Long Division - DMSCB

This week students have been learning how to do long division. We learned about the acronym DMSCB which stands for Does McDonald's Sell Cheese Burgers? Each beginning letter in that sentence stands for a step that students must take to do their long division.

Remember: The dividend (number inside our division house) is divided by the divisor (the number outside the house) and we ALWAYS put our quotient/the answer on the top of our house or on the roof.

We did 2 example problems so students could get some practice. We also did some more independent practice problems that I wrote on the board. Please review these practice problems with your child.

Here is a really good video for long division that we watched in class:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJe3564yY-g

Here is a copy of today's HW - Homework Wednesday 11/6/13 (click to download)

Reminder: Test on Friday 11/8/13 over multiplication (2x1, 3x1, 2x2 multiplication) and division (basic and long division).

Model Drawing

In addition to our other strategies, students learned about drawing models/pictures. Students took notes in their math journals. There were 5 simple steps:




 



If students can utilize these strategies, I believe that they can be successful when working with word problems.

Dividing with Remainder & Using Multiplication Facts to Solve for Division

Dividing with Remainders
Students used tiles to help them divide. I wrote a division fact on the board and students drew groups and used the tiles to divide. We talked about how division is about splitting an amount into smaller equal groups. We also talked about how sometimes there are left overs that we cannot divide evenly into the groups; these are called remainders.

 

Then students learned how to use multiplication facts to solve for division problems.
Students used skip counting to find multiplication facts.

EX: 28 / 5 = ?
First, students determined if 28 would divide evenly into 5 groups. One way we can tell if a dividend divides evenly by the divisor is if the dividend is a multiple of the divisor. I can tell 28 is not going to be divided evenly by 5 because 28 is not a multiple of 5. Students skip counted by 5s in order to find a multiple/product that was close to 28, but does not go over.
5, 10, 15, 20, 25 --- I stop at 25 because if you continue 30 is greater than 25.
We know that 5 x 5 = 25 so 28 / 5 = 5 with a remainder.
We know the difference between 25 and 28 is 3, so my remainder is 3.


Multiple Digit Multiplication

2 Digit x 1 Digit Multiplication
For the past couple of weeks we have been learning multiple digit multiplication. First, students learned about 2 digit by 1 digit multiplication.



















3 Digit x 1 Digit Multiplication
Next students learned 3 digit by1 digit multiplication. We talked about how this was just one extra step because it was just one extra place value.

 

2 Digit x 2 Digit Multiplication
Finally, students learned 2 ways to multiply 2 digit by 2 digit numbers. The first method is called the turtlehead method. Most students chose to use this method.






































Here is a video we watched in class to help us remember the turtlehead method:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hcKERTnNi0&noredirect=1

Sorry, for some reason it's not letting me embed the video to this post.

Another method students learned was the Box Method. Some students may find this way to be easier. As always I tell students to use whichever method they are most comfortable with. They always have options.

Estimating Products

Monday, October 7, 2013
Students learned how to use rounding to estimate products.
A few things students must remember:
-You must round first before you do any calculations.
-You must round the number that is not the single digit number.
-You must round to the greatest place value.

EX: 7 x 234 = ---> 234 rounded to the nearest hundred is 200 so we re-write the problem as 7 x 200 = ---> then we multiply 7 times 2 which is 14 then add 2 zeros. The estimated product is 1,400.

Here is a helpful video (full screen to make bigger):

 

 

Reminders: Tomorrow, Thursday October 10th, is Curriculum Night for K-5. There will be different sessions if you plan on attending, here is an overview and schedule of the sessions:

Room 148: Third, Fourth, Fifth Grade Mathematics Curriculum. Presented by Ms. Kominczak, Mrs. Cao, and Mrs. Gayer. Discussion of math curriculum and STAAR Math testing. View EnVision/Pearson website and receive log-in information. Discussion of ways parents can help students at home (STAAR practice, etc.).

Session Times: 5:10 pm; 5:30 pm; 5:50 pm; 6:10 pm

Week of September 30, 2013 - October 4, 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

Students learned that there are special rules for dividing numbers by 1 and by 0. 

