Bridges Math Grade 5 Lesson

Building Thinking Classrooms: Expressions, Equations & Volume — Unit 1 Full Sequence (15 Lessons)

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5th GradeBuilding Thinking Classrooms50 min

Learning Objective

Students will write and evaluate numerical expressions, write and solve equations with one variable, and calculate volume of rectangular prisms using formulas and unit cubes.

Lesson Overview

A 15-lesson Building Thinking Classrooms sequence for Grade 5 covering numerical expressions with grouping symbols, variables and equations, and volume of rectangular prisms. Each lesson uses thin-sliced vertical surface tasks, random grouping, and gallery-walk consolidation.

Materials

Vertical whiteboards or chart paper
Dry-erase markers and erasers
Pencils and scratch paper
Random grouping cards (teacher-made from any paper)

Scaffolded Task Progression

1Task 1

Write a numerical expression for: 'Add 3 and 5, then multiply by 2.' Do NOT solve it yet — just write the expression.

2Task 2

Now evaluate (find the value of) the expression

(3 + 5) \times 2

. Then evaluate

3 + 5 \times 2

without parentheses. Compare the two results.

3Task 3

Evaluate:

4 + (6 \times 3) - 2

. Then evaluate:

(4 + 6) \times 3 - 2

. Which is larger? By how much?

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