Math

We're using so many different division strategies to solve problems in the classroom. Here are some of the strategies we're using, with brief explanations of how they work. If you ever have a question about how one of these strategies work, ask a student in our class or email Katie. We're focusing on HOW these strategies work, and we're spending time explaining our strategies to each other in class.

Click on an image to see the strategy larger!

156/6 = ? 

Here are several strategies we could use to solve 156 divided by 6!

Deal Out To Each Group: Use the divisor (6) to help you know how many groups to draw on the paper (6). Deal the dividend (156) out to each group evenly. Don't deal out by 1s or 2s! Use more efficient numbers. Here, Omala and Eli dealt out by 10s and 5s until they were down to just 1s. To find how many there are in all, count how many there are in each group. That's your quotient!

 

Start with a Known Multiplication Fact: Ava and Indi knew some multiples of 6 that got them close to 156. They started with 6x12, a known multiplication fact, which equaled 72. Then, they added on another 6x7, which got them to 144, with 24 groups of six. They noticed they were 2 sixes away (12 away) from 156, so they added on 6x2. That got them to 156, with 26 groups of 6.

Use a Landmark Multiplication Fact: Choose a multiple of your divisor (6) that gets you close to your dividend. Eduardo chose 6x20 because it got him to 120. Jack chose 6x25 because it go him close to 156 without going over. Keep working up to find your quotient.

 

 

Use Doubling and Halving to Solve: Joley and Nate used doubling and halving. They know that two groups of the divisor (two groups of 6) was 12, and they counted the multiples of 12 up to 156. When they got to 156 (their dividend), they knew they could just double their total to find the number of 6s in 156 since there are two groups of 6 in 12.

 

Luke used doubling to solve  his problem. He started with 6x3, a known fact, and he doubled the product to get 6x6. He kept doubling his product until he got close to his dividend (156) and couldn't keep doubling. Then he calculated how many more 6s he would need. 

 

Use a Ratio Table to Solve:  Quinn set up his solution on a ratio table. On a ratio table, the ratio between the two numbers has to stay constant. On the ratio table, he used doubling to help him get as close as he could to 156. 

Break the Number into Partial Quotients: Oscar and Stella broke 156/6 into partial quotients. They said that 156/6= (120 + 36)/6 = (120/6) + (36/6). They used what they knew about landmark numbers and multiples of 6 to choose smart ways to break apart 156.