Ep 39: Introducing the Addition and Subtraction Symbols

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Let's talk today about introducing the addition,

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subtraction, and equal signs and making them stick.

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To Making Number Sense Makes Sense,

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a podcast for elementary teachers,

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specifically early elementary teachers,

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looking to really make an impact

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in the number sense of their students.

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After you've spent the whole year working on letters

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and numbers and giving students all of those squiggles

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to have meaning, do we really need addition,

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subtraction, and equal signs on top of it

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for young students?

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The answer is no.

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But they do eventually need to learn those symbols

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and they can seem really abstract like most symbols.

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So you'll see this a lot when students are trying

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to write number sentences and the equals in the wrong place

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and the plus sign is at the end of all of the numbers

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because it doesn't really have any meaning.

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It's something that students just kind of saw

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or if you have families having their kids do workbooks

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and the like, they might start to remember the facts

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but not really understand the actual symbols

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and be able to apply it to something else.

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So I'm gonna share with you a way that I can make

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those symbols have more meaning.

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If a student is still having trouble with a lot of symbols

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like letters and numbers, I would not introduce

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the addition and subtraction symbol.

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Students can solve addition and subtraction

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way before they can read a number sentence.

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So you're gonna wanna make sure that your kids

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have a strong foundation of those concepts

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even if they don't have a name for them.

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And one way you can start to introduce the idea

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of a number sentence is through the discussions

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that you're having when students are solving problems.

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So if there were three fish and five swam to join them

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and the student explains to you that they used five fingers

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and then three more, you can actually scribe out

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five plus three equals eight as they're talking

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as a way to note what they said

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but not necessarily draw attention to it.

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When they're ready, there are things you can do

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to bring those symbols to life.

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When kids learn and they see something one way,

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it creates a neural pathway, a little pathway to remember

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but it's really thin.

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It's like if you go to the gym one time,

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you're not gonna have giant muscles,

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you're not gonna be able to lift really heavy weights

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because you've only done it once.

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But if you continue to go to the gym,

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you're gonna get stronger.

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And as you continue to build on knowledge

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that the students already have,

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those neural pathways get stronger.

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So just writing a number sentence like I described

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is one way.

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But you can take advantage of the other ways

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that students learn to build on that

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and make your neural pathways stronger.

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One of the ways is to get their emotions involved.

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You might be thinking what emotions could you have

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in an addition and subtraction symbol?

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Give a story problem that kids would actually care about

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and give that plus minus and equal sign a personality.

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Involve them in a story to make it more sticky

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to help students remember.

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So instead of abstract symbols,

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you're making them characters,

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you're giving them a story,

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you're giving them emotions and feelings,

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enter Gus the plus, Linus the minus, and Zico the equal.

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If you need Spanish version,

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it's a Tomas el mas, Memo el menos, and Pascual el igual.

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Since I was an immersion teacher,

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I used the Spanish versions, but the idea is the same.

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So when you introduce Gus the plus,

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you can talk about Gus as being a helpful person

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who always wants to give.

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So whenever you see Gus the plus,

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you know that you're gonna end up with more

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than what you started with.

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And give students a chance to play with that,

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present story problems and say,

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oh, look, there's Gus, he's right in the middle.

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Are you gonna have more or less than what you started with?

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And after Gus comes in, Zico the equal.

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And I like to tell my students

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that Zico just wants everybody to be in balance.

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He wants both sides to be the same.

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So when you see Zico the equal,

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you know that you need numbers for young kids,

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numbers on both sides of Zico,

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and the two should be the same.

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You have Gus the plus who likes to show people more,

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and you'll end up with a larger number

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than what you started with.

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You know that if you see Zico the equal,

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gonna be equal on both sides.

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But when Linus the minus comes around,

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he is the opposite of Gus the plus.

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When you see Linus the minus,

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you know you'll be left with less.

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Now I probably would not explain all three on the same day.

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I would give students a chance to work with Gus the plus.

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When you start to introduce Zico,

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I love to actually get a balance

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and present them with the beginning of a number sentence.

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And students will tell you two plus two equals four.

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So you have four on one side,

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and then show them four on the other side,

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because Zico's job is to balance those things out,

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and they'll see that it's the same.

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Kids can get confused about the equal sign,

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thinking that just means now it's time to do math

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to find out what it means.

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But they can also start to get confused

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if the equal comes earlier in the number sentence.

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So instead of five plus three equals eight,

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you'd get eight equals five plus three.

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It can start to be a little confusing.

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If they understand that no matter where the equal is,

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the two sides need to be balanced,

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it can cut down on that confusion.

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And if you're working with Linus the minus

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and the minus sign,

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it can be helpful to make sure that when you read it,

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you read it as minus or subtracting.

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Because often you might say you take away this number,

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you take away that number.

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Taking away doesn't necessarily apply

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to all subtraction situations.

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So that could be a little point of confusion

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that students have.

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When you're reading the minus,

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is a subtraction or a minus sign.

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And when you're working with these symbols,

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take the opportunity to write the equal on both sides.

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So the sum on the left and also the sum on the right.

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So they can see that those things are the same.

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Now, if you're looking for actual teaching slides

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that have Gus the plus, Linus the minus,

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and Z equal the equal all in,

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I will have a link to that down below

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where students will get to meet the characters

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and practice using them

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and practice writing their own number sentences

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in games, in a project,

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and have actual digital math stories

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that they can apply number sentences to.

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Let me know if you try using Gus the plus,

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Linus the minus, and Z equal the equal in your classroom

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or the Spanish version.

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Tomas el mas, Pascual el igual,

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and Memo el menos.

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And let me know what your students think.

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If you are enjoying the podcast,

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make sure to leave a review

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and I will catch you next time.