Division

Division has been a real challenge for the fifth grade math students in Room 204 this year. What I try to show them is the connections to areas of math they already know -- division is like repeated subtraction, or the opposite of multiplication. If you have a large number of objects, dividing is like putting them into groups. Instead of counting out objects one at a time into each group to find out how many belong, we can use shortcuts, putting five or ten or a hundred at a time into each group, and subtracting to see how many we have left. EveryDay Math uses a system called 'partial quotients', which in essence is similar to our traditional long division, but which lets students use multiplication facts they are comfortable with to arrive at an answer through repeated approximations. For some examples, along with other EveryDay Math algorithms, check here or here, or feel free to check with me. There are lots of new methods to do math these days, and some can be confusing for parents! For the most part, though, I think they are a great way to learn, and I wish someone had taught me how to divide this way! You can help at home by posing real-world division problems, playing the math games on the family letter, or just asking your child to explain how they solved a particular problem on their homework. Being able to give a clear explanation of a process is very important in math, and really shows you how much a student understands. Have fun dividing and conquering!