Reasonableness

With all the years I have been in education, whether from the side of a homework helping mother of two, the teacher for 3rd, 5th and Special Ed kids, elementary administrator, and as a math curriculum writer I don't think a day has gone by where the phrase, "Is this reasonable?" hasn't left my mouth.

So many times kids get so wrapped up in what it is they are doing that they don't stand back and ask themselves, "Is my answer reasonable?" Sure you have an answer, but go back and make sure it makes sense. This year, make this the new standard in your student's math life. The Common Core math standards require kids to explain their process and problem solving.

My favorite lesson in third grade was what I called "The Magic Brownie Pan." Students were given a bunch of information about a girl who baked two tray of brownies with a a dozen brownies in each. Four friends came over. Half had two brownies and half had three.  How many brownies were left?  There is a lot of data in the question. First of all, you need to know what "dozen" and "half" mean. You need to figure out how many brownies there are in the first place before you figure out how many are left.  Inevitably a few kids will give me an answer greater than 24 brownies, maybe they added all the brownies to all the kids to how much each kid ate.  I would joke about it not being a Magic Brownie Pan that miraculously bakes more brownies as kids are eating them. Those brownies are gone! Forever! There will be less than what was originally there, but how many exactly and how do we know we are right? What is our strategy?

Encourage your student to always check for reasonableness. The earlier they condition themselves for this type of scrutiny of their work, the greater the payoff down the road! For elementary math students, this will be key in becoming algebra-ready (also called pre-algebra) and success in higher level high school math courses.

If you need the support of math specialists, come to Mathnasium of 4S Ranch where our customized learning plans teach your student math skills, kids can get homework help, and math confidence is built.