Manifestações do pensamento algébrico em estudantes do 1º ano do Ensino Fundamental a partir da literatura infantil

Abstract

This research analyzed evidence of the development of algebraic thinking in students in the first year of Elementary School, based on children's literature. This work is anchored in research that is based on the processes involved in algebra – generalization, representation, justification and reasoning – considering, mainly, the functional dimension of algebraic thinking. That said, the research sought to answer the guiding question: What signs of algebraic thinking can be diagnosed when analyzing the results of a set of activities created based on a children's story, in a 1st year elementary school class? The research was qualitative, of the pedagogical intervention type, and involved the participation of 26 students from a 1st year elementary school class at a public school in the city of Jataí-GO, in six face-to- face meetings. Seeking to develop algebraic thinking, this investigation created, as an educational product, a Pedagogical Activities Notebook for teaching patterns in sequences for the first years of elementary school. Children's literature was used through the book “Good morning, all the colors!” by Ruth Rocha and, based on it, several challenges and problem situations were prepared in which students would solve them through different strategies. The instruments for data production were pedagogical activities, audio and video recordings, photographs and field notes recorded by the researcher. The activities and methodologies used provided situations that favored dialectical interaction between participants, thus promoting the formulation of hypotheses and the understanding of patterns, relationships and functions. The results showed manifestations of students' algebraic thinking through socialization and in responses to activities designed to stimulate the development of algebraic thinking through the identification of patterns and regularities in figural and numerical sequences (repetitive and recursive).