Balance of Halves
Whether these activities are done with a balance or with pencil and
paper, there is more to it than just doing addition. Although
addition and subtraction are involved, you are likely to find the
children using all sorts of language associated with these two
operations and one of the main points here is to establish a
balance or equivalence as well as "equals". It's good to ask pupils
how they are thinking about the activity when there are two on one
side and more than one on the other, and how they might record
their thinking. Some pupils are not so readily used to coming
across situations like 3 + 5 = 6 + 2, for example. You could use
this activity to introduce some algebraic ideas, byencouraging the
class to articulate what they are trying to find in a general
sense. For example "7 balances two other numbers", or "7 =
'something' add 'something'"or "7 = ? + ?". This will help them to
get the idea that they are finding different numbers which fit this
criterion - not just one answer.