#1498. Introducing Division Facts

Mathematics, level: Elementary
Posted Thu Jan 6 17:13:59 PST 2000 by Heather (hmskas@blazenet.net).
York,PA
Materials Required: counters
Concepts Taught: Division facts

When teaching the concept of divison and the basic facts I tell
the kids to pretend that they are pig farmers. Now they must
remember that they are very organized pig farmers and all of
their pigs must remain in equal rows with not left overs. Then
because pigs tend to not be very energetic, we only need to build
half of the fence (draw the division sign). Then the farmer stands
on top of the fence and sees how many pigs. The fattet one is
always standing in front and hiding all of the ones directly
behind him so the farmer can only see the first one in each
row. The students record the number of pigs he can see. The
farmer then stands to the side of the fence and records the number
of pigs he can see. Last, the students remove the pigs and record
the number of pigs inside the fence. The kids think this is a
fun way to learn the facts and it really helps to keep their
attention during the repetitions needed to master the basic facts.