Monday, March 14, 2011
Chapter Three
In third grade, students learn that there are many different ways to solve multiplication and division problems. Each time a new strategy is discussed, I have seen teachers list the name of the strategy on the board or chart paper (as well as an example) so that students can refer back to it when needed. Many students have a preferred way of solving a multiplication or division problem, but if another student is sharing the strategy they used to solve the same problem, it is useful to have this list and an example to refer back to so that students listening can understand what is being discussed and have a visual to refer back to. It also helps students to continually see that there is more than one way to do math and encourages them to think about other ways to solve problems if they have finished solving a problem in their preferred manner.
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2 comments:
This is very similar to our word problem notebooks. I think we can agree that students need to be able to have resources around them to help them recall previous lessons. Using a list that is posted is a perfect solution for students to be reminded of strategies available to help them. Until they have committed the strategies to long term memory (and we know some of them never will) we all need to support our students with great ideas like this.
Chantelle, completely agree, it is quite common to obtain the same answer using a different strategy. It is o.k. for students to think outside the box, and run with their talents and skills in problem solving. We have all experienced students who have such a broad awareness in higher level thinking! Pushing them to their highest potential is key!
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