Name_____________________________________________

Date_________________
4.0A.1
Joe has 8 pieces of gum. Lynn has 6 times as many pieces of gum as Joe.
How many pieces of gum does Lynn have? Use pictures or words to
explain how you solved the problem.

Lynn has ____ pieces of gum.

Lynns friend Sarah said, Wow! You have 4 times as many pieces of gum
as I do! How many pieces of gum does Sarah have?

Sarah has ____ pieces of gum

Name_____________________________________________
Date_________________
4.0A.1
Joe has 8 pieces of gum. Lynn has 6 times as many pieces of gum as Joe.
How many pieces of gum does Lynn have? Use pictures or words to
explain how you solved the problem.

Lynn has ____ pieces of gum.

Lynns friend Sarah said, Wow! You have 4 times as many pieces of gum
as I do! How many pieces of gum does Sarah have?

Elementary Mathematics Office Howard County Public School System 2013-2014

Sarah has ____ pieces of gum

Elementary Mathematics Office Howard County Public School System 2013-2014

Teacher notes:
The learning targets for this task may include:
Icanexplainhowamultipleequationcanbeinterpretedasacomparison,suchasJasonis4
timesasoldasBen.
Icanwriteanequationforasituationinvolvingmultiplicativecomparison.
For the first part of this task, students need to identify that Lynn has 48 pieces of
gum. A common error for this task would be for students to indicate that Lynn has
14 or 2 pieces of gum. If students write either of those answers, then that will
show that they are having trouble distinguishing betweeen additive and
mutliplicative comparison and need more practice with those types of situations. If
the student writes an incorrect answer as a result of a mislearned fact (i.e., writing
that 6 x 8 = 46) while still incorrect, this will show some level of understanding
that the situation in the task is multiplicative.
For the second part of the task, the students should write that Sarah as 12 pieces
of gum. As with the first part, if students write 44 or 52, then that will show
that they are having trouble distinguishing betweeen additive and mutliplicative
comparison and need more practice with those types of situations. If they write
192, while also incorrect, this will show some level of understanding that the
situation in the task is multiplicative, since 48 x 4 = 192. Even though 192 is an
unreasonable answer in terms of size, it does show more understanding of the
target concept than 44 or 52 would show.
In scoring this task, you may choose to use the level of student work to
distinguish between a 3 and a 2 or a 2 and a 1. If so, it is important to make it
clear to the students in advance that the task will be scored not only for the correct
answer, but also for the work that they show.

Got It: Student essentially understands the

target concept.

The task is attempted

and some
mathematical effort is
made. There may be
fragments of
accomplishment but
little or no success.
Further teaching is
required.

Student could work to

full accomplishment
with minimal feedback
from teacher. Errors
are minor. Teacher is
confident that
understanding is
adequate to
accomplish the
objective with minimal
assistance.

Not yet: Student shows evidence of

misunderstanding, incorrect concept or
procedure.
Unsatisfactory:
Marginal:
Little
Partial
Accomplishment
Accomplishment
Part of the task is
accomplished, but
there is lack of
evidence of
understanding or
evidence of not
understanding. Further
teaching is required.

Proficient:
Substantial
Accomplishment

Elementary Mathematics Office Howard County Public School System 2013-2014

Excellent:
Full Accomplishment
Strategy and execution
meet the content,
process, and
qualitative demands of
the task or concept.
Student can
communicate ideas.
May have minor errors
that do not impact the
mathematics.

Adapted from Van de Walle, J. (2004) Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally. Boston: Pearson Education, 65

Elementary Mathematics Office Howard County Public School System 2013-2014