Jessica Dutcher

C,I,&A MST II
Student Work Analysis
12/8/15
This paper is based off of my second taught lesson. The focus of the lesson was
centered on learning a new strategy for solving word problems in math. My SBE had
expressed to me that many of the students in the 4th grade classroom I was placed in
struggled with understanding how to pull the information needed from a word problem
and also to figure out what the word problem was asking the students to do. In doing
research of different strategies I came across the CUBES strategy. The lesson had the
students using this strategy to complete four different multi-step word problems. The first
word problem was done together as a class to discuss each step that would be taken.
On Friday evening a pizza shop had orders for 4 pepperoni, 100 vegetable, and
336 cheese pizzas. If the 4 cooks at the pizza shop each made an equal number of
pizzas, how many pizzas did each cook make?
The Objectives for this lesson were:

Students will be able to choose the best operation or operations (multiplication,

division, subtraction or addition) needed to solve each word problem.

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the steps in the CUBES strategy by
verbally explaining each step they used to solve the word problems.

The students were expected to meet these objectives throughout the duration of the
lesson. The students would then be on the other three word problems in their packet.
While being assessed I was looking for an understanding of the mathematical concepts

needed to solve the problem as well as whether or not the students used the steps of the
CUBES strategy.
As a whole the students demonstrated a strong understanding of the CUBES
strategy. It seems that they were able to follow each step correctly overall when reading
through the 3 different word problems that they completed independently. Almost all of
the students were also able to pick out the operations that the word problem was asking
them to do as well as use the given operation to solve the problem correctly. Most
students demonstrated a strong conceptual understanding of addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division as well as an understanding of the different algorithms that
are associated with the four different operations. A majority of the class received grades
of the target level. This is because they were able to follow each step of the CUBES
strategy. The students circled the important numbers in each of the word problems. The
students underlined the question the word problem was asking. The students were also
able to box any key words that may hint the type of operation need such as, all together,
placed into each bag etc. When it came time to solve the word problem a majority of the
class demonstrated that they could correctly solve the word problem. The students were
able to use the standard algorithms for division, multiplication, addition, and subtraction
correctly to aid in solving the problem. There was another handful of students who were
able to complete the parts of the CUBES strategy when reading through the word
problem. However, they made some small mistakes on some of the more complicated
multistep word problems. For example one of the word problems had some numbers
written with their numerical symbol while other numbers were written with words. The
students missed the numbers that were in word form and did not fully understand the way

that the pencils were packaged and then divided up. They were unable to successfully
answer this question because they missed a step. Because of this I would consider these
students to have received an acceptable grade. These students answered the other three
questions correctly and only missed a small part of this question, which resulted them in
getting an incorrect answer.
When looking at the students papers I found three papers where the students had
a common need. These students do not understand how to divide a 3-digit number by a 1digit number. This was apparent in the word problems they completed in their packet.
Like the other students in the class these students were able to follow each step in the
CUBES strategy when reading through the word problem. However, once they began to
solve the word problems that included division with 3-digit dividends the students were
lost. Rather than bringing down the number, one of the students simply added a zero.
Another student was adding remainders to problems that did not result in a remainder.
Another student simply did not do a single step of the 3-digit by 1-digit division problems
correctly. Because of these results these students each received a grade of below average
on the word problem packet. This is a large area of concern, which is why I have chosen
to address the needs of these students. It is crucial that they gain both a conceptual
understanding and become comfortable with the division algorithm in order to be
successful in math in the future.
Based on the three students who demonstrated a need in conceptual understanding
of dividing a 3-digit number by a 1-digit number, I have created a new targeted learning
objective and a reengagement activity to help the students enhance their conceptual
understanding of division. I would present the students with the following objectives:

Divide a 3-digit number by a 1-digit number using the standard algorithm.

Demonstrate and understanding of division through a verbal explanation of each
step of the division algorithm.

These objectives would relate to the following common core standard:

CCSS: Math.Content.4.NBT.6
Find whole-number quotients and remainders with up to four-digit dividends and onedigit divisors, using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or
the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation
by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models.
From the results of the word problem packet I have designed a reengagement
activity. The purpose of this activity is to hopefully help the students to gain a better
understanding of the division algorithm and the reason behind each step of the algorithm.
I decided it would be best to go back and start over from the very beginning of division.
As a groups we will be focusing on simple division problems and working out way up to
3-digit by 1-digit division problems. For the activity I will create a problem. I will write
each digit of each number on post it notes. This will allow us to physically move the
numbers when completing the division algorithm. By doing so I am hoping that the
students will be able to better see what numbers are placed where. This will also allow us
to have a discussion about the reasoning behind each step of the division algorithm. We
will do multiple problems this way until I feel as if the students are beginning to get more
comfortable with division. As the get more comfortable we will move up in difficulty of
division problems. By the end of this activity I am hoping the students will be able to
solve a 3-digit by 1-digit division problem on their own. To test this I will give the
students a worksheet with a couple division problems on it. The students will complete

the worksheet for homework that night and I will grade it the next day. This will allow
me to see if the reengagement activity was effective or not.
Overall the reengagement activity went extremely well. By the end of the activity
I could both on the students faces and from the way they were answering my questions
and walking me through the problems that they were really beginning to understand
division. The students were not making their mistakes nearly as frequently. They also
seemed to have a much more positive attitude towards division and math in general. After
looking over the homework that I assigned them a majority of the students got every
single question right. They received a target score on this assignment. The rest of the
students made small errors that I believe came from rushing through the homework. I feel
that if they take their time solving each problem they will be able to answer the problem
correctly. Therefore these students received a grade of average on their homework. I no
longer have any concerns with any students when it comes to division.