rows? 3 rows? 4 rows? Make up your own story problem with the results and share it with us!

Printable Version

Google doc for printing and copying

Seesaw Version

Activity for the Seesaw platform

Reference for Educators

Sample problems and solutions