When you face a problem or a challenge, there are different ways to solve it. These different ways are called “strategies.” Just like having a toolbox with different tools for different tasks, having a variety of strategies can help you tackle different problems.
Here are some strategies students use in the classroom:
- Guess and Check: Make an educated guess and see if it works. If not, adjust your guess and try again.
- Draw a Picture or Diagram: Sometimes, drawing a picture or diagram can help you understand the problem better. It’s like creating a visual map of what’s happening.
- Use Logical Reasoning: Think logically. Ask yourself questions like: “Does this make sense?” or “What would happen if…?”
- Work Backwards: Start from the end goal and think about the steps needed to get there. It’s like walking backward from the finish line to the starting point.
- Make a Table or Chart: Organize information in a table or chart. This can help you see patterns and relationships.
- Break It Down: Divide a big problem into smaller parts. Solve each part step by step.
Remember, there’s no one “best” strategy. Different situations may require different approaches.
Students learn math strategies that they can use again and again. Let’s explore how we can solve the problem 33 + 29 using two different strategies:
- Compensating by Making Friendly Numbers:
- First, let’s look at the numbers: 33 and 29.
- We notice that 29 is just 1 less than 30 (a friendly number).
- To make the calculation easier, we can add 1 to 29 to get 30 and take 1 away from 33 to get 32.
- Now we have 32 + 30, which is simpler to compute.
- Adding 32 and 30 gives us 62.
- Decomposing the Numbers into 10s and 1s:
- Break down each number into its tens and ones place:
- 33 = 30 (tens) + 3 (ones)
- 29 = 20 (tens) + 9 (ones)
- Add the tens separately: 30 + 20 = 50.
- Add the ones separately: 3 + 9 = 12.
- Combine the results: 50 + 12 = 62.
- Break down each number into its tens and ones place:
So, using either strategy, we find that 33 + 29 equals 62. Encourage your child to explore different methods and discuss why they chose a particular approach.
At home, play games or solve puzzles with your family. Discuss the strategies you used. Did you guess and check? Did you draw a picture? Share your ideas!
TRY IT!
Primary
Shut The Box:
Write the numbers from 1 to 10 on a piece of paper. Roll two 6-sided dice. You can choose to cross out either the two numbers on the dice or their sum. For example, if you roll a 1 and a 6, you can cross out 1 and 6 or you can cross out 7. The goal of the game is to try to cross out all the numbers from 1 to 10.
Ask:
What’s your strategy?
How are you adding the numbers?
What do you want to roll to win?
Junior
One Digit Target Number:
Choose a target number between 100 and 1000
(for example, 432).
Choose one digit from 1 to 9
(for example 5).
Using only the digit you chose (in this case, 5), add, subtract, multiply and/or divide to get the target number (in this case, 432).
Ask:
Can you do it in fewer than 10 steps?
What’s your strategy?
Intermediate
Can you make a circle, a square, a rectangle, and a triangle that all have a combined area of 1000 cm2 ?
Ask:
What’s your strategy?