I’m not smarter than a 4th grader…at least when it comes to math. My daughter comes home with her Common Core math work and I’m scratching my head at the terminology and looking up YouTube videos to explain to me how to explain the process to her.
I’m tempted to curse Common Core, insist on pulling out old school techniques, or throw in the towel all-together. But her homework is still due the next day with her work showing, so I suck it up and ask, “What’s good about Common Core?”
Last night’s homework was a prime example of Common Core Homework Frustrations.
The anti-Common Core meme makers would have a heyday with this one. Problem 1 looked like this:
- Jordan has 3 Great Dane puppies. At 6 weeks old, their combined weight is 48 pounds. Assuming they all weigh about the same amount, how much does each puppy weigh?
Estimate:
Number model with unknown:
When I was in fourth grade, I found the answer by doing the following:
48÷3=16
3 goes into 4 one time. Put the 1 on top.
Subtract 3 from 4. Get 1.
Bring down the 8 and get 18.
3 goes into 18 six times. Put the 6 on top.
Answer is 16.
It looks like this:
You had to understand how to do some long division, but nothing more. I’m not sure I could really break down for you what the answer meant. With larger numbers, I also struggled with doing this process in my head and could feel overwhelmed by complex division. Plus, what was the deal with remainders?
To answer the question using Common Core, my fourth grader has to do this.
Number Model: 3 x a = 48.
3 x 10 = 30
48 – 30 = 18
3 x 6 = 18
So, the answer is 10 + 6 = 16.
3 x 16 = 48
It looks like this:
Why is Common Core so complicated?
The explanation: The partial-quotients method divides a number into a series of steps. The quotients for each step (called partial quotients) are added to give the final answer. For example, to divide 96 by 6, students use extended multiplication facts, such as 6 x 10 = 60 to find the partial quotient. Then, with the remaining 36, they use an “easy” multiplication fact, 6 x 6 = 36, to finish solving the problem. These two partial quotients are added together, 10 + 6, to find the exact quotient of 16. So, 96÷6 = 16.
I confess that I scratched my head at this explanation because I looked at the work my daughter was doing on the side of her paper and it made no sense to me. I wasn’t in the lesson with the teacher. I’d never heard of partial quotients before. Then, I watched this video from The University of Chicago and had my “Ah-ha!” moment.
What is going on?
Partial-Quotients Division wants the student to actually understand what’s happening here. So, it has students break down the numbers into more palatable small problems. This speaks to the “real world” application of figuring out numbers in your head and understanding how and why you got the answer you did.
What my daughter is really learning to ask is, “How many 3s are there in 48?” Rather than being tripped up by larger problems (this is especially applicable as you begin dividing in the 100s and 1000s), she is starting with easy multiples of 3. She immediately knows that 3 x 10 = 30 and then 3 x 6 = 18 becomes more manageable. While partial quotients might take more time, it breaks the sometimes insurmountable mountain of division into smaller steps.
So, what’s good about Common Core?
Maybe I can understand math after all. “New” math doesn’t expect our children to never learn shortcuts. My daughter will learn the traditional division I am used to in the future. But first she will gain confidence in the process. She’ll understand why she memorized all of those multiplication facts to begin with. She will see how numbers work in a bigger picture. And, after we tackle Common Core math together, maybe I will too.
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