The purpose of this routine is to support students in developing a deeper meaning of the equal sign.  

Like in a number talk, this is done during silent think time. Students can give a silent signal like their thumb up at their chest to show that they have an answer. When the class is ready, call on students to share and defend their answer. The teacher uses talk moves to orient students toward one another’s ideas while also recording ideas on the board to help other students better understand the thinking of the student who is sharing.

While some students may solve both sides of the equation to determine whether it’s true or false – which is a mathematically correct thing to do – what we really want is to encourage students to think relationally about the two expressions. Can we look at the expressions and use what we know about the numbers, the operations, and/or properties of operations to prove whether the equation is true or false?

Once students are familiar with true/false number sentences, Open Number Sentences or equations with a variable(s) to represent an unknown can be introduced to encourage students to examine their conceptions of the meaning of the equal sign. (see "Open Number Sentences" on the Number Sense drop down menu)