“Brioshi” and other mediation tools employed in a teaching of arithmetic with the aim of approaching algebra as a language

We present our ArAl prject concerning the renewal of the teaching of arithmetic in primary school with the aim to promote an early approach to algebra. The complex structure of this project entails the involvement of teachers in the discussion and reflection on the results of the experiment, making it at the same time a teachers training project. We focus our attention on the representational activities enacted for promoting a linguistic view of algebra. For this a special character “Brioshi”, an imaginary Japanese boy , has been conceived as a figure through which to face simple problems with the aim of representing them using communication via e-mail. The activity carried out in third-year primary schools, is based on the analysis and discussion of the representation given by the pupils and on the negotiation of the most effective one, which leads to their mastering of the codification of simple processes and which activates the interpretation of connected algebraic expressions.