Making it Equal: Equality {Halloween} Unit for First Graders

I love teaching math, especially in math groups! This is my second year teaching a split class and now I think I have the hang of it down. One of my favorite parts is having my kiddos sitting around me as we work through our new skills. 

Some of the new things we have been working on are ...

even and odd

 skip counting

 and subtracting.

My first graders are beginning our equality unit this week. This is one unit that makes me cringe just a little bit because of the challenge of it, especially being at the beginning of the school year. Here's some of the things we have been learning:

We sorted subtraction (seen here) and addition (not pictured) sentences for different ways to equal a difference or a sum.

 Balancing Equations - cutting out addition sentences and finding a second addition sentence to show equal addition sentences.

 We sorted equal and not equal addition sentences.

 The children made pockets in their math notebook of equal and not equal addition sentences. They then solved the addition sentence cards and sorted them into the correct pocket.

And some fun Halloween themed equal/not equal sorting cards. These Halloween cards are a freebie, but are also included in the large equality unit.

These activities are in my equal and not equal unit. Click on the images above to find this product.

Do you teach equality? What are some ways that you drive your instruction?

Until next time,