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Introduction
Welcome to Algebra Readiness Made Easy! This book is designed to help you introduce students
to problem-solving strategies and algebraic-reasoning techniques, to give them practice with
major number concepts and skills, and to motivate them to write and talk about big ideas in
mathematics. It also sets the stage for the formal study of algebra in the upper grades.
Algebra Standards
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics identifies algebra as one of the five major
content areas of the mathematics curriculum to be studied by students in allgrades (NCTM,
2000). The council emphasizes that early and regular experience with the key ideas of algebra
helps students make the transition into the more formal study of algebra in late middle school
or high school. This view is consistent with the general theory of learning—that understanding
is enhanced when connections are made between what is new and what was previously studied.
The key algebraic concepts developed in this book are:
- representing quantitative relationships with symbols
- writing and solving equations
- solving equations with one or more variables
- replacing unknowns with their values
- solving for the values of unknowns
- solving two or three equations with two or three unknowns
- exploring equality
- exploring variables that represent varying quantities
- describing the functional relationship between two numbers
Building Key Math Skills
NCTM also identifies problem solving as a key process skill, and the teaching of strategies and
methods of reasoning to solve problems as a major part of the mathematics curriculum for
students of all ages. The problem-solving model first described in 1957 by the renowned
mathematician George Polya has been adopted by teachers and instructional developers
nationwide and provides the framework for the problem-solving focus of this book. All the
problems contained here require students to interpret data displays—such as text, charts,
4 Algebra Readiness Made Easy: Grade 6 © Greenes, Findell & Cavanagh, Scholastic Teaching Resources