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    12 views8 pages

    3rd Graders Explore Multiplication

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    api-272993915

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 8
    18 What's Happening in Math Class? Bill: There's a pattern. See! I's one way, then two ways, then three. Jonah: It’s like a football field. The number of ways is the highest in the middle and it's smaller at each end. Tanya: Can 1 tell the pattern? Teacher: Do you want to tell us about the pattern, Tanya? Tanya: ‘There is only one way to get 12, two ways to get 11, three ways (0 get 10, four ways to get 9, five ways to get 8. As Tanya spoke I filled in the remainder of the pattern. ‘So much enthusiasm. So many questions. So many ideas for future math lessons. So many connections to be made. There was never so much enthusi- asm over a math page. + - xk + THIRD GRADERS EXPLORE MULTIPLICATION Virginia M. Brown This past year I have been teaching a class of third graders—an average, heterogeneous group of children and the only third-grade class in this rural school. There are 13 boys and 7 gitls, DELVING INTO MULTIPLICATION: A FIRST EXPERIENCE In early December I decided to introduce the concept of multiplication, using the strategy with which T introduce most of my mathematics lessons: T posed a problem and asked the students t0 see how many ways they could solve it mentally. I chose a problem that involved simple repeated addition, Yet not so simple that it did not require some mental stretching. I decided to avoid regrouping so that the logistics of that maneuver would not interfere: with their thinking at this beginning stage of concept development. The prob- em said: Kevin has 3 pencil cases in his desk with 12 pencils in each case. How many pencils does Kevin have? After I posed the problem, I looked around the room at the pensive faces of the children and saw that much thinking was going on. Some looked down at their desks, others looked at the ceiling, a few stared straight ahead, but the rocess of mental problem solving was evident. I gave the children a consider. able amount of time to think and then asked for solutions, Peter offered 34 as his result; Cathy's answer was 24; Kevin's reply was 36; Mike's was 15. The rest agreed with one of these. I asked the class how they felt about these answers, and the following dialogue ensued: “Facilitating Students’ Mathematical Understandings” 19 Emily: 1 don’t think 15 could be right. Teacher: Why? Emily: Well, the problem says 3 pencil cases with 12 pencils in each case. That means you have 12 here (pointing to an invisible case oon her desk), 12 here, and 12 here. You have three 12s, so the answer couldn't be 15. ‘Mike (who had originally offered 15 as his answer): I don’t like my answer anymore. I was adding 12 and 3, but now I don't think that makes sense. Emily (smiling): It doesn’t make sense because you would be adding 3 pencil cases and 12 pencils. You can’t write with a pencil case. Steve was waving his arm vigorously, anxious to speak. I asked him to tell us what he was thinking Steve: 1 don't think 24 could be right either, because I know 12 and 12 equals 24. That would only be two 12s, but there are three 12s be- cause there are 3 pencil cases, so 24 can’t be right. As Steve spoke, other children were nodding in assent, including Mike ‘who had initially arrived at 15 for his answer and Cathy whose answer was the one being challenged. She asked to have her answer erased, no longer agreeing with it ‘The class agreed that the other two answers were within the realm of pos- sibility, and I asked for volunteers to explain the solution with which they agreed. Jon, anxious to be the one to demonstrate his problem-solving expertise, ‘was kneeling on his chair, hoping this extra height would cause his waving hand to be the one most visible to my eyes. Although I often call on the less exuberant children, I was pleased with his enthusiasm and asked him to share his idea with us. Jon: Well, I think the answer is 36 because—can I show you on the board? (Jon approaches the board and writes the expression shown in Figure 1.3(a) before he continues.) You have 2, 4, 6 in the ones place, and 1, 2, 3 in the tens place, so that’s 36. Peter: Oh, I guess I forgot one of the 2s, so I got 34, but I agree with 36, Teacher: I see. Did anyone solve the problem a different way? Zack: T said 10, 20, 30, plus I knew there were 6 more, so 36. ‘At this point I decided to tell the class that we were actually doing multi- plication (most children were already familiar with the term) and showed them how to write “3 x 12 = 36.” T then asked if there were any other methods 20 ‘What’s Happening in Math Class? FiGuRE 1.3. Children Take Apart and Rearrange Numbers to Find Factors of 36 6 oxy 6 | 12 2 12: = 12 —} “<3 6 | 3 3 12 2 2

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