Multiplication and Division Strategies

Many of our third and fourth graders are learning about the concepts of multiplication and division.  Multiplication is counting or adding in a quick way.  Multiplication involves counting in groups, rows or columns.  Division is when you split or separate a total amount into equal groups or rows.

The students have been learning the following strategies for multiplication.  As you can see, there are many different ways to multiply.  At this point in the year, students can use any of these strategies to solve problems. 

The students have also been learning similar strategies for division.  The biggest thing to remember about division is that we start with a total amount.  Many strategies overlap between the two operations. 

 

Your child may need to use objects or draw models to represent given multiplication and division number sentences.  That is perfectly fine as we are developing the concepts.  To challenge students who are developing the understanding, we are asking them to show us a problem in two different ways.