GEMS Teacher’s Guide for Grades 3-5
Written by Jaine Kopp with Kimi Hosoume
The delightful activities in this guide help build a solid foundation in algebraic reasoning for students in Grades 3-5. Within a compelling and challenging context, students are introduced to Professor Arbegla’s “Fabulous Function Machine.” A letter from the Professor herself then describes a malfunction in the machine that students are asked to solve. Other letters with problem-solving challenges are received over the course of the unit as students gain essential algebraic understandings, learn about equations, and apply what they’ve learned to problems related to area, including the design of a bedroom floor plan. Throughout the unit, students write in journals and the class keeps adding to an “Algebra Toolkit.”
This new GEMS guide makes a very strong connection to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) principles and standards as it builds crucial scaffolding for more complex algebraic reasoning in later grades.
Grades: 3-5
6 Activities
140 Pages
ISBN: 0-924886-70-6