Students often have difficulty solving division problems, and in particular, long division. Through some basic teaching tools, you can help your students not be afraid of division, and learn how to successfully solve division problems. Start by teaching basic division, then move on to long division, and if necessary, use an alternate division strategy.
Teaching Basic Division
Teaching long division is not difficult if your students already know their multiplication tables. Explain to your students that they are going to be practicing their multiplication facts backwards and write some examples on the board: 2 times what equals 8? Once you have answered several questions like this, tell the students that they have actually been solving division problems. 8 divided by 2 equals 4. Once students realize that division is simply backwards multiplication, it should not seem so scary to them.
Once you get to bigger numbers, and for students who struggle with multiplication, get out some simple math manipulatives to teach the concept of division. If you have 8 pieces on your desk, how many equal groups of 2 can you make? Divide the pieces into groups to find out, stressing that the groups must be equal and any that are left over are the remainder.
Teaching Long Division
The steps for long division are:
- Divide
- Multiply
- Subtract
- Bring Down
In order to help your students remember this, have them come up with a pneumonic. For example: Don't Make Stinky Brownies. Before starting the division problem, write each step down - or the first letter of each step: D M S B. Have the students check off each step as they complete it, and repeat until they have solved the problem. They must go through each step every time before they can say they are finished with the problem.
Alternate Long Division Strategy
Some students will continue to have difficulty with long division regardless of how much time they practice. Double Division is a strategy that may help them solve those pesky problems. An alternate name for this strategy is 1, 2, 4, 8 Division. This name may help the students remember the steps.
Basically the student multiplies the divisor by x1, x2, x4 and x8 (doubling each time), and writing the answers down to the left of the problem. Then, choosing the best answer from among those and adding zeros, the student begins to solve the division problem. To come up with the final answer, the student adds together each number they used (along with the added zeros so 24 with 3 zeros is added as 24000).
Although division can be a confusing concept for many students, the more simply it is taught, the easier it will be. Make sure that your students understand the concept of basic division before moving on to long division. Once students can do the math successfully, you can begin to introduce word problems, but be sure that students who need extra time get the help they need.
Read about more math lesson ideas. You may also be interested in more information on teaching basic math facts.
Jennifer Wagaman - Jennifer is a mother of 2 and has both public, private and administrative experience in the education field.
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