In math we have started working on modeling simple story problems and writing equations to represent them.  So far we have focused on addition.  Students either build the problem on a ten frame or draw a representation of it and then write an equation to go with it.  A problem might be something like "6 bears were in the field.  1 more joined them.  How many bears were there now?"  We have been writing equations with the total on the left and the right, trying to emphasize that the equal sign tells us that both sides have the same value.  After just a couple of days of practicing this students are making great progress!