Over the last two weeks, students have been using their knowledge of fact families to find the value of a variable in an equation. We started simple last week with problems like these:
So students work looked like this.... 77 - N = 21 77 - 21 = N N + 21 = 77 21 + N = 77 Students identified that 77-21 was a subtraction statement they could solve in order to determine the value of "N." | So students work looked like this.... N - 83 = 16 N - 16 = 83 16 + 83 = N 83 + 16 = N Students identified that 16 + 83 or 83 +16 were addition statements they could use to solve for "N." |
After practicing with simple equations, we kicked it up a notch an worked with equations that were a little more complex. Working with problems like -
18 + N = 22 + 6
students first simplified the part of the equation that they could solve (in this case 22+6). They then used the simplified version to create their fact family and solve for "N."
18 + N = 22 + 6
18 + N = 28
N + 18 = 28
28 - N = 18
28 - 18 = N 28 - 18 = 10 so...N = 10
While it took several practices together to really get the hang of this, I was so impressed with the progress the students made and what they were able to do! First graders can do algebra!
Brave Irene - Theme & Questions
These last two weeks have been busy for my first graders as they take their time preparing for a socratic seminar. Last week, students had to select a word that they believed best embodied the message of the story, Brave Irene. They could choose from the following 6 options: perseverance, kindness, commitment, challenge, fearless, and love. Once they had selected the theme, they then had to go back into the story and highlight evidence of this message in the story.
This week students focused on answering 5 questions that will be discussed during the socratic seminar. Working in small groups, students were assigned a question to answer. Just like with the theme, they had to go back into the text to find support for their answer! I was very impressed with the connections they were making to the text and how they were able to answer the questions! Way to go!
This week students focused on answering 5 questions that will be discussed during the socratic seminar. Working in small groups, students were assigned a question to answer. Just like with the theme, they had to go back into the text to find support for their answer! I was very impressed with the connections they were making to the text and how they were able to answer the questions! Way to go!