Signs and writing a question · Code with Martin

How a question is written and read correctly: plus, minus, equals and order in the notebook.

A question is a sentence. Write it whole.

Maths has its own writing. Instead of words it uses numbers and signs. Today we tidy up what they all mean and how they are written correctly.

+ plus: I add, I put together. − minus: I take away. = equals: both sides are the same size. < and >: less and greater, the crocodile.

A question is like a sentence: 7 + 5 = 12. You read: seven plus five equals twelve. It has a start, a sign and a result.

Why does writing matter? Because you count for yourself, but you read the writing tomorrow too. An unreadable notebook is like a messy room — you find nothing in it. Clean writing saves you half the work of hunting mistakes.

The most important sign is equals. It does not mean “and now it comes out”. It means: left and right is the same. 7 + 5 = 12 says that a pile of 7 and 5 is as big as a pile of 12. Scales in balance.

Jonáš writes homework like a racer: results without questions, numbers crooked, scribbles. The next day at the board he cannot read his own writing and because of that he gets wrong a question he knew yesterday. The teacher shows Tereza’s notebook: every question whole, numbers under each other, after a mistake a clean cross-out and written again. “This is not showing off,” says the teacher. “Clean writing is a tool. Anyone who writes so you can read it finds mistakes easily.” Jonáš tries it. In a week he finds his own mistake himself — in clean writing he saw it at once.

💡

Always write the whole question, not just the result. You can go back to 15 − 8 = 7 and check it. To a lonely seven you cannot.

Rules of clean writing

1. The whole question, always. Number, sign, number, equals, result: 14 + 3 = 17. The writing is a trail of your thinking — by it you find a mistake.

2. Equals means balance. Left and right must be the same. That is why you can also write 12 = 7 + 5 — balance holds from both sides. And that is why you must not write 7 + 5 = 13. The scales would tip.

3. Write the sign clearly. Plus is a cross, minus a flat dash. A messy plus looks like minus and the whole question is spoiled.

4. Cross out a mistake with one line. No rubbing a hole, no writing digits one over another. Cross out, write again beside it. A crossed-out mistake can be seen — and seeing a mistake is good, next time you dodge it.

5. A word problem has three lines. Writing (what I know), the question (the calculation), the answer (a full sentence). We learnt that in the last lessons — this is just order on paper.

Clean writing is not for the teacher. It is for you in five minutes, when you look for where it went wrong.

Read and judge: 9 + 6 = 14

I read: nine plus six equals fourteen.

I check the balance: left side 9 + 6. Through ten: 9 + 1 = 10, 5 left, in all 15.

The right side says 14. The left weighs 15, the right 14. It does not equal!

The writing is wrong. Fix: I cross out 14 with one line and write 15. Now the scales match: 9 + 6 = 15.

Fill in the sign: 12 ? 4 = 8

The sign is missing. I try both.

With plus: 12 + 4 = 16. But the right side says 8. It does not match.

With minus: 12 − 4 = 8. I count: 12 − 2 = 10, 10 − 2 = 8. It matches!

I fill in minus: 12 − 4 = 8.

Trick: the result 8 is smaller than 12. It got smaller → something was taken away → minus.

Write a question for the picture: 5 circles and 3 crossed out

In the picture there are 5 circles. Three of them are crossed out.

Crossing out means taking away → minus.

There were 5, 3 were crossed out, 2 not crossed are left.

Writing: 5 − 3 = 2.

And reading out loud: five minus three equals two. The picture, the writing and the sentence all say the same — just in a different script.

⚠️

Never write chains like 5 + 3 = 8 + 2 = 10. It looks clever, but the first equals lies: 5 + 3 is not 8 + 2… actually it is, but 5 + 3 = 10 no longer holds! Each question on its own line.

Practice: now you do it 🎲

Now try it for real. You will see all the questions at once, like on paper. Start with ten. If it goes well, add more.

Count and write every question whole on paper.

Practise the questions

On paper

Paper, a pencil, a ruler for crossing out. Today we train the beauty of writing.

Write five questions from your head — whole, with signs and results. So they can be read.
Find the mistake: 8 + 7 = 14. Cross it out with one line and fix it.
Fill in the signs: 9 ? 5 = 14, 16 ? 6 = 10, 10 ? 10 = 20.
Write a question for a picture a parent draws (circles and cross-outs).

Now you 💪

I always write the whole question, not just the result.
I know that equals means: both sides are the same.
I cross out a mistake with one line and write again beside it.

✅

Done when: Your five questions are complete, readable and the equality in them really holds.

What to take from this lesson

A question is a sentence: number, sign, number, equals, result.
Equals = scales in balance. Both sides the same.
Write whole questions. The writing is a trail of thinking.
Cross out a mistake with one line, do not rub a hole.
No chains of equals. Each question on its own line.