Analyzing Students Thinking

Addition
Examine the following examples of students procedures for solving the same addition problem.
Explain what each student did to obtain the correct answer. Then, choose one of the
strategies and solve the problem 1367 + 498.
1. Kelly
567
+259
700
110
16
826

3. Andy
567 600
+259 +226
826

259
- 33
226

2. Rudy
567
+259

567, 667, 767

777, 787, 797, 807, 817
818, 819, 820, 821, 822
823, 824, 825, 826
4. Yours
1367
+ 498
15
150
700
1000
1865

Explanations:
1. Kelly: To obtain the correct answer, Kelly added the numbers according to their place value.
Then she added these sums together to get the actual final answer.

2. Rudy: To obtain the correct answer, Rudy first added the numbers in the hundreds spot by
counting up that certain amount of numbers. Then, she did the same thing with the tens,
and finally with the ones to reach the final answer.

3. Andy: To obtain the correct answer, Andy first rounded up to the hundreds spot. Then, he
subtracted 567 from 600 to reach the answer of 33. Next, Andy subtracted 33 from 259 to
reach the answer 226. Finally, Andy added both numbers together to reach at the final
answer.

Subtraction
Examine the following examples of students procedures for solving the same subtraction
problem. Explain what each student did to obtain the correct answer. Then, try Caitlins
procedure to solve the problem 152-39.
1. Caitlin
2. Louis
6313
- 18
45

63
-18

63 10 = 53
52, 51, 50, 49,
48, 47, 46, 45
4. Yours- (use Caitlins procedure)

3. Kenley
63
-18
28
38
48
58
+5

152
- 39
10
10
10
10

152 - 30 = 122
or

40
+5
45

121, 120, 119, 118, 117, 116, 115, 113

Explanations:
1. Caitlin: To obtain the correct answer, Caitlin first subtracted the tens together and came to the
answer 53. Then, she subtracted 8 ones from 53 to reach to the final answer.

2. Louis: To obtain the correct answer, Louis solved by regrouping. He worked from right to left,
first subtracting the ones together and finally the tens. However, when subtracting the
tens, Louis added one from the number he was subtracting by, rather than subtracting one
from the number being subtracted. Therefore, reaching at the final answer.
3. Kenley: To obtain the correct answer, Kenley solved by adding by tens until reaching the
number 58. In doing so, adding 40 from 18. Then, to reach the answer of 63 from 58, she
added 5, since she knew 58 is 5 numbers away from 63. To elaborate further, Kenley
added 40 and 5 together to get the answer of 45.

Multiplication
Examine the following examples of students procedures for solving the same multiplication
problem. Explain what each student did to obtain the correct answer. Then, use the lattice
method to solve the problem 57 x 23.
1. Sasha

2. Emily

43
x 62
6
80
180
2400
2666

43 x 62
20 x 62 =1240
20 x 62 =1240
3 x 62 = 186
2666

3. Tabitha Lattice method

1
4

0
6

8
0

x
6
2

4. Yours - Lattice method

5
7
x
1
1 1
0
4 2
1
2
3
2+1
3
5
1
1

57 x 23

Explanations:
1. Sasha: To obtain the correct answer, Sasha first multiplied the ones together (2 x 3), and then
the ones by the tens (2 x 40). Then, she multiplied the tens by the ones (60 x 3), and then
the tens by the tens (60 x 40). Finally, Sasha added all the products together to reach the
final answer.
2. Emily: To obtain the correct answer, Emily multiplied the expression in a few methods by
breaking down the number 43. First, Emily multiplied 62 by 20, half of 40. Then, she
repeated the same thing again, receiving the same answer and now having multiplied by
40. Finally, Emily multiplied 62 by 3, which is what had remained from 40 to reach 43.
To reach the final answer, she added all the products together.
3. Tabitha: To obtain the correct answer, Tabitha used the lattice method. In the lattice method,
you set up the equation in the form of a chart, with the numbers being multiplied
represented at the top and right-hand side of the chart. Then, the numbers are multiplied
by each other, similarly as to what is done to the multiplication chart. However, the
products are represented differently, with the tens located at the top of the diagonal in the
box, and the ones located at the bottom. Then, these products are summed diagonally,
with the final answer being represented at the left-hand side of the chart, as well as along
the bottom of the chart if necessary.

Division
Examine the following examples of students procedures for solving the same division problem.
Explain what each student did to obtain the correct answer. Then, use the lattice method to
divide 832 by 6.
1. Doug
137 r 4
5| 689
-500 100 x 5
189
-50
10 x 5
139
-50
10 x 5
89
-50
10 x 5
39
-35
7x5
4
137x5
3. Madelaine

2. Nancy
137 r 4
5| 689
-5
18
-15
39
-35
4

4. Yours Lattice Method or MultiGrid

Stencil (see More Division Strategies)

500 5 = 100
100 5 = 20
50 5 = 10
30 5 = 6
95= 1 r4
689 5 = 137 r 4

Explanations:
1. Doug: To obtain the correct answer, Doug multiplied 5 by 100, reaching the answer of 500.
He then placed a 1 in the hundreds spot of the quotient, and subtracted 689 by 500,
coming to the answer of 189. Then, Doug did the same, but multiplied 5 by 10, instead of
100, and reaching the answer of 50. Doug then subtracted 50 from 189, coming to the
answer of 139. Doug repeated this another two times, coming to answer of 39. Because
Doug multiplied 5 by 10 three times, he placed a 3 in the tens spot of the quotient.
Finally, Doug multiplied 7 by 5, coming to answer of 35 and subtracting that from 39.
Then, he placed 7 in the ones spot of the quotient, since he had multiplied 5 by 7, and had
a remainder of 4.
2. Nancy: To obtain the correct answer, Nancy saw thought about how many 5's go into 6,
coming to the answer of 1. She then placed the 1 at the hundreds spot of the quotient, and
subtracted 5 by 6, coming to the answer of 18. Then, Nancy repeated the same step of
seeing how many times 5 goes into 18. She continued this process and placing the answer
in its corresponding spot of the quotient, until coming to the final answer or remainder.
3. Madelaine: