Building Number Sense in Math

We have worked hard over the course of this school year to understand numbers and use numbers flexibly, all with the goal of building/developing number sense. The pictures below show the end of an activity we did today that helps students see the equal sign as a same as sign instead of just a place to put an answer. We looked at problems like they are on a balance scale with the equal sign in the middle; both side of the equation must equal the same in order to have the equal sign.  It can be as basic as 3X4=4X3 or as complicated as  8X2+6X4=10+5+10+5+10. During the activity below students received a notecard and had to figure out their answer and walk around trying to find someone with the other side to their equation. The hard part...they could not speak. Students had to look at all the other equations and solve them to find their match. It was fun and full of learning!