Developing Early Algebra through play? Representations and manipulations in DragonBox
Early Algebra ponders how to present primary school students with mathematical concepts that they will use later on in algebra. We focus more specifically on the possibilities offered in this regard by new technologies and electronic games (here Dragon Box Numbers and DragonBox Algebra). The article examines these games from the standpoint of developing algebraic thinking — in particular the status students assign to equality and to numeric structures — and from the perspective of the representations that the students mobilize, the treatment of these representations, and possible connections with the semiotic registers of algebra.