Rule: A number divided by 1 is that number.

Examples: 4 / 1 = 4 or 55 / 1 = 55

 

Rule: A number divided by itself (except 0) is 1.

Examples: 17 / 17 = 1 or 135 / 135 = 1

 

Rule: Zero divided by a number (except 0) is 0.

Examples: 0 / 4 = 0 or 0 / 15 = 0

Rule: You cannot divide a number by zero.
Examples: 7 / 0 cannot be done. 12 / 0 cannot be done.

 

 

 

Students didn't get to watch Division Rules video because my projector lamp went out :(

 

 

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Students learned to use patterns to multiply by multiples of 10s and hundreds.

An example we talked about in class was:

2x3=6

2x30=60

2x300=600

EX: 6x800 --- First multiply the first non zero digit, 6 times 8 which equals 48 then add 2 zeros, so your product is 4800.

   



Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Students learned CUBES for solving word problems. I sent a copy of CUBES home for students to keep and use for future assignments.

 

 

 

[Edit] Reminders:
-All grades are updated in the grade book/database; this includes test that students took on Friday 10/4/13.
-The end of the first 9 weeks is October 18, 2013. All make up or late work is due Tuesday, October 15, 2013. I will not take any missing work after Tuesday 10/15/13.
-Within the next week, week and a half, we will be taking Math Benchmark 1. I have scheduled Benchmark 1 for Wednesday 10/16/13. I will keep you all updated if there are any changes.

September 26, 2013 & September 27, 2013

Thursday, September 26, 2013
Students reviewed by rotating to different centers.

Array Matching Center:

  

Toss n Talk - Arrays:

Order Up and Number Forms Matching:
  

 Toss n Talk - Skip Counting Center:

 

Friday, September 27, 2013
Students learned about fact families. Fact families are a set of numbers that are related. A fact family has the same 3 numbers.

 

 



Division Notes & Reminder About Parent/Teacher Conferences Tomorrow

Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Today students learned about the meaning of division. Students took notes over division in their math journals. Then students worked with their shoulder buddies to make equal groups. Students were given a problem and they had to draw their Equal Groups (Division Groups) to find the quotient.

 

 



 

Here is Wednesday's Homework (click to download) which has also been uploaded to the database.

 

Reminders: Parent/Teacher conferences are tomorrow (Thursday 9/26/13) from 2-5 pm. Fourth grade teachers will be meeting together as a whole team. We will be having an open door conference. So there will not be a scheduled time to sign up for. There will be a sign in sheet posted outside my door and basically, it's first come first serve. If you feel that the conference may take longer than 15 minutes, feel free to schedule another time after school to meet with us. We feel that this is the best way to hold conferences this year. 

Warm Regards, 

Ms. Cao, Mrs. Cheatham and Mrs. Hanes.

Properties of Multiplication

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

For the first 30 minutes of class, we went over our test that students took on Friday. Most students did well, while some need to slow down and read questions more carefully. In the next few weeks we will learn an acronym for solving word problems and well as the UPSE problem-solving board.

Students learned about the 4 properties of multiplication today. We discussed Commutative Property, Associative Property, Identity Property and Zero Property of Multiplication. Students took the following notes:

 

 

Students then took turns at their table groups to identify each property of multiplication. I wrote a multiplication fact/property on the board and students held up cards to identify which property I wrote.

 



Multiplication: Notes and Making Arrays

Monday, September 23, 2013
Today students studied the meaning of multiplication. We took notes that included ways to show multiplication:

Students also used color tiles to create arrays from multiplication facts that I showed them on the board.

Here is a copy of tonight's Homework (due Wednesday 9/25, click to download)... just in case you weren't able to obtain it from the database.

Subtracting Across Zeros & Adding and Subtracting Decimals

Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Students learned how to subtract in situations involving zeros. They had to go all the way to their "neighbor" that had a value to borrow. We watched the following video to help students understand subtracting across zeros:

 

Students need to be careful when borrowing (regrouping). I have noticed that sometimes students borrow from the thousands or hundreds and give it to the ones place. Students forget to go place value by place value to give and borrow.

