Home-School
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Name
Topic
Meanings of Division
6
Dear Family,
Your child is learning to think of division as sharing equally or as repeated
subtraction. For example, the equation 42 , 7 = 6 can be shown as follows.
Sharing Equally
42 eggs, 7 cartons
How many eggs are in each carton?
Here is the same problem shown with repeated subtraction.
Repeated Subtraction
42 - 7 = 35
35 - 7 = 28
28 - 7 = 21
21 - 7 = 14
14 - 7 = 7
7 - 7 = 0
You can help your child practice seeing division as sharing equally or as
repeated subtraction by working together. Here is an activity to try.
Write Division Sentences and Stories
Step 1 Write a division sentence using a number 1 through 10 as the divisor
(for example, 32 , 4 = 8). Ask your child to draw a picture to represent
the problem. Then, have your child write out the repeated subtraction
for the problem.
Step 2 Next, have your child write a division story using the number
sentence. For example, “There are 32 students in my reading class.
On Wednesdays, our teacher puts us in four equal groups. How many
students are in each group?”
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