Multiple Strategies in 5th Grade Math

 Multiple strategies and justifying our thinking are important components of our fifth grade math classroom. Often times I will pose a question and encourage students to show their math thinking not only using one strategy, but also using another method as well. 

Today students were asked to find the area of one of the rectangles on the smart board using any strategy they wanted. 

As students were working I encouraged those who were finishing up their first method to think of another strategy they could use to show their thinking in another way. I also nudged students forward just a bit more, asking them what strategy they felt was the most efficient. 

As students were finishing, I walked around the carpet area and took pictures of  their awesome and diverse math thinking. I then post these pictures on the smart board and ask the "math author" to explain their processes and explain which strategy they felt was the most efficient. 

The rest of the class is able to ask questions for clarification. 

Just take a look at this fantastic and flexible math thinking! 

Math Facts - multiplying by four

This week we reviewed multiplication strategies we learned in 4th grade. Many of us had to "dust off" our multiplication fact knowledge to be successful with multiplying two-digit by two-digit numbers using multiple strategies. 

One of the facts we reviewed was our fours facts. In third grade students learned that if they knew their twos fact (x2 or doubling) they could easily find their fours facts too. 

Let's say I'm trying to solve 4 x 7, but I'm need a strategy to help me solve it, I can use my knowledge of 2 x 7 to help me. I know 2 x 7 = 14 (see below). I've doubled 7 to find my product of 14.

I know can double the product of 2 x 7 to find 4 x 7:

2 x (2 x 7) = 2 x 2 x 7 = 4 x 7

*using the associative property

Fourteen doubled is equal to 28. This is represented in the picture below. 

Why is this important? Fifth graders can apply many of these same strategies to larger numbers. This shows that they can be flexible with their thinking.