Solving Equations

As I've mentioned before, I'm teaching the same group of kids that I had last year.  This is good and bad.  Good because I have established relationships, know what they can do, and know what we covered and how we covered it last year.  It's bad because, let's face it, sometimes a student (and a teacher) needs a fresh face.

Knowing that we solved one-step equations last year in our 6th grade class, when I approached this topic this year, I thought that I'd have the kids teach each other.  Therefore, I broke the class into groups of 3, and assigned each group a different equation to solve.  They all came to the white board and began solving the equation.  After 1 minute, I had the groups rotate and continue the work of another group.  This continued until all groups had worked or reviewed each equation.  Next, I had the groups return to their original equations and see if the workings made sense, and if they agreed with the final outcome.

My hope in doing this was that each student would see the various types of one-step equations, they would improve on their ability to critique the work of others, and it would get them out of their seats.  These goals, for the most part, were accomplished.  I also made a rule that the same person could not write on the white board twice in a row, forcing everyone to participate.

After we had solved all of the equations, I had the whole class look at a few choice ones and do a bit of critiquing.  My idea was to create a whole class dialogue about the different methods to solving equations, how we communicate our thinking clearly, and how we can check each other's work.  Unfortunately, the whole class discussion didn't progress as I had hoped, and we just reviewed equation and tried to clarify any misconceptions.

Although the lesson wasn't perfect, I enjoyed the different approach to presenting the topic.  It did get all students out of their seats, and most of them were working on and talking about math which was great.