Ep 37: Print-and-Play Addition Games for Numbers to 12

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,880
Let's talk today about introducing the addition,

2
00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:07,080
subtraction, and equal signs and making them stick.

3
00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,560
To Making Number Sense Makes Sense,

4
00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:11,680
a podcast for elementary teachers,

5
00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:13,840
specifically early elementary teachers,

6
00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:15,600
looking to really make an impact

7
00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:17,280
in the number sense of their students.

8
00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:20,320
After you've spent the whole year working on letters

9
00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,360
and numbers and giving students all of those squiggles

10
00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:27,020
to have meaning, do we really need addition,

11
00:00:27,020 --> 00:00:29,480
subtraction, and equal signs on top of it

12
00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:30,840
for young students?

13
00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:32,760
The answer is no.

14
00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:36,880
But they do eventually need to learn those symbols

15
00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,860
and they can seem really abstract like most symbols.

16
00:00:40,860 --> 00:00:44,020
So you'll see this a lot when students are trying

17
00:00:44,020 --> 00:00:47,340
to write number sentences and the equals in the wrong place

18
00:00:47,340 --> 00:00:51,060
and the plus sign is at the end of all of the numbers

19
00:00:51,060 --> 00:00:55,160
because it doesn't really have any meaning.

20
00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,080
It's something that students just kind of saw

21
00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:02,520
or if you have families having their kids do workbooks

22
00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,580
and the like, they might start to remember the facts

23
00:01:05,580 --> 00:01:09,360
but not really understand the actual symbols

24
00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:11,800
and be able to apply it to something else.

25
00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,200
So I'm gonna share with you a way that I can make

26
00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,000
those symbols have more meaning.

27
00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,320
If a student is still having trouble with a lot of symbols

28
00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:24,640
like letters and numbers, I would not introduce

29
00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:26,800
the addition and subtraction symbol.

30
00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,160
Students can solve addition and subtraction

31
00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:31,680
way before they can read a number sentence.

32
00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:33,500
So you're gonna wanna make sure that your kids

33
00:01:33,500 --> 00:01:36,640
have a strong foundation of those concepts

34
00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:38,720
even if they don't have a name for them.

35
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,440
And one way you can start to introduce the idea

36
00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,760
of a number sentence is through the discussions

37
00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:47,520
that you're having when students are solving problems.

38
00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:52,520
So if there were three fish and five swam to join them

39
00:01:53,540 --> 00:01:56,360
and the student explains to you that they used five fingers

40
00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,480
and then three more, you can actually scribe out

41
00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:04,180
five plus three equals eight as they're talking

42
00:02:04,180 --> 00:02:05,860
as a way to note what they said

43
00:02:05,860 --> 00:02:09,240
but not necessarily draw attention to it.

44
00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:11,880
When they're ready, there are things you can do

45
00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:14,120
to bring those symbols to life.

46
00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,760
When kids learn and they see something one way,

47
00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,420
it creates a neural pathway, a little pathway to remember

48
00:02:21,420 --> 00:02:22,480
but it's really thin.

49
00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:26,560
It's like if you go to the gym one time,

50
00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:28,740
you're not gonna have giant muscles,

51
00:02:28,740 --> 00:02:31,200
you're not gonna be able to lift really heavy weights

52
00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:32,960
because you've only done it once.

53
00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:35,520
But if you continue to go to the gym,

54
00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:37,020
you're gonna get stronger.

55
00:02:37,020 --> 00:02:39,760
And as you continue to build on knowledge

56
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:41,640
that the students already have,

57
00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:44,200
those neural pathways get stronger.

58
00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,220
So just writing a number sentence like I described

59
00:02:48,220 --> 00:02:49,060
is one way.

60
00:02:49,060 --> 00:02:51,280
But you can take advantage of the other ways

61
00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,600
that students learn to build on that

62
00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,480
and make your neural pathways stronger.

63
00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,840
One of the ways is to get their emotions involved.

64
00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,000
You might be thinking what emotions could you have

65
00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,320
in an addition and subtraction symbol?

66
00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:09,240
Give a story problem that kids would actually care about

67
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:13,560
and give that plus minus and equal sign a personality.

68
00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,360
Involve them in a story to make it more sticky

69
00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:18,840
to help students remember.

70
00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:21,120
So instead of abstract symbols,

71
00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:22,640
you're making them characters,

72
00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:23,740
you're giving them a story,

73
00:03:23,740 --> 00:03:26,040
you're giving them emotions and feelings,

74
00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:31,040
enter Gus the plus, Linus the minus, and Zico the equal.

75
00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:33,340
If you need Spanish version,

76
00:03:33,340 --> 00:03:38,340
it's a Tomas el mas, Memo el menos, and Pascual el igual.

