Investigations Blog
Does 80% of 65 = 65% of 80?
I recently read Digging Deeper: Making Number Talks Matter Even More by Ruth Parker and Cathy Humphreys. (This book is a follow up to their book Making Number Talks Matter.) Both books are brilliantly written and describe the authors’ process and thinking about what I consider the original number talks—a 10-15 minute daily routine where students solve computation problems mentally and discuss their strategies. One quote from Digging Deeper caught my eye about the power of number talks, and...
read moreMultiplication in 5th Grade: What Are Some Issues?
Last year, my colleague Keith and I worked a few times with a group of 5th grade teachers. One of the questions they asked us to help them think about related to this 5th grade benchmark: “Fluently solve multidigit multiplication problems using a variety of strategies including the U.S. standard algorithm.” They told us that they had students who could multiply 2-digits by 2-digits successfully but struggled with 3-digit by 2-digit multiplication problems. They wanted to discuss the...
read moreA Division Solution: Amazing or Perplexing?
At a recent professional development session on multiplication and division, my colleague and I asked participants to examine some student solutions to the problem: 1564 ÷ 36. Before looking at the student work below, think about how you would solve the problem. The following solution from a fifth grade student seemed to either amaze participants or they had a hard time making sense of it. I’ve been thinking a lot about their reactions. Take a moment to look at this work. What do you notice?...
read moreWhat Does It Mean To Be Smart?
“Wow, you’re so smart.” These words drew my attention to a pair of 5th grade girls in a class I was visiting, who I’ll call Cassie and Sophia. They were mid-way through a turn and talk, each sharing her strategy for solving 84 x 59. I casually moved closer, curious about what prompted the comment and trying hard to see each girl’s strategy, recorded in their math journals. Upon hearing Cassie’s comment, Sophia responded in an inviting tone, “No, no. Explain to me what you did.” She...
read moreThe Lesson? Students Never Cease to Surprise Me
On a recent visit to a school in a small city in the Midwest, Karen and I joined a class of 5th graders as they learned a game in Unit 3 called Roll Around the Clock. In the previous session, students used a clock to find and name fractions and equivalent fractions. For example, if the minute or hour hand moves from the 12 to 3, it has rotated 3/12 or 1/4 or 15/60 around the clock. Students would use these ideas in this lesson. In this game, players take turns choosing which of two dice to...
read more“What Was Thomas Thinking?”
I often think about a lesson, captured on video some years ago. Liz, a fifth-grade teacher, gave her students two-digit multiplication problems—12 × 29 and 36 × 17— and asked them to come up with strategies other than the conventional algorithm to perform the calculation. For 12 × 29, Jemea thought about twelve 30s and then subtracted 1 for each of 12 groups. 360 – 12 = 348. For 36 × 17, Duane thought of 36 bowls, each holding 17 cotton balls. Ten bowls hold 170 cotton balls, and there are...
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