EQUALITY is SO IMPORTANT

This online tool is a great option if you don't have access to a concrete tool in your classroom

Research has shown that a strong understanding of the equal sign in elementary school has a positive effect on student math success as they progress through middle and high school.  The standard sits in first grade (1.OA.7), but it is up to all grade levels to provide practice with the importance of the equal sign so that students can see the equal sign not as operational but as relational.

This is an important concept that I find myself working to build in our 1st and 2nd grade students quite often.

We typically begin by using the scale to think about missing addend problems.  The fulcrum of the scale represents the equals sign in the number problem. Because this concept is still difficult for most of them, we use cubes to look at the relationship of the two sides.  We always tell a story to go along with the problem. What do I need to add to 3 to make it be equal to 9?  I also draw it so that they see a representational model.

When we add the 6 weight, the students confirm that their answer was correct. 

After they become pretty proficient at solving the problems within 10, we stretch to equalities between different sums.

We again use cubes to help us make sense of the numbers and write number sentences to match our work.  We explore these problems always with context, and we make sure to write our number sentences with the missing addend in a variety of places. When the missing addend is in the spot directly after the equal sign is when the students tend to struggle the most. (4 + 5 = ___ + 1)

Giving students much time to explore and think about the numbers with the scale and other manipulatives is important.  It will also help them to better understand addition and the facts that go with it.

Here is an Equality dice game you can play, too.

The Math Coach's Corner has a good game for practicing equality with two-digit numbers on this post.

Illustrative Mathematics has some other good tasks that you can do with your students to help build their understanding of the equal sign.

What do you do to help your students truly understand the equal sign?