Mathematical Monday....IS BACK!


Now that summer is over...BOO!...it's time to start planning our math lessons!  Last night I FINALLY finished my 4.NBT.6 Lesson Plan Bundle!  {Only took me ALL SUMMER to complete my 4th Grade NBT Lessons!}  In my plans I devoted a day to teaching the Partial Quotient Method of Division, and I wanted to share with you WHY. :)


Partial Quotient Method

I honestly had never heard of this strategy until last year when one of my teammates introduced it to our team.  Not going to lie...I thought this was the craziest way to divide!  After spending a weekend study the method and trying to make sure I understood it before teaching it, I now see WHY it's effective and LOVE it!

Here is a quick video I found in Youtube.


To make it easier on the kids my teammate told us to teach the students "Benchmark" numbers to use when first introducing this strategy.  One reason this strategy is helpful is because it's easier for children to think this way, especially when they don't know their facts!

We use the benchmark numbers 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1.  Once they are familiar with division and know their facts better then they will be able to think in terms of "80" and other numbers, like that in the video.


Interactive Notebook pages from my 4.NBT.6 Division Lesson Plan Bundle

Once I taught this method I had more students have success with this standard than in previous years when I strictly taught the standard algorithm.  The Partial Quotient strategy goes back to place value and requires students to think in terms of expanded form.  Rather than asking "how many times does 8 go into 6 or 67?" students are thinking/asking "how many groups of 8 will total 600 or 670?"  By introducing the benchmark numbers you are helping them see the place value relationship and familiarize them (and their parents) with this "new" way of thinking. :)

I still believe in teaching the standard algorithm, but only after teaching the Partial Quotient method first.  Last year I did it the other way around, and had many more "light bulbs" go off from the PQ and realized how valuable this strategy was.

Interactive Notebook pages from my 4.NBT.6 Division Lesson Plan Bundle






If you previously purchased this bundle please make sure you re-download it.  I have added the newest lesson plan bundle to this product! :)


I know many of you have been working hard on some new products this summer! So, for this week's Mathematical Monday linky you may LINK UP ONE PRODUCT OR ONE BLOG POST.  I can't wait to see what you have all created and come up with!




1 comment

  1. We call this Hang 7 because the division symbol looks like a large 7. It is my preferred way to teach long division for sure!! And the kids feel more successful without having to erase so many wrong guesses in the quotient.

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