4th grade math

If I can't do it really quick in my head, I just use a calculator.
 
Interesting. I could see where there could be different answers depending on what you wanted to know! Counting dollars, dimes, and pennies. Or expressing specified values. The answers would be different! And both be right (except the 543 thing!:rolleyes:)

I have been helping my Granddaughter with her math, which she is struggling with. I struggle to help her with some of it. (Funny how much of what we don't use daily, leaks out after school!) They are doing math in ways we never learned or have never seen. (I'm pretty good at math, but, I'm 59! Def old school!). MY solution. We go online, to any of several Math websites, and I have to learn with her. And we work through the problem, the way the assignment might require, through use of the exercises on these sites. When we run into something that appears to have more than one way to solve it, I have her do it "both ways" and add a note to the teacher.

Some of this stuff looks strangely familiar. Similar to Polish Notation? Or Reverse Polish Notation? (the stuff early calculators used to do calculations!)

I am fortunate to have taught myself some xml programming for flight simulator instruments. I spent some time learning and understanding "reverse polish notation" that the simulator used for variable functions. An important thing I remember from that was, it wasn't the answer I was after. It was configuring the math in the programming, so the gauge could read the variables from the simulator and thereby the gauge could find and display the "answer"! Very unconventional for my math education! But this helps me understand what they are trying to do.

I imagine in today's tech environment, teaching students, not just the answer, but the different ways answers are arrived at, can be very important!
 
4th grade math strikes again...

How do you compare fractions and assign less than, greater than, or equal to?
 
5.34, 53.4, 534.
 
trailhugger said:
4th grade math strikes again...

How do you compare fractions and assign less than, greater than, or equal to?
Click to expand...
Not sure what the question is here. Are you actually asking how to do it, or a good way to explain it to a 4th grader?
The way we do it is find a common denominator, then compare the numerators. She hates multiplication and division and has refused to just memorize multiplication tables, so finding that denominator is soooooo painful.

Side note - common core has ruined us. Delaney was taught to do any multiplication by counting units. Which is totally logical, and a great fundamental b/c you can theoretically find any mutliple. But it takes foreeeeeeever and now she refuses to just memorize the common single digit multipliers b/c she CAN just count up... and it makes doing division damn near impossible. Grrrr.
 
I don’t know common core. I know whatever is efficient (and correct). And I teach that to the kids. And I explain that the real world will expect the correct answer in the most efficient way and if the teacher has a problem to call me.

I haven’t had a phone call yet. :D
 
RatLabGuy said:
Not sure what the question is here. Are you actually asking how to do it, or a good way to explain it to a 4th grader?
The way we do it is find a common denominator, then compare the numerators. She hates multiplication and division and has refused to just memorize multiplication tables, so finding that denominator is soooooo painful.

Side note - common core has ruined us. Delaney was taught to do any multiplication by counting units. Which is totally logical, and a great fundamental b/c you can theoretically find any mutliple. But it takes foreeeeeeever and now she refuses to just memorize the common single digit multipliers b/c she CAN just count up... and it makes doing division damn near impossible. Grrrr.
Click to expand...

I often teach our kid in 6th grade how I have learned how to do it, not how they do it. She shows it the teacher and the teacher is normally like yeah you can do it that way also, sometimes the teacher says i'm teaching that way next week, but I need to build the foundation for some of the kids first.

Wake county at users xtramath for multiplication practice as a game, seems to help them some at least.
 
Mostly I'm looking for confirmation that the method she's learning is dumb. :lol:

I also show her the fastest accurate method I know and have told her the teacher won't mind but can talk to me if she does.

This isn't the first time I've had to try to convince myself of real world application of the CC method so I can own it and convince her of it. I'm just not getting there with "draw a number line to represent the fractions and compare them." That just doesn't work with 47/128.

We've been doing multiplication tables for the same reason. It gals me that every time she's quizzed on them, they're in order and she can just count instead of testing whether she actually knows them. I was told last year that they aren't actually expected to know them until 5th grade.
 
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