A short teacher-training video (presented by Ellie) that explains how to reinforce primary/KS2 pupils' understanding of the equals sign as meaning "the same as." The presenter demonstrates using scales and cubes to balance both sides, works through examples (5+4=9; 5+8 = ? +3 solved by rewriting 5+8 as 13 then using the inverse to find 10; 3×6 = ? +11 solved by 18−11=7), and advises writing both sides as totals and using boxes or question marks to make clear that something must appear on the other side of the equals sign.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Ellie. And in this video we're going to look at how you can really reinforce your pupil's understanding of the equals sign and what it means. We're going to start this video by looking at a common misconception that some pupils might have. Let's look at this question. 5 Add 8 is equal to something. Add 3. Now, you've probably seen this happen before, so obviously we know that that isn't correct. 5 add 8 is not the same as 13 add 3. But we need to go back to where that misconception comes from and address your people's understanding so that they can see where they're going wrong with this. So let's start with a really simple example. 5 add 4 is equal to 9. What we want pupils to understand is that this equal sign is, is the same as. So 5 add 4 is the same as 9. And a really good way to demonstrate that, if you have them, is to use scales in school. So you can put five cubes and another four cubes on one side, and then on the other side, don't put anything. And they'll see that that initial side is obviously not in balance with the other side. So you can ask them, how many cubes do I need to put on the other side for it to be equal? And they should be able to see that once you put 9 on, the balance is even. So 5 add 4 is the same as 9. And to really reinforce this, you can rewrite this side of the equation. Nine is the same as nine. So now we're going to look at the original question that we had, and you can use a balance in the same way. So if you have your balance and you put five and then eight cubes on one side, and then you put three cubes on the other, you can ask your pupils, how many more do I need to put on the other side to make it balance? And we're going to do the same thing that we just did before. So we're going to rewrite this side. So 5 add 8 is the same as 13. So 13 is equal to what add 3. So now pupils should be able to tell you, I need to add 10 more cubes to make this side the same as 13. That's using the inverse, which they should be familiar with. What they're doing there is doing 13 take away three to find what number needs to go in that box. A more challenging question that you might see in key stage two, we've got this example here. So three multiplied by six is the same as something, add 11. Now, I'm going to write down the value of this side of my equation, which is 18 is the same as something at 11. Now, as I did in the last example, I'm going to encourage my pupils to understand they've got to use the inverse to work out this value. So 18 is the same as what? Add 11. You can do it as the inverse 18. Take away 11, and they should realize that that is equal to 7. So we're going to put 7 in this box here. And then the final step to really reinforce that that equal sign means the same as is to write out both sides of the equation as a total. So 18 is equal to 7 and 11 is 18. And that really shows to your pupils that the equal sign means the same as 18 is the same as 18. The final point to make is that when you're teaching your pupils, if they're struggling with the meaning of the equal sign, sometimes writing an equation without your answer here can confuse them a little bit. And to really reinforce that there must be something on the other side of that equal sign, you can write either a square or a question mark at the end of each one so that they know that something must go there. There has to be something which is the same value as this side. So that's what you can do to really make sure your pupils understand the concept of equals and that it means the same as.
