Exploration: Unit 2, Lesson 1

(20-25 minutes)

• Group students in a visibly random way (e.g. playing cards, drawing straws, spinner, etc.) into groups no larger than three students per group.
• Watch the video: M7U2L1 Modeling & Solving Equations & Representing Solutions on Number Lines Video.mp4
• Distribute the activity sheet. M7U2L1 Modeling & Solving One-Variable, Two-Step Equations & Representing Solutions on Number Lines.pdf
  • Answer Key M7U2L1 Modeling and Solving Equations and Inequalities and Representing Solutions on Number Lines AK.pdf
• Facilitate student group exploration and reflection. 
• Instructional Hint:
  • Provide students with cups and counters (such as lima beans or centimeter cubes) to use as they represent and solve the equations. The cup represents the variable (usually x) and the counter represents the constant.
  • Connect the actions with the cups and counters to the operations. Make sure student record each step both pictorially and symbolically so they connect actions such as “remove five beans” with “subtract five beans.”
• Support for Emergent Bilinguals:
  • Provide students with opportunities to seek clarification of spoken language as needed. Use sentence stems such as:
    • Can you help me to…?
    • Would you please repeat that?
    • So you’re saying…
• As needed, support student reasoning and productive struggle through questioning.
  • Clarifying Question(s)
    • Can you explain that in a different way?
  • Focusing Question(s)
    • What is this problem about?
    • Which value(s) do the counters represent?
  • Advancing Question(s) [ask and walk away]
    • Based on the cups and counters you have, how many counters would fit inside each cup?
  • Assessing Question(s)
    • How do you know your answer is correct?