Writing Equations Using a Variable or a Letter for the Unknown Quantity

Well, we are just truckin’ along learning new topics! This weeks focus has been on writing simple equations using a variable or letter for the unknown quantity.  In 5th grade we will only see a variable or letter in the solution part of the equation.  To get started with this topic, we first talked about equation vocabulary.  I don’t like to teach “key words” but there are words that lend themselves more clearly to one operation.  For example “sum” usually means to add.  We journaled common words and phrases seen in word problems and discussed their meaning.
Next we used a book called “One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab” by April and Jeff Sayre.  This is a very simple book in nature, but students can learn a more complex math operation using this simple book to guide the instruction.  First I read the book and the students followed along using the guided instruction part.  I read and we did the guided instruction together.

Afterwards the packet instructs students to come up with their own equations using the book as a reference.  The students were given a number and they had to develop their own equation to represent that number.  Students then came to the board to present their findings.  We went over their equations and checked for accuracy.  They did really well with this!