The Transitive Property

I have the transitive property on my mind.  Last week at our PLC meeting (Planned Learning communities)  we picked a lesson to do our math studio homework on.  We needed to plan for justification and generalizations that our students could make.  We have a new supplement lesson we have never taught before which matches the Common Core.  It is a measurement series of lessons.  The first lesson involves the transitive property.  Before reading this lesson I would not have been able to tell you what the transitive property even is.  I did not even understand it till I did the math.

The transitive property of equality states for any real numbers a, b, and c:

If a = b and b = c, then a = c.

For example, 5 = 3 + 2. 3 + 2 = 1 + 4. So, 5 = 1 + 4.

Another example: a = 3. 3 = b. So, a = b.

I am still wrestling with this and have my strips of paper out to practise.  OMG how am I to teach something I struggle to understand?

We are to have various lengths of strips of paper in different colors.  We use one as the base line(a).  We compare a to b. ( a is longer than b)  We remove a  and compare b  to c. b is longer than c.  Therefore a is longer than c.  ( Hope that is right!)  

Because I struggle so much with this I wonder how many of my students will get this?  My gut says maybe a handful of 5?

Any way this has been on my mind.  Today in adult Bible class it came to mind once again. Here is what I had meta cognition on:  

God loves Jesus.  Jesus loves me.  Therefore, God loves me.

Then I read the Urban Dictionary on the Transitive property.  Ew.

I much prefer that God loves me because he see me through Jesus.  Because Jesus took my sins to the cross and died for me God can see and love me without sin.

Natural Law originates with God.  Mathematical Law originates with God.  all things orignate with God.

I'll let you know how many of my first graders get the transitive property. It may be another Common Core pipe dream.