Post #10

 Hi All,

Last Friday I did a lesson on multiplication of a decimal number by another decimal number.  The lesson went pretty well.  I made a slideshow again and switched back and forth to the wipe board to have some children come up to do an equation.  At the end of the lesson I had the children go to IXL for practice work.  Normally they are told to get to 90% (meaning that they need to keep practicing until they get 90% or more correct).   There is one boy in the class with an IEP that I give extra support to.  I noticed that he wasn't doing any of the IXL.  I went over to him and asked him to do the IXL so he can earn his reward.  He has a behavior chart and if he does his work in each subject, he gets a five minute break where he can doodle, read, or go on his chrome book.   I then thought about the assignment and thought that it would be tough for him to get to 90%.  He struggles with regular multiplication and needs extra time to do equations.  I decided to go back over to him and tell him to just do three equations and he would get his reward.  I got no response.  He wasn't able to earn his reward because he refused to do the IXL. 

Reflecting on this, I realized that it worked better when I assigned five or so equations from the math textbook for all to do as practice work and for those who finish early can continue with more practice work on the same page.  He needs to take his time doing the problems and I think he was getting frustrated doing IXL.   

Below are two of the slides from my slideshow.  They had to write this in their math notebooks. 

8.3b Multiply a decimal by a decimal

Just follow these steps:

• Multiply normally, ignoring the decimal points.

• Then put the decimal point in the answer.   Use the sum of decimal places in the numbers being multiplied to know where to put the decimal in the answer.

9.54     2 decimal places

 X4.2    1 decimal place

40.068  3 decimal places (2 + 1)