4th+5th Grade Math Variables Lesson

A 4th and 5th class at one of my elementary schools had SO much fun the other day learning about variables. We started out the lesson with a Keynote about what a variable is and how we have really been working with variables since kindergarten. We pretended we were in kindergarten and solved problems like:

   

 Then we talked about how variables changed to boxes once we were in 2nd/3rd grade:  

 If you would like this Keynote presentation, email me and I will send it your way :)

 FINALLY, I broke the news to them that as they get older things become less exciting. So now we deal with variables in letter form rather than in fun picture form. We explained to the class that they would be dealing with variables for the rest of their life so they needed to understand what they are all about NOW. So, I showed them this YouTube video that a high school put together. YOU MUST WATCH THIS in order for their presentations to make sense :)

Check out the students' creations and presentations...

Teach Me How to Solve It from Julie on Vimeo.