Objective

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to identify and solve simple algebraic equations using addition and subtraction.

Materials and Prep

• Paper
• Pencil
• The book "The House That Witchy Built" by Dianne de Las Casas

Before starting the lesson, make sure you have read the book "The House That Witchy Built" and are familiar with the story.

Activities

1. Read "The House That Witchy Built" together.

   Discuss the different characters and objects mentioned in the story.

2. Ask the student to imagine they are building their own house.

   Have them draw a picture of their house on the paper.

3. Now, tell the student that they need to add or subtract certain objects from their house.

   For example, ask them to add 2 windows and subtract 1 door from their house.

   Write down the algebraic equation on the paper, such as "windows + 2 - door = ?".

4. Guide the student to solve the equation by counting the objects in their drawing.

   For example, if they had 4 windows and 1 door originally, they would end up with 6 windows and 0 doors after adding 2 windows and subtracting 1 door.

   Write down the final answer on the paper, such as "windows = 6, door = 0".

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with different objects and numbers to create new equations.

   Encourage the student to come up with their own equations as well.

First Grade Talking Points

• "In the story, we learned about a house that was built by Witchy. Today, we are going to build our own houses using math!"
• "We will use addition and subtraction to add or take away objects from our houses, just like Witchy did in the story."
• "When we add objects, we are putting more of them in our houses. And when we subtract objects, we are taking them away."
• "We will write down our equations using numbers and symbols, like + for addition and - for subtraction."
• "After we solve the equations, we will know how many objects are in our houses."
• "Remember, it's important to count carefully and write down the correct numbers."
• "Let's have fun building our houses and solving algebraic equations together!"