I need math help

[meems]

Originally Posted by aggiefamily

I excelled at 3rd grade math. Then I hit my peak in 4th grade. Anything beyond this and I am no help.

ack, i was hoping you'd come back & post the answers

[meems]

fb to the rescue. one of my friends is 4th grade teacher

30x27 + 5x27
60x19+1x19
70x214+3x214

eta: well, wasn't this fun? I now want to eat an entire bag of chocolate chips.

[aggiefamily]

I am sending you a PM with a link that explains it.

[Sarah8914]

Originally Posted by meems

fb to the rescue. one of my friends is 4th grade teacher

30x27 + 5x27
60x19+1x19
70x214+3x214

eta: well, wasn't this fun? I now want to eat an entire bag of chocolate chips.

I'm a mathed major and I'm a little confused (but it's been years...) to me, distributive would be like this:

27 (30+5) because then you "distribute" the 27 to the 30 and to the 5... but if that's what another 4th grade teacher said, then I'd go with that!

[litabells]

... my head hurts ...

[meems]

Originally Posted by Sarah8914

I'm a mathed major and I'm a little confused (but it's been years...) to me, distributive would be like this:

27 (30+5) because then you "distribute" the 27 to the 30 and to the 5... but if that's what another 4th grade teacher said, then I'd go with that!

i think that's essentially the same thing, isn't it?

[ColleenSwerb]

Originally Posted by meems

i think that's essentially the same thing, isn't it?

It is. I would have put it the same way Sarah did, but yea. It's all the same.

[Sarah8914]

yeah, it is the same... mine was before it was distributed. have fun with that

[AmyM]

I was getting lessons together and saw this in the next couple weeks in Kassi's Math book. I immediately shut the book and went to History. I need to read this again.
She's 4th grade too

[Kjersti]

Originally Posted by Sarah8914

I'm a mathed major and I'm a little confused (but it's been years...) to me, distributive would be like this:

27 (30+5) because then you "distribute" the 27 to the 30 and to the 5... but if that's what another 4th grade teacher said, then I'd go with that!

Another Math guru here! LOL!! It looks like what your 4th grader is doing is called "mental math". They try to BREAK IT UP into parts that is easier for the kids to add/multiply in their heads.

They say that kids who learn this style of math do really well. It's CRAZY! My daughter is doing it and she's a wiz.....but sometimes I want to scream at her and say.....JUST CARRY THE ONE. She doesn't add, subract, or multiply like I do! ROFL!!!!!

[SirScrapalot]

Ok, so here I am...and this is my two cents (after teaching math in 4th, 6th, and 7th)...When Meems wrote this:


i found an example

35 x 2 = (30 x 2) + (5 x 2) = 60 + 10 = 70

The example makes sense to me but I'm still stumped.

That is what they are talking about. Teaching it in fourth grade isn't as much about starting to teach algebra. Like someone posted earlier, it's about giving another method to reach the answer. While this method may seem foreign to us, math is taught/learned very differently now than it was when we were in school. Research has shown that some children are successful with alternative strategies like this one. After teaching this strategy, it does become a bit easier to use for carrying out problems in my head. With this strategy I don't have to think about "carrying" or where the zero goes in the answer. As long as I know basic facts and addition, I can solve the problem.

Math is so different than when I was in school, but that's not necessarily bad. The reason they probably didn't focus too much on it was b/c it's just another strategy. In my classroom, as well as the other classrooms in my district, it's about finding a strategy that works for you.

That all being said, it is insanely helpful if 4th graders have some idea of this when it comes to algebra.

[newfiemountiewife]

Benjamin is a math whiz, but he does almost everything in his head. Lots of times if you ask him to put his "workings" on paper, he can't. He has this insane way of coming up with the answers. I think it's kind of neat that he can do math in his head, whereas I can barely add 2+2 in my head any more. I didn't mind math when it was the more practical stuff you can actually use, but this kind of stuff is mind boggling to me LOL.

And as a side note, this is how I do math. If I have to add something to 9, let's say 9+5, I always add 10+5 and take away 1. How stupid is that LOL

[livelys]

Just like in the States, here in the UK maths is taught totally differently now to how we were taught as kids.

Have you come across Number Lines, for adding, subtracting etc, too? That's another strategy offered to children over here for working out calculations, as well as partitioning numbers into tens & units, as in this thread.
It seriously hurt my head at first too, but just as Aaron said, for some children who struggle with maths it is a great visual means of getting them to work sums out.

[sprauncey1]

Originally Posted by newfiemountiewife

Benjamin is a math whiz, but he does almost everything in his head. Lots of times if you ask him to put his "workings" on paper, he can't. He has this insane way of coming up with the answers. I think it's kind of neat that he can do math in his head, whereas I can barely add 2+2 in my head any more. I didn't mind math when it was the more practical stuff you can actually use, but this kind of stuff is mind boggling to me LOL.

And as a side note, this is how I do math. If I have to add something to 9, let's say 9+5, I always add 10+5 and take away 1. How stupid is that LOL

Not stupid at all, I do the same thing and I took 4 semesters of college calculus. That question makes my head hurt and I just know my DS is totally going to get it, he just thinks that way. I cannot do math (or spelling) in my head!!!

[scrapperjade]

Originally Posted by newfiemountiewife

And as a side note, this is how I do math. If I have to add something to 9, let's say 9+5, I always add 10+5 and take away 1. How stupid is that LOL

This is how I do mental math too Jamie! I always round up to 10, then subtract whatever I added. Or instead on adding 1, I "borrow" from the 5... so in my head I do 10+4 instead of 9+5... same answer in the end!