This week we continued our exploration of declarative sentences with a fun challenge activity called "Sentence Samurai." Working together collaboratively in table teams, students took a set of words they had been given and tried to create the longest, most meaningful declarative sentence they could. They could only use the words they had been given, and each word could only be used once. Once sentences were created, students had to have their sentence checked by a teacher, who then asked them to identify the "who" (subject) and "what" (predicate) of the sentence. If the teacher agreed that the students had a declarative sentence with a solid subject and predicate, they recorded their sentence on chart paper and were given the next challenge bag of words to build a sentence with. Teams did a great job creating declarative sentences, and I was impressed with how many students could figure out a way to use all of the words they had been given!
Addition with 3 Addends & A Little Algebra
This week in math, we worked on addition with three (or more) addends. Students started the lesson by finding the sum of three addends. Next, when given the sum, students had to correctly identify the three addends (and sometimes more than three addends) that could be added together to equal the sum. Finally, we worked on solving for "N" in an equation with three addends where "N" represented an addend.
Example: 3 + N + 6 = 13
We began by simplifying the equation to 9 + N = 13. Next, we used our knowledge of fact families to come up with an equation we could use to solve for "N."
Example: 9 + N = 13
N + 9 = 13
13 - N = 9
13 - 9 = N
After some practice with this, we used our skills to complete some "Sum Triangles." In a "sum triangle," the sum of the three numbers on each side of the triangle must equal the number inside of the triangle. Based on the information given, students had to figure out the missing addends.
Example: 3 + N + 6 = 13
We began by simplifying the equation to 9 + N = 13. Next, we used our knowledge of fact families to come up with an equation we could use to solve for "N."
Example: 9 + N = 13
N + 9 = 13
13 - N = 9
13 - 9 = N
After some practice with this, we used our skills to complete some "Sum Triangles." In a "sum triangle," the sum of the three numbers on each side of the triangle must equal the number inside of the triangle. Based on the information given, students had to figure out the missing addends.
In the second set of "Sum Triangle" challenges, students had to figure out the missing sum and some missing addends based on the addends they had been given.