This week we tackled the challenge of balancing equations. They handled it like champs! First, I had them pretend that they were a scale as we all stood with our arms out. I put two numbers on the board and we all tilted to show which one was more or less. Then I brought in the equal sign and the word balanced. I emphasized that all the equal sign means is that one side is the same as the other. I wrote 2 + ___ = 5 on the board. Then I had them come up with ideas of how we might solve this. I asked: How can we BALANCE this equation? Some ideas were to draw dots, use a number line, use a hundreds chart or to count on. Someone also mentioned our missing number song. For this, we use a part - part - total mat and some red dots. The song goes like this:
After we sung our song, I gave them a worksheet I made to help them balance equations.
You can have it for FREE here:
-Crazy S
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