 

 

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Students learned how to add and subtract decimals using models and by lining up the decimal points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Students also wrote addition and subtraction clue words in their math journals.

 

 

 

All grades are updated on the grade book/database. I have uploaded Friday's test scores on the grade book as well. Please have a look.

 

Adding and Subtracting Whole Numbers

Monday and Tuesday, September 16 & 17, 2013
On Monday students learned how to add with regrouping (carrying). This really should have been a review of addition and subtraction because they learned these concepts last year.
Here are 2 very helpful videos for addition that we watched in class:

 

 

 

On Tuesday students learned how to subtract whole numbers including problems with regrouping (borrowing). We learned a rhyme that helps us remember when to borrow.

More on top, no need to stop.

More on the floor, go next door!

What that means is if the digit on top is bigger then subtract normally. If the digit on the bottom is bigger then go next door and borrow some more. Please practice subtraction with borrowing at home! Some students need extra help with this concept.

 

Here are 2 very helpful videos for subtraction:                                                                     



 

 

Reminders: Progress reports will be printed and sent out at the end of the week. Students your first major assessment/test will be on Friday, September 20, 2013. The test will consist of 20 to 25 questions and will include the following concepts:

• Place value
• Comparing and Ordering Numbers
• Rounding
• Decimals
• Adding
• Subtracting

 

Congratulations to my first batch of Star Students:

4A - Anna

4B - Ashley

4C - Genaro

Every 2 weeks I will pick one student from each section as Star Student. I pick students based on their performance in class and behavior. The next star student could be YOU! :)

Estimating Sums and Differences of Whole Numbers and Decimals

Thursday and Friday, September 12 & 13, 2013
Students learned how to estimate sums and differences of whole numbers and decimals. Here is a quick and helpful video that concludes what we learned in class.

Remember Monday HW is due Wednesday. Wednesday's HW is due Friday. Friday's HW is due on Monday. Here is a copy of Friday's Homework (note that HW is not posted on the database because there is an error with my webshare folder). There are 2 pages: Reteaching 2-3 and Reteaching 2-4 (click to download).

Remember to round each whole number then add or subtract. Round decimals to the nearest ones place then add or subtract. If students wish to show work on a scratch sheet of paper they may do so and attach it to the homework.

More Rounding & Homework

Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Students continued to practice rounding whole numbers and decimals. Remember the steps for rounding! Remember the rounding rules: 4 or less, let it rest (stays the same)... 5 or more let it soar (add 1 more)!

Here is a decimals place value chart in case students need it.

 

4C students did not get to see me in math class today due to MAP testing, so we will check Monday's homework tomorrow.

 

All students received a copy of today's homework. Wednesday's homework (click to download) will be due on Friday.

 

Parents, please have your child practice place value and rounding at home! Here's a great Place Value Mat (click to download) to practice with.

Rounding and Estimating Whole Numbers and Decimals

Monday, September 9, 2013
Today students learned how to use rounding to estimate numbers. We learned how to use the Rounding Hill (click to download) to help us round numbers.

Steps for Rounding Hill:
1. Put the number you are rounding to in the box in the middle. Let's say we are rounding 684 to the nearest ten. That would go in the box in the middle.
2. Then we put the two nearest ten in the boxes to the right and left. In this case we would put 680 and 690 (see picture).
3. Underline the place value you are rounding. Look to your neighbor to the right and circle it.
4. If the neighbor to the right is 1-4, you fall back to 680. If the neighbor to the right is 5-9 then you go forward to 690.

 
 

We also went over our vocabulary (click to download) for Rounding and Estimating.


Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Today we continued talking about rounding. We created a class anchor chart for rounding numbers that students will receive and glue into their journals tomorrow.

We discussed rounding decimals. We said that rounding decimals is just like rounding whole numbers... you still follow the same steps!


