options: Operations & Algebra: students learn to solve problems using algebraic thinking and operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They may learn to identify and explain arithmetic patterns, evaluate or manipulate numerical expressions, and reason with equations and inequalities.

Number Systems and Quantity: students learn to understand the complex number system and reason quantitatively.

Modeling: students learn to choose and use appropriate mathematics and statistics to analyze real-world empirical situations, improve decisions, and report on their conclusions and the reasoning behind them.

Number & Operations - Fractions: students learn to understand fractions as numbers and may work with them using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Measurement & Data: students learn to work with data and measure attributes such as time, money, length, area, and volume. They may learn to compare measurements to operations and convert between different units of measure.

Functions: students learn to define, use, and evaluate functions to model relationships between quantities.

Geometry: students learn to classify geometric figures by their properties, and understand and compare the relationships between them. Students develop and use formulas to compute lengths, areas, and volumes, and they use transformations to generate new shapes and compare existing ones. Geometry can be studied with and without coordinates.

Ratios & Proportional Relationships: students learn to recognize, describe, represent, and reason with ratios, rates, proportional relationships, and percent.

Number & Operations in Base Ten: students learn to work with the base-ten system and build place value understanding.

Statistics & Probability: students learn to analyze and produce data distributions, and build understanding of univariate and bivariate data. They learn to interpret data, make statistical inferences, justify conclusions, understand rules of probability, and use probability to make decisions.

Counting & Cardinality: students learn to know number names and the count sequence, count to tell the number of objects, and compare numbers.
problem_activity: Narrative
The purpose of this activity is for students to solve a variety of story problems and write addition and subtraction equations that match those problems. Students solve Put Together/Take Apart, Total or Addend Unknown problems and Compare, Difference Unknown problems. Students may solve in any way they want and write equations to match the story problem, putting a box around the number that represents the answer (MP2).
Action and Expression: Internalize Executive Functions.
Invite students to plan a method, including the tools they will use, for representing and solving the story problems. If time allows, invite students to share their plan with a partner before they begin.
Supports accessibility for: Organization, Conceptual Processing
Required Materials
Materials to Gather
Connecting cubes or two-color counters
Launch
Groups of 2
Give students access to connecting cubes or two-color counters.
Activity
“You will solve problems about the picture from the warm up. The questions may include some of the questions you asked. Show your thinking using drawings, numbers, or words. Write an equation to match the story problem. If you can, write two different equations that match the problem.”
6 minutes: independent work time
4 minutes: partner discussion
Monitor for students who solved using drawings, can clearly explain how they solved, and wrote an equation.
Student Facing
There are 8 people at the table.
6 of the people are students.
How many are teachers?
Show your thinking using drawings, numbers, or words.
Equation: ________________________________
Equation: ________________________________
Elena has 4 pattern blocks.
Tyler has 6 pattern blocks.
How many fewer pattern blocks does Elena have than Tyler?
Show your thinking using drawings, numbers, or words.
Equation: ________________________________
Equation: ________________________________
Tyler has 6 pattern blocks.
Elena has 4 patterns blocks.
How many pattern blocks do they have altogether?
Show your thinking using drawings, numbers, or words.
Equation: ________________________________
Equation: ________________________________
Priya has 7 triangles and 3 squares.
How many more triangles than squares does Priya have?
Show your thinking using drawings, numbers, or words.
Equation: ________________________________
Equation: ________________________________
Student Response
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Activity Synthesis
Display: Elena has 4 pattern blocks. Tyler has 6 pattern blocks. How many fewer patterns blocks does Elena have than Tyler?
“How did you solve this problem? What equation did you write?”
Record student methods and equations.
Repeat for the other problems with the same numbers.
“How are these problems the same? How are they different?” (They both have Elena and Tyler. They both have 4 and 6. In one we find the difference and in the other one we find the total. The answers are different.)
If needed, ask, “Is the total important to solving the first problem? Why or why not?” (No, because we are comparing the students.)


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