Summer SAVY, Session 2 Day 5, Adventures in Algebra (3rd-4th)
Dear SAVY Families,
It’s hard to believe our incredible week together is already coming to a close!
What a joy it has been to work with such a bright, enthusiastic group of young mathematicians. Their curiosity, creativity, and collaboration made this week truly special.
We began the day by wrapping up our final lessons using Hands-On Equations, a class favorite that brought algebra to life in a hands-on, visual way. Today’s focus was the distributive property, and students eagerly jumped into simplifying expressions like 3(x + 5) and 2(4x – 1). It was exciting to see them confidently apply this concept and explain their reasoning to peers.
The excitement continued with an algebraic escape room. Students worked in teams to solve a series of math puzzles to crack the code and “escape.” I was truly impressed by their collaboration, problem-solving, and perseverance throughout the activity.
After lunch, students put the finishing touches on their original board games. Students then became game testers, playing each other’s creations and offering thoughtful feedback. They’ll be bringing home additional cards to continue developing their games into polished prototypes.
We ended the day with a lively activity called Algebra Cadabra. This engaging challenge gave them the chance to demonstrate their understanding of combining like terms and balancing equations. It was wonderful to see their confidence and creativity shine through!
Ideas for Extended Learning at Home:
- Encourage your child to design their own algebra-themed escape room game!
They can create a series of puzzles or challenges that require solving equations, using the distributive property, or combining like terms to unlock clues. Each correct answer can lead to the next step in the “escape.” They can even build a storyline—like escaping a haunted library, unlocking a treasure chest, or solving a mystery at a math museum. This is a fun and creative way to reinforce their learning while building problem-solving and storytelling skills!
- Math in the Kitchen: Have your child double or triple a recipe. Ask them to write the new quantities using the distributive property (e.g., 3(2 eggs + 1 cup sugar) = 6 eggs + 3 cups sugar).
- Algebra Story Writing: Encourage your child to write a short story where a character uses algebra to solve a problem, like planning a party, building something, or solving a mystery.
- DIY Flashcards: Create flashcards with expressions like 4(x + 2) or 2(3x – 5) and have your child simplify them using the distributive property.
- Math Riddles: Challenge your child with riddles like:
“I’m thinking of a number. When I multiply it by 3 and add 6, I get 21. What’s the number?”
(Let them write and solve the equation: 3x + 6 = 21)
Thank you for sharing your marvelous mathematicians with me as we journeyed through so many exciting Algebra Adventures together.
Sincerely,
Catherine Hayes