Reminders: Monday's homework (click to download) is due tomorrow! Also it's picture day tomorrow!!! This time picture day dress code is school uniforms. In the spring students will have free dress pictures taken.

Also, if you can please work with your child on rounding at home that would be great! Give them a few practice numbers to round.

Ordering and Comparing Decimals

Friday, September 6, 2013
Today we learned how to compare and order decimals. It's similar to comparing whole numbers, but just with decimal place value. We learned two ways to compare decimals. One way is to look at each place value to determine which one is greater or less. The second way is to line up the decimal point. Students also got to use hundredths grids on our mimio board to compare 2 decimals.

Students glued a copy of our anchor chart into their interactive math journals. See below, except their chart is black and white

 



 

Refer to the above material if your child needs help on their Friday Homework. Please omit number 8 on the last page of the homework. Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Decimals

Thursday, September 5, 2013
Yesterday, students took their beginning of the year M.A.P. tests. These tests are not taken for a grade. Students take these test for reading, science and math. Students take this test to determine students’ instructional level and to measure academic growth throughout the school year.

Today we continued talking about decimals. We learned a cute poem to remember decimal place value and how to read/say decimals.

We used base ten blocks to represent decimals. The hundreds block represents one whole, the tens rod represents one tenth, and the small ones square represents one hundredth.

We watched the following video:
Writing Tenths and Hundredths with Decimals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWcNQkmpYVk
(I will try to embed the video to my blog later... it's not letting me at the moment)

This should help with Wednesday's Homework (click to download)! Also, problems A, G, and J did not copy well so they are kind of hard to see, therefore, you may download or view it here. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Extra Practice:
If you would like to practice decimals at home, here is something we used in class:

10 x 10 Grid
Parents can shade in an amount and ask students to name that amount or write a decimal and students have to shade in the amount on the grid. Remember 1 grid equals 1 whole.

Decimal Place Value

Tuesday September 3, 2013
Today we learned about decimals and used money to help understand our decimal place values. We watched the following videos:

Decimals and Money part 1:

Decimals and Money part 2:

 

We said that the first place value after the decimal is our tenths and the second place value after the decimal is our hundredths. Tenths are like dimes which are worth 10 cents. It takes 10 dimes to make 1 whole dollar. Hundredths are like pennies which are worth 1 cent. It takes 100 pennies to make one whole dollar.

 

Here's a fun decimal song that we didn't get to watch today in class due to technical difficulties:

 

 

Remember, our Friday Homework Packet is due tomorrow since we had Monday off.

Welcome to Ms. Cao's 4th Grade Math!!!

Welcome! Now that the first official week and a half of school have passed, I finally have some time to create this blog. This year I believe that all of my students can reach their full potential. I hope that with our wonderful parents' help, students will have a successful year in fourth grade math. My purpose of creating this blog is to share with parents the material/content that students are receiving and learning in class. I hope this additional material will help you and your child this school year. I will try to update this blog as often as I can. Here's to a wonderful, fun-filled year!

-Ms. Cao

 

Friday 8/23/13: Interactive Math Journals
We decorated our Interactive Math Journals :) and created the Table of Content

Monday 8/26/13: Place Value to the Hundred Millions
We set up our interactive math journals and glued in our place value charts. We wrote vocabulary words on the inside flap. We also played Display the Digits. Click link to download.
For this activity you will need Number Tiles, click to download.

     

Tuesday 8/27/13: Place Value Graphic Organizer (aka Foldable)
We created a graphic organizer to help students differentiate Standard, Expanded and Word Form. Inside each flap is a short definition and an example.

 

Wednesday 8/28/13: Comparing Numbers

We took notes and practiced comparing numbers.

Thursday 8/29/13: Ordering Whole Numbers

We learned how to order numbers. We also practiced ordering whole numbers from greatest to least and least to greatest. We also did a group activity where students had to order and compare numbers - Think Together. Click link to download.
For this activity you will need Number Tiles, click to download.

Friday 8/30/13: Place Value Quiz

Students' place value quizzes have been graded and updated on the database.