We used a top hat organizer to compare how the game rules literally match the algebraic rules for solving equations. Using screenshots to display the various game rules, we then focused on what it would look like with numbers and variables instead...and also named the properties that were used for each step.
Our Game Rules
1. Get Dragonbox alone (Isolate the variable)
2. Green Vortex (Additive Identity Property)
3. Opposite Colors (Additive Inverse Property)
4. Yum/Yuck (simplify before solving)
5. Cracked Screen (Balance the equation, "What you do to one side, do to the other)
Students then wrote down how the game and solving equations were similar, completing the Top Hat organizer.
Reflection
1. Looking back, I realized I should have named the Cracked Screen rule, the property of equality instead to give it a more precise name).
2. Since this was the first attempt with comparing the game to the rules of algebra, there was a lot more teacher modeling then I plan to see down the road as I give the student more leeway with filling out the organizer.
Moving forward is a good thing. If you don't move, you become stagnant. If you become stagnant, you smell. (I'm going with a creek bed analogy here...stay with me). "It Is What It Is" helps us to keep our sanity as we try new things, but at the same time we should never settle for "what it is". We should constantly reflect and learn to move our teaching and our student's learning to higher levels so the classroom doesn't turn stale.
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