Math test Monday June 1st

The test will be on multiplication and division. At this point, we are not asking children to memorize multiplication tables. That will prove useful at a later stage. For the moment, it is important that they recognize the difference between a word problem that calls for multiplication and one that calls for division. An example of the former would be: "An octopus has 8 arms. If you had 4 octopuses, how many arms would there be in all?" An example of the latter would be: "There are 28 peaches to be packed 4 to a box. How many boxes will you need?" We actually did these very examples in class. Children drew sketches of the octopuses and the boxes of peaches. They also learned that muliplication is repeated addition. Thus, 4 X 3 = 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12. Division can also be viewed as repeated subtraction. So, 12 ÷ 3 = 12 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 = 0. Please pracise simple word problems of this kind at home in preparation for the test.