Math - equality

Mr. H. came around during Daily 5 and was asking students questions about reading. - Gal and Jacell
Daily 5 was fun, and we had it twice! Once after Phys. Ed. and once after afternoon recess. - Cam H.
Today we had gym. - Taylor
We have 4 marbles for our next Mystery Motivator. - Hailey M. and Braylin
We did Math on the SmartBoard doing questions about if number sentences were balanced or not. - Jenna and Joey

The last couple of days, we've been working on equality in Math; that is, that the amount on one side of the equal sign needs to be the same as the amount on the other side. We used a balance scale to show how when you have more weight on one side than on the other, the two sides will not evenly balance out; an equation is exactly like that. It was interesting that the students all knew that an equation like 4+2=6 is true, but were thrown for a loop when asked if 5+3=4+4 was true. However, after seeing it demonstrated with a scale, and some really cool activities that the students got to participate in on the SmartBoard, the students really 'got it' (I love seeing students when the 'light goes on' - one of the best parts of teaching!). Here's a screenshot of one of the activities the students took part in: