Re: Advice/Opinions on this idea re long division
Posted by: Juliana on 11/02/09
On 11/01/09, DD wrote:
>
>
> EX: 432/5
>
> Instead of the traditional..."will 5 go into 4, no, so
> divide 5 into 43, multiply, subtract, bring down,etc.
>
> I would demonstrate what is really going on by dividing 5
> into 400, then dividing 5 into 30, then 5 into 2...all in
> separate problems. The result is adding the individual
> quotients 80 + 6 with a remainder of 2.
I think it's a good idea -- it's similar to something done in
Stanford's EPGY program. You might start by showing them a much
simpler problem (say, an addition or subtraction problem in
three digits) set out in different steps first.
If they'd ever been taught mental math (where breaking down
problems into more-but-simpler steps is very common) such
thinking might come more easily, but that's life.
