To combat this I used a monarchy to teach Order of Operations. Each part of the order had a title according to their position in the kingdom.
King G (grouping symbols)
Queen E (exponents)
Princes M & D (multiplication and division)
Princesses A & S (addition and subtraction)
This may seem a little silly, but worked great with students prior knowledge about a monarchy. The concept is simple, who assumes the throne next? The King is always first. If the King is not present, the Queen is on the throne. This continues down the line.
The problem with multiplication/division and addition/subtraction was solved by drawing upon the students knowledge of a monarchy. I posed the question: "If more than one Prince is present, who assumes the throne?" Students shouted out: "The oldest" and "Whoever's first in line." They got it!!!!! There is our left to right. The same question was posed about multiple Princesses; and the same answered received.
I have had much success with SOL 7.2 using the monarchy. If you have students who are struggling with the left to right for multiplication/division and addition/subtraction and are looking for another way to teach it, give this a try. I also created a foldable with pictures of a King, Queen, Princes, and Princesses, notes, and sample problems that the students worked in to reinforce it.
I'll take a picture of a student's foldable and post it. What do you think?
What a great idea! This sure beats dear old Aunt Sally! Not to mention the fact that it allows for a cross-curriculum discussion! Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteI think that is great! I would like to see a picture of the foldable.
ReplyDeleteThis was rather effective in my classroom. I did not even introduce PEMDAS. While there were still some issues with students remembering the steps, as expected, there was little confusion as to the order in which to perform them. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. Did your kids come with some type of knowlegde of cards or succession? That may be a lesson in itself unless they have some background knowledge. Great idea though.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of Monarchy and who is next in line for the throne. If students can see the line up and who comes next, they will be able to know what operation to do next in the order of operations.
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