LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Balancing

http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L40

A lesson plan for Grades K–2 Mathematics

Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

About this resource

Appropriate grades
K–2
Provider
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Legal

Creative Commons License

This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.

In this lesson, the fourth of a seven-part unit from Illuminations, students are encouraged to explore another model of subtraction—the balance. This model leads naturally to recording with equations. Students use actual and virtual pan balances in their explorations and record the modeled subtraction facts and the related addition facts in equation form.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Mathematics (2004)

Grade 1

  • Goal 1: Number and Operations - The learner will read, write, and model whole numbers through 99 and compute with whole numbers.
    • Objective 1.03: Develop fluency with single-digit addition and corresponding differences using strategies such as modeling, composing and decomposing quantities, using doubles, and making tens.
    • Objective 1.04: Create, model, and solve problems that use addition, subtraction, and fair shares (between two or three).

Grade 2

  • Goal 1: Number and Operations - The learner will read, write, model, and compute with whole numbers through 999.
    • Objective 1.03: Create, model, and solve problems that involve addition, subtraction, equal grouping, and division into halves, thirds, and fourths (record in fraction form).
    • Objective 1.04: Develop fluency with multi-digit addition and subtraction through 999 using multiple strategies.
      • Strategies for adding and subtracting numbers.
      • Estimation of sums and differences in appropriate situations.
      • Relationships between operations.
    • Objective 1.05: Create and solve problems using strategies such as modeling, composing and decomposing quantities, using doubles, and making tens and hundreds.

Kindergarten

  • Goal 1: Number and Operations - The learner will recognize, model, and write whole numbers through 30.
    • Objective 1.03: Solve problems and share solutions to problems in small groups.