Algebraic Addition

Junievicz, Alex                                   Kelly H.S.
3317 S. Halsted St.                               650-5900
Chicago, Illinois  60608
927-6266

Objective

     To re-invent the wheel in a manner so that there is:
            1. Transfer from other knowledge of the student;
            2. Minimal relationship to previous math;
            3. Conventions of Minus used in business.
     To get the student to realize the rules of signs without
the turn-off that he/she may have gotten previously.

Apparatus Needed:

     Play money
     Play IOU's
     Dice  One red, and one black for each student

Procedure

     Before class give several students the play money, and IOUs.  After 
attendance take a loan from one of the students and have that student 
take a loan from another. 
     On the overhead list each student's holdings.  Have the beginning 
balance and the transactions using the brackets to stand for negative--
(but using the terms owned, and owed, the accountants use debits as 
+[owned]  and  ( ) for -[Owed]--By having the students borrow from each 
other to give the teacher the money there will be a negative number--
the student owes more money.  A sub objective could be to balance the 
student's own check book. 
     For practice problems have the students make their own by rolling 
the dice.  The black being + and the red being -. Thus they will have 
random problems especially suited for the slower student since the 
numbers will be less than 7, and not zero.  This can later lead to some 
motivation for statistics and surely will delight some of the gamblers 
in the class. 

Conclusion

     Since this approach was thought of in the SMILE program and not 
tested in the actual classroom I am presenting it as an alternative for 
the slower classes, possibly a support class.  I have used the text 
book method, then, for the students still having trouble, passed out 
the rules to rote memorize, and, while working with the individual 
student invoked a loan approach (borrow, and "paid" so as to end up 
with money owed).  Maybe starting with this approach we can work around 
the students' inconsistency of minus, and negative.