77
00:03:38,340 --> 00:03:39,520
Since I was an immersion teacher,

78
00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,520
I used the Spanish versions, but the idea is the same.

79
00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,440
So when you introduce Gus the plus,

80
00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,600
you can talk about Gus as being a helpful person

81
00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:51,120
who always wants to give.

82
00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,760
So whenever you see Gus the plus,

83
00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,040
you know that you're gonna end up with more

84
00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:57,440
than what you started with.

85
00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,340
And give students a chance to play with that,

86
00:04:00,340 --> 00:04:01,800
present story problems and say,

87
00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:03,960
oh, look, there's Gus, he's right in the middle.

88
00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,000
Are you gonna have more or less than what you started with?

89
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,500
And after Gus comes in, Zico the equal.

90
00:04:10,500 --> 00:04:11,880
And I like to tell my students

91
00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:16,100
that Zico just wants everybody to be in balance.

92
00:04:16,100 --> 00:04:18,820
He wants both sides to be the same.

93
00:04:18,820 --> 00:04:21,400
So when you see Zico the equal,

94
00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:24,560
you know that you need numbers for young kids,

95
00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,320
numbers on both sides of Zico,

96
00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:29,240
and the two should be the same.

97
00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,160
You have Gus the plus who likes to show people more,

98
00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,020
and you'll end up with a larger number

99
00:04:34,020 --> 00:04:35,440
than what you started with.

100
00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:37,800
You know that if you see Zico the equal,

101
00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:39,800
gonna be equal on both sides.

102
00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,360
But when Linus the minus comes around,

103
00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,400
he is the opposite of Gus the plus.

104
00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:48,600
When you see Linus the minus,

105
00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:50,480
you know you'll be left with less.

106
00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,500
Now I probably would not explain all three on the same day.

107
00:04:54,500 --> 00:04:58,920
I would give students a chance to work with Gus the plus.

108
00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:00,480
When you start to introduce Zico,

109
00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,260
I love to actually get a balance

110
00:05:03,260 --> 00:05:05,880
and present them with the beginning of a number sentence.

111
00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:08,400
And students will tell you two plus two equals four.

112
00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:10,540
So you have four on one side,

113
00:05:10,540 --> 00:05:12,720
and then show them four on the other side,

114
00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:15,920
because Zico's job is to balance those things out,

115
00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:17,440
and they'll see that it's the same.

116
00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,400
Kids can get confused about the equal sign,

117
00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,040
thinking that just means now it's time to do math

118
00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,120
to find out what it means.

119
00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,200
But they can also start to get confused

120
00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:29,920
if the equal comes earlier in the number sentence.

121
00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,680
So instead of five plus three equals eight,

122
00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,120
you'd get eight equals five plus three.

123
00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:37,200
It can start to be a little confusing.

124
00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,160
If they understand that no matter where the equal is,

125
00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:42,200
the two sides need to be balanced,

126
00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:44,200
it can cut down on that confusion.

127
00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:46,080
And if you're working with Linus the minus

128
00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:47,760
and the minus sign,

129
00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:50,040
it can be helpful to make sure that when you read it,

130
00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,240
you read it as minus or subtracting.

131
00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:56,200
Because often you might say you take away this number,

132
00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:57,440
you take away that number.

133
00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,160
Taking away doesn't necessarily apply

134
00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,680
to all subtraction situations.

135
00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:04,880
So that could be a little point of confusion

136
00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:05,840
that students have.

137
00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:07,440
When you're reading the minus,

138
00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,660
is a subtraction or a minus sign.

139
00:06:10,660 --> 00:06:13,260
And when you're working with these symbols,

140
00:06:13,260 --> 00:06:17,360
take the opportunity to write the equal on both sides.

141
00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:21,720
So the sum on the left and also the sum on the right.

142
00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,160
So they can see that those things are the same.

143
00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,960
Now, if you're looking for actual teaching slides

144
00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,900
that have Gus the plus, Linus the minus,

145
00:06:29,900 --> 00:06:31,800
and Z equal the equal all in,

146
00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:33,680
I will have a link to that down below

147
00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:36,480
where students will get to meet the characters

148
00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:37,800
and practice using them

149
00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,880
and practice writing their own number sentences

150
00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,000
in games, in a project,

151
00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,520
and have actual digital math stories

152
00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,320
that they can apply number sentences to.

153
00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,040
Let me know if you try using Gus the plus,

154
00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,160
Linus the minus, and Z equal the equal in your classroom

155
00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:56,420
or the Spanish version.

156
00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,880
Tomas el mas, Pascual el igual,

157
00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:01,920
and Memo el menos.

158
00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,080
And let me know what your students think.

159
00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,080
If you are enjoying the podcast,

160
00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,500
make sure to leave a review

161
00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:11,080
and I will catch you next time.