Inequalities

I've started teaching all the math lessons in my first grade, and last week I needed to introduce inequalities. Yikes! I remember being very confused when I learned about inequalities when I was younger, and my teacher I work with is still confused to this day! So I wanted to make sure I presented the information in a very clear way.

We use the enVision math program, and in the program it only spent one day on inequalities and it jumped right into using two-digit numbers. So I put in an extra day in order to introduce the concepts in a more in-depth way.

I started by telling my first graders that we would be talking about something called "inequalities," and I asked them what the words "greater than" and "less than" meant. Then, I showed them this inequality alligator I made. It moves so that I can make it show greater than, less than, or equal to. Plus I laminated it so that I can write the numbers on each side with a dry-erase marker. I had a group of 5 students and a group of 2 students come up and stand on either side of the alligator mouth. Then we talked about which way the sign should go. We talked about how we always have to read our number sentence left to right, just like how we read a book. We did a bunch of examples together as a class.

After, I had more examples on the smart board that we worked on together. Finally, my students filled out this worksheet on their own.

I have several students who are significantly behind in math, and even my students who really struggle got all or almost all the answers correct! It was one of the best math lessons we've had in a while, and I could tell my students were really proud of themselves for understanding it so well.