Equations and Inequalities Pretests

Happy Friday, everyone!  Not long ago I introduced beginning equations and inequalities to the fifth graders in my building.  It didn't go so well.  I decided to give them a pretest to see where their skills are.  I was unpleasantly surprised to find that most couldn't tell the difference between the greater than and less than symbols!  Even though I didn't like the results, it gave me a starting place. 

There are three different pretests that I made. The first one is a third of a page and asks the kids to write the symbol that corresponds with the statement. The second half-page pretest asks the students to write what each symbol stands for. The last pretest is a full page that has them match equations and inequalities with the statements that go with them. It was eye-opening for me to see what little knowledge they had of algebra. I hope you find these pretests on equations and inequalities as helpful as I have!