Week 8: Multiplication Strategies

We've been working on multiplication strategies to help children get better at doing multiplication mentally. Some children found these strategies challenging but we'll continue to practice. These strategies are meant to help speed up the math work but ultimately, students must choose a strategy that helps them arrive at the right answer. Here is a breakdown of the strategies we've tried:

Multiplication Strategies for Faster Mental Math

Partial Products Method

Using the expanded form of the factors and the distributive property, we break down the factors into a set of easier to solve questions. The product of these parts are then added together to get a final product.

Ex)  345 X 8 =

      (300+ 40+ 5) X 8=

      (300 X 8) + (40 X 8) + (5 X 8) =

       2400 + 320 + 40 = 2760

Associative Property

When given three or more factors, group together factors that result in products that are friendlier numbers.

Ex)  5 X 18 X 2 = (5 X 2) X 18= 10 X 18 = 180

Subtraction Property

A factor is changed into a friendlier number through rounding up.  This factor is renamed into a number expression using subtraction. Using the distributive property, multiply the parts of the number sentence then subtract the partial products to get the final answer.

Ex)  48 X 7 =

      (50 – 2) X 7=

      (50 x 7) – (2 X 7) =

       350 – 14 = 336

Addition Property

A factor is changed into a friendlier number through rounding down.  This factor is renamed into a number expression using addition. Using the distributive property, multiply the parts of the number sentence then subtract the partial products to get the final answer. This is very similar to the partial product method. 

Ex)  48 X 7 =

      (40 + 8) X 7=

      (40 x 7) + (8 X 7) =

       280 + 56 = 336

Halving and Doubling

A factor is split in half so that it creates an easier to solve fact. Double the partial product to get the final product.

Ex) 16 X 25 =

     (8+ 8) X 25=

     (8 X 25) + (8 X 25) = 200 + 200 = 400 

Here's what is happening next week:

• We are meeting our Caring School Communities Buddies on Monday! We are partnering with Ms. Varriale's and Ms. Luo class 2-203. We'll also have buddies PE with them on Wednesday.
• We are starting our writing units on Personal and Persuasive Essays. Students have reviewed the five paragraph essay structure and we've used the boxes and bullets outline format to plan our essays. This year, we will focus on making out thesis more universal and using transition words to communicate our points more effectively. 
• We have also begun our study of the Native Americans of New York. We will focus our studies on the Iroquois and Algonquian tribes. 

Finally, my thanks go out to the parents who came to Old Stone House with us. Mrs. Knowles, Mr. Marquez, Mrs. Hudgins, Mrs. Dekel, Ms. Tyler ,and Mr. Soans were awesome facilitators. They really helped make the trip a successful learning experience! I will publish some pictures in an upcoming post. 

Have a great weekend!

Week 7

We've been working on multiplication since the previous week and although the children are doing well in learning to work with multi-digit factors, there is a need to go over the times table. In addition to practicing facts with the kids in class, it would be helpful to practice at home. The four, six, seven and eight times table especially require more practice.
For  extra practice, please use the IXL Fourth Grade Games link. Games D1. D2, D5, D6, D7, and D8 are especially helpful. The Multiplication Games link is also an option.

Here's what is happening next week:

• We will visit the Armory on Tuesday. Please make sure your child is wearing clothing for physical activity and sneakers.
• We will also be visiting The Old Stone House on Thursday. We will be back in time for lunch at school so you do not need to pack a lunch for the trip. Parents who volunteered as chaperones should have received a letter last Friday with instructions for trip day.

Finally, we had our curriculum conference on Tuesday and I want to thank the parents who patiently sat through a technology snafu. We talked a bit about the Core Curriculum and the changes it will create in what is expected of our children and how they will be assessed. The time for the meeting was nowhere near enough to fully explain the school year. I will do my best to keep you updated here on this blog.

Have a great weekend!

Week 6

Students received their math tests this afternoon. Please go over your child's test and if necessary, review some of the questions.

Over this long weekend, students will need to complete their reading response for Tuesday. Also, we are entering the publishing stage in writing workshop and many students took home their Realistic Fiction stories to finish drafting on yellow paper. There is an accompanying checklist to help students review their story and perhaps revise in order to better meet the requirements of the assignment.  The entire final published draft will be due on Friday of next week and students will work on putting together the final draft in class and for homework next week.

Here's what's happening next week:

• Schools are closed on Monday due to Columbus Day.
• Our curriculum conference will be on Tuesday. Please join me at 8 am in room 303.
• I will attend a workshop on Wednesday so there will be a substitute teacher with the class. 

Have a great long weekend!

Week 5

Our first month of school is over and we've completed half of the first marking period! Wow, how quickly time flies.

Our curriculum conference will be on October 15th. Please join me at 8 am in room 303 as we discuss the upcoming year. Please note that this date is different than the conference date of the other fourth grade class as I will be attending a math workshop on the 16th. 

It was great to see many parents at our Family Friday. We spent sometime exploring some of the math games on this blog and it gave the class some extra study time for our very first math test today. For future Family Fridays, it would be great to have a presenter from our families. A letter went out last week listing the dates of the upcoming Family Fridays. Please look over it and see if you would be interested in presenting on one of the dates. If you don't have the letter, you can contact me via note and I will get back to you soon.

Here's what is happening next week:

• We begin Unit 2 in math. This unit will focus on multiplication with a single digit factor. 
• We are ending our work on Realistic Fiction reading next week. Our next unit will be Nonfiction.

Have a great weekend!