MIAA 330: Error Analysis and Learning Trajectories Project

Debbie Hernandez
January 2015
In coordination with the work we did with following the development of
operations and algebra through the Engage NY curriculum, we looked at our current
lessons on multiplication and the Pythagorean theorem.

3rd Grade: Module 3

Lesson 7
Interpret the unknown in multiplication and division to model and solve problems using
units of 6 and 7.
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-3-mathematics-module-3-topic-b-lesson-7

This lesson continues the work of previous lessons on multiplying and dividing using 6
and 7. For this lesson students are asked to find the unknown in a fact problem.
Example:

7 times a number equals 42

n 7 = 21

Ari sells 6 boxes of pens at the school store.

a. Each box of pens sells for $7. Draw a tape diagram and label the total amount of
money he makes as m. Write an equation and solve for m.
b. Each box contains 6 pens. Draw a tape diagram and label the total number of

pens as p. Write an equation and solve for p.

Students were asked to explain their work.

Video Clip:

By far the biggest confusion was using a variable to represent the unknown. When
a box or a blank line was used, students had no difficulty finding the unknown. The
whole idea of using a letter or a variable to represent that number was confusing for many
students. The idea that it could be any letter seemed to create more confusion. Although
this seems to be developmental, with repeated use, using a variable should eventually
make as much sense as a box or a blank line.
This lesson is definitely a building block for future concepts. Flexibility with facts
is necessary for success with multiplication, division, fractions, etc. Using a variable will
be critical to understanding algebra.

4th Grade: Module 3

Lesson 10:
Multiply three- and four-digit numbers of one-digit numbers applying the standard
algorithm
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-4-mathematics-module-3-topic-c-lesson-10

This lesson connects the previous work on recording multiplication problems as partial
products with both a picture and numbers to the standard algorithm.

At the beginning of the lesson, students draw the picture and the partial product solution.
Then they do the standard algorithm seeing how each step represents a partial product.
By the time they are completing the homework, students are just doing the standard
algorithm.
HOMEWORK: Lesson 10

Solve using the standard algorithm.

a. 3 41

c. 7 143

b. 9 41

d. 7 286

e. 4
2,048

f. 4 4,096

g. 8 4,096

h. 4 8,192

Students presented their work to the class explaining each step that they did.
Audio:

I asked the students what they had difficulty with throughout the lesson. They
reported:
Misunderstandings of mathematical process
1. Remembering to add the carried digit and then cross it out once it was
added.
2. Remembering to add the carried digit not multiply it.
3. Learning a different way to do something they already knew how to do.
4. Realizing that the process was the same when the numbers continued into
the 1000s place.
5. That they were multiplying by the bottom number (read the bottom number
first, i.e. 4 X 5 tens not 5 x 4).

Vocabulary/Language Development Errors

1. Sorting out the terms partial products and standard algorithm.

Memorization Errors
1. Having to figure out facts for those that were not memorized.

For the vocabulary issue, I just made a point of students and myself using the
terms constantly during subsequent lessons. For the misconceptions, I back
-tracked to where we had connected our learning of the standard algorithm to that
of the partial products. We re-examined where the carried digit came from and
what it meant. We also looked at the connection between the picture and the verbal
prompts we were using throughout the problem. The next few lessons focused on
word problems, so I added some additional practice problems to that to reinforce
the lesson on the standard algorithm for multiplication.
Being able to multiply easily and accurately is critical for future progress in
mathematics. In the immediate future