Clip 14/16: Problem 4 - 4th Grade Number Ops Part F
Overview
Students are asked to take the words of the story and make a math picture. No question is asked yet. The story is: “Maria saved $24. She saved 3 times as much as Wayne.”
Teacher Commentary
Teacher Commentary
Because of multiplication errors with 24 x 3, we spent time focused on this problem which lead to the wrong solutions in the moment. However over time I do believe that this encourages kids to listen to logic and sense-making of the math rather than to an “authority” to convince them of a solution.
It was definitely disconcerting that so many students gravitated toward 3 x 24 or three groups of twenty-four. I am certainly left wondering if my choice in student work led them that way. However, if we bring several more story problems and offer time to clarify correct solutions to each problem, I believe a majority of students would have this bar model representation for multiplication and division story problems down.