Return-Path: <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id iAG5PV024430; Tue, 16 Nov 2004 00:25:31 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 00:25:31 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <004f01c4cb9c$66a71860$f80a1845@DeepThought> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Woods" <woods@ncia.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:4484] Long Division Help!!! X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 2487 Lines: 40 Here are a couple of my thoughts and I wonder what others think. It is very important to determine whether the individuals have been taught long division but can't remember how to do it, or they were never taught in the first place. Michele mentioned the possible existence of a "learning disability," and this might suggest that people have tried to teach long division in the past, but the students fail to learn it due their disability. Also, I believe it was mentioned that once taught, the students could not remember the algorithm on the next day. This points to a very real possibility that a learning disability is in fact preventing the students from learning. If these are adults who have already been through many attempts to learn long division, maybe a more appropriate tactic would be to stop trying and instead teach the students coping skills and alternative strategies for solving problems that require division. A calculator is going to be a major tool. At the same time it would be important to try to give the students enough number sense to be able to recognize when division is the required operation in a problem, and also to know when an answer does not seem sensible. It's a different story if the students don't know division because they have never been taught. Make sure they understand place value, addition and multiplication before you attempt division. Multiplication is repeated addition and division is multiplication in reverse. You start with the answer and work backwards. You might wish to use beans or some small objects to arrange into groups to show what happens when you divide, but you would do this only at the beginning to make the concept of division concrete. You would want to do this long before you enter into the abstract process of paper and pencil computation. If they have a good grasp of the concept of division, start them out with small numbers and simple division problems they can work out mentally. Show them how they can solve the easy problems using long division. Give them multiplication charts and written step-by-step procedure guides (i.e. divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, repeat). Let them use the charts and guides for as long as necessary. Give them answer sheets so they can check their work and work backwards from the correct answer, if necessary. If messy hand writing is a problem, graph paper sometimes helps keep numbers neatly arranged in their proper columns. Tom
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