Division as Sharing

Welcome Back Guys!!
This week I will be discussing one of the operations that brings probably the most anxiety to my students, DIVISION!! Although multiplication is a hard unit for me to get through, Division feels impossible to teach sometimes. However the lesson that my students get the most into is Division as Sharing. This is where you get students to understand that division is sharing out a whole number into groups.

Content Standard: 4.NBT.B.6: Find whole number quotients and remainders with up to four- digit dividends and one digit divisors, using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using the equations, rectangular arrays, and/ or area models.

Mathematical Practices: MP.2, MP.3. MP.4, MP.5

DIVISION AS SHARING

First: Give students a division equation to solve

Next : Ask the student to show you (using the place value blocks) what does 238 look like?

Then: Ask the students to Divide the hundreds into two equal groups

Next: Divide the tens into two equal groups

*The students will notice that because there are 3 tens (30) that there was a ten left over. Here is where you would guide them with understanding that they have to unbundle 1 ten for 10 ones.

10 ones + 8 ones = 18 ones 

Divide the 18 ones into two equal groups.

Ask the  students how much went into each group

So 238 divided by 2= 119

Reflection: Doing this unit, I came with the understanding that in the third grade, students learned the concepts of division as sharing and as repeated subtraction. They applied these concepts only to basic division facts. In Grade 4 students use models and drawings to find 1- digit quotients with remainders. In this lesson, they use drawing to find 2 digit quotients, with and without remainders, building on their understanding of division as sharing. The students really engage in this hands on approach to division. It really fascinating how they approach times when they have to trade to a smaller value. For example when they traded a 10 for 10 ones, having them physically and visually see the blocks being shared out helped them to conceptualize what happens when you divide.