Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
Order of Operations
by Carol Dixson
August 30, 2007
The sixth graders at Oberlin Elementary are busy learning the order of operations. This set of rules tells the order to compute math problems so everyone gets the same answer. They have learned a “top secret” silly saying to help them remember the correct order: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. The first letter of each word helps us remember the order.
“Please” helps us remember to compute inside the parentheses first. “Excuse” tells us to evaluate any exponents next. “My Dear” reminds us to multiply and divide from left to right. Finally, “Aunt Sally” tells us to add and subtract from left to right.
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
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