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Doing Algebra in Grades K-4: Zalman Usiskin

The document discusses how algebra concepts can be taught in elementary grades K-4. It defines algebra as a language with five major aspects: unknowns, formulas, generalized patterns, placeholders, and relationships. The document provides examples of how these algebraic concepts appear in everyday activities and how they can be introduced in an age-appropriate manner at the primary level.

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98 views2 pages

Doing Algebra in Grades K-4: Zalman Usiskin

The document discusses how algebra concepts can be taught in elementary grades K-4. It defines algebra as a language with five major aspects: unknowns, formulas, generalized patterns, placeholders, and relationships. The document provides examples of how these algebraic concepts appear in everyday activities and how they can be introduced in an age-appropriate manner at the primary level.

Uploaded by

kidushun
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Reprinted from Barbara Moses, ed.

, Algebraic Thinking, Grades K–12: Readings from NCTM’s School-Based Journals and Other Publications (Reston,
Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000), pp. 5–6. Originally appeared in Teaching Children Mathematics 3 (February 1997): 346–48.
© 1997 by NCTM.

Doing Algebra
in
Grades K–4
Zalman Usiskin

A bout thirty-five years ago the movement to in-


corporate geometry into the elementary
grades began. To many elementary school teach-
in the primary grades is the epitome of working
with mathematical concepts too early, before stu-
dents are ready.
ers, the mention of the word geometry brought The thesis of this article is that it is neither unwise
back memories of a high school geometry course
nor unproductive to do some algebra in grades
that dealt with abstraction and proof. The thought
K–4. The article introduces terms and shows that
of teaching children this geometry was naturally
some algebra is being taught to, and learned by,
viewed with incredulity.
virtually all students, even though the teacher may
But in time teachers came to realize that the geom- not realize it.
etry being touted for the primary school deals with
shape and size and drawing and counting. It fits in What Is Algebra?
not only with the arithmetic that is the backbone
of the curriculum but also with art and social stud- Algebra is a language. This language has five major
ies. And much of its terminology, such as circle, aspects: (1) unknowns, (2) formulas, (3) general-
triangle, square, and angle, are in our everyday ized patterns, (4) placeholders, and (5) relation-
language and part of basic literacy. Geometry ships. Any time that any of these ideas are dis-
today begins for many children in preschool. cussed, from kindergarten upward, there is
opportunity to introduce the language of algebra.
Today, the word algebra inspires much the same
reaction as geometry did in 1960. It spawns memo-
ries of “word problems,” of complicated equations Unknowns
and expressions, of what may have seemed to be Consider the following questions:
meaningless manipulations of meaningless symbols What number, when added to 3, gives 7?
on a page. Even those teachers possessing great
Fill in the blank: 3 + ___ = 7
confidence in teaching arithmetic and geometric
concepts and skills may shy away from mentioning Put a number in the square to make this sen-
any algebra. To many teachers, introducing algebra tence true: 3 +  =7
Find the ?: 3 + ? = 7
Solve: 3 + x = 7
Zalman Usiskin is a professor of education at
the University of Chicago and director of the In each question is an unknown. It is a number
University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, represented by that word, or by a blank, or a
Chicago, IL 60637. He was a member of the NCTM square, or a question mark, or the letter x. Some
Board of Directors at the time of publication. argue that only the last example is algebra. But

5
only convention causes us to use x instead of ? or but you can write “For any numbers a and b, a • b =
 or ___ to represent an unknown. The verbal de- b • a.” The specific instance 6 • 12 = 12 • 6 looks
scription of a situation, as in the first question, like the algebra and does not look at all like the
“What number, when added to 3, gives 7?” may verbal description.
seem to be the least algebraic, but it was the way So you are doing algebra if you discuss generaliza-
that many people did algebra before the invention tions such as “Add 0 to a number, and the answer
of modern symbolism in the 1590s. (The use of x is that number. Add a number to itself, and the re-
and y to represent unknowns dates from Descartes sult is the same as two times the number.” But in-
in the early 1600s.) Thus, there is a sense that you stead of writing them down in English, you use the
are doing algebra whenever you ask students to language of algebra (0 + n = n; t + t = 2t).
find an unknown in a situation.
Placeholders
Formulas
Most people have played Monopoly or other board
If we have the formula A = LW for the area of a games in which the following kind of direction is
rectangle and we ask students to find A when L = given: “Roll the dice. Whatever number you get,
5 and W = 7, we are doing algebra. If we ask stu- move forward twice the number of spaces.” In al-
dents to find n when 5 × 7 = n, whether we are gebraic language it means “If you roll d on the
doing algebra is not clear. dice, then move forward 2d.”
If the teacher asks, “What number can I replace n Spreadsheets use algebra. Take the number in one
by and make this a true statement?” the teacher is cell of an array, subtract it from a number in a sec-
treating the statement as algebra. If the teacher ond cell, and put the difference in a third cell. As
asks, “What is the answer?” then the teacher is treat- in the dice situation, we do not need to know
ing the question as arithmetic. The point is that what numbers we have to understand the direc-
much of the difference between arithmetic and al- tions. If the number in the first cell is x and the
gebra is in the ways questions are couched. It is not number in the second cell is y, then the number in
hard to do algebra, even with very young students. the third cell is y – x.

Generalized Patterns Consequently, whenever one plays a “pick a num-


ber” game—pick a number, add 3 to it, subtract 5,
My father was a bookkeeper by trade, and he and so on—one is verbally doing algebra, for one
taught me a number of shortcuts for doing arith- is thinking of a number, any number, and dealing
metic. For instance, to multiply a number by 19, I with it.
could multiply the number by 20 and then subtract
the number. The algebraic description is short. If n
Relationships
is the number, 19n = 20n – n. This special case of
the distributive property of multiplication over sub- Bob is two years older than Marisha. What could
traction is called just the distributive property for be their ages? If Marisha is 7, then Bob is 9. If Mar-
short. Notice how much shorter the algebraic de- isha is 4, then Bob is 6. We do not have to know
scription is than the description in words. Further- their ages to know how they are related. If Bob’s
more, the algebraic description bears a visual re- age is represented by B and Marisha’s age is repre-
semblance to the arithmetic. For instance, if you sented by M, then we could write the following:
buy 19 notebooks at $2.95 each, substitute $2.95 B = M + 2 (Bob is 2 years older than Marisha.)
for n.
B – M = 2 (The difference in their ages is 2.)
19 • $2.95 = 20 • $2.95 – $2.95 M = B – 2 (Marisha is 2 years younger than
Many people can calculate the right side using men- Bob.)
tal arithmetic. It equals $59.00 – $2.95, or $56.05. Any of these representations is correct. Although
The algebraic description just given suggests that there are many ways to write the relationship be-
algebra is the most appropriate language for writ- tween B and M, they are equivalent. This equiva-
ing down general properties in arithmetic. You lence is easier to determine in the algebraic de-
may tell students, “You can multiply two numbers scriptions than in the English descriptions in
in either order, and the answer will be the same,” parentheses beside them.
6

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