* Participants will establish that students have some very common misconceptions about the meaning and use of the equal sign * Participants will explore strategies to help students develop an understanding of the meaning and use of the equal sign. * Participants will develop an understanding of the importance of the concept of equality in algebraic reasoning.

* Read forward and chapter 1 * Use notecards to record important statements

* Person #1 reports one idea that she/he recorded * While Person #1 reports, other group members listen, but do not question Person#1, comment, or give clues. * When Person #1 finishes, Person #2 reports while the group listens. * Repeat until all group members have reported all of their ideas. * The group discusses ideas that were reported.

* What answers did your students give? * Why did they give these answers? * Was this what you expected students to be able to do? * For your students who got 7, how did they get it?

Grade &17Other

* Are the students we observed struggling with the concept of equality? * Why are students struggling with this elementary idea? * Do students appear to get better with more experience? * How does the calculator lead to the misconception of the meaning of equality? * Read Chapter 2, page 9

* Highlight your big ideas for later discussion

* Person #1 reports one idea that she/he recorded * While Person #1 reports, other group members listen, but do not question Person#1, comment, or give clues. * When Person #1 finishes, Person #2 reports while the group listens. * Repeat until all group members have reported all of their ideas. * The group discusses ideas that were reported.

* How did the student in this study do compared to our students? * What are some common misconceptions that students have about the equal sign? * How should students be thinking about the equal sign? * What are some ways Karen Falkner used to help her students develop a better understanding of the equal sign?

* Equality Handout for notes * Prepare for table discussions

* Read pages * Work with grade level groups * Write a series of T/F sentences that you will use with your students * Record on chart paper * Share how you hope that the student thinking would progress with this series. * Why is each sentence important? * What does equality mean?

* Talk about teacher decisions * Why were certain number sentences particularly good? * What number sentences might you have added to help out? * How does the sequence build understanding? * Revise your T/F sentences

* Do the T/F sentences you developed with your students * Be prepared to share student observations * Read chapter 2