9 Ways to Promote Algebraic Thinking in the Early Grades
It'southward never also early on to begin laying the foundations of algebraic thinking for young learners past helping them explore different concepts through simple, fun, but thought-stimulating activities.
Hither are nine ways to cultivate algebraic thinking in young students.
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1. Blueprint Hunters
Much of math, and especially algebra, is based on patterns. Help young learners begin looking for patterns all around them. A great place to wait is in the clothing we wear. Have students partner upwards and depict a pattern in their partner's wearing apparel, for example a striped shirt with blue and white alternate stripes. Take students draw a picture of the shirt to record the pattern.
2. The Pattern Museum
Provide students with manipulatives, similar pattern blocks, buttons, keys, colored cubes, etc. Ask them to create two patterns on their desks with these materials. Classmates come around to visit the "pattern museum exhibits," endeavour to gauge the patterns, and tell what would be next in the sequence.
3. Repeating Color Patterns
Some patterns repeat, such equally X, O, X, O, X, O. Give students crayons and a piece of cartoon paper. Enquire them to choose two colors and to draw a repeating pattern of colored shapes, such as green triangle, blue circle, green triangle, blue circumvolve. Partner students and have them see if they can extend their partner's pattern by drawing in the element that would come adjacent.
4. Match a Design
Partner students and provide them with a set of small objects and manipulatives. Ask one partner to be the leader. The leader takes some of the objects and creates a design on the desk-bound, such as: penny, dime, nickel, penny, dime, nickel. The second partner so takes dissimilar objects and creates a matching pattern, such as: marble, key, button, marble, primal, button. Both are ABC patterns simply feature different materials. Have students take turns being the leader.
5. Growing Patterns Read Aloud
Read aloud The King's Chessboard by David Birch. The Male monarch wants to reward a true-blue wise man. At the king's insistence, the wise man replies, "I only ask this: Tomorrow, for the commencement foursquare of your chessboard, give me one grain of rice; the side by side day, for the 2d square, 2 grains of rice … and so on for every square on the chessboard." The rex agrees and soon learns a surprising and valuable lesson in mathematical growing patterns and humility, as the corporeality of rice quickly becomes more than all the rice in the world.
half dozen. Function Car
Functions are a big part of algebra. Assist students learn about this idea with a function automobile. Take a shoebox and cut a slot on the left side and a slot on the right side. Within the box have a set of number cards, from 0–100. Give a student another set of identical number cards. Have the student choose a number and insert it on the left side. This is the input. You lot decide what the function of the box is. It could be + 2, – i, whatever you wish. Let's say the student puts in a 4. Y'all decided your part is + 2. four + two = 6, and so pick up a 6 and slide it out the output slot. Take three different students give you three dissimilar numbers and go along to add two to each number put in. Ask students if they can approximate the machine's function.
7. Computer Fun
Prove students how to turn a uncomplicated calculator into a function machine. Let's say the function is + 2. Have students press "+," then "2," and then "=." From now on, every time students press "=" their calculator will add 2 to the previous number. Students tin program their calculators with a function and encounter if classmates tin guess it past viewing the outputs.
8. Mysterious 10 Number Riddles
In algebra, X is often used to represent an unknown. Young students tin begin to piece of work with Ten (or any other symbol for an unknown) in this mode. Present students with 3 number sentences where 10 represents the aforementioned unknown and take them figure out what the value of 10 is. Introduce it as a number riddle. Give three clues to help students figure out what mysterious 10 is. For example: X + 1 = three, 10 + 0 = two, and 4 – X = 2. What is X? (Ten is two.)
ix. The Equal Sign = The Same As
Emphasize to students that when they are reading number sentences, and later algebraic equations, that the equal sign means "the same as." Young children oftentimes call up "=" means "the answer is." For example, the equation 4 + 4 = 2 x 4 can be read equally "four plus four is the same as two times iv." This volition reinforce the idea of balancing equations considering each side has the same quantity. For a simpler case, we could use 4 + four = 8 by proverb "4 + four is the same equally viii." Too try placing the equal sign at the first of a number sentence, such as eight = four + 4. This volition help open up upwardly educatee agreement to what the equal sign is really all about.
How exercise yous promote algebraic thinking in the early on grades? Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE grouping on Facebook.
Plus, bank check out Why We Shouldn't Teach Long Partitioning With Cute Mnemonics (and What to Do Instead).
Source: https://www.weareteachers.com/promote-algebraic-thinking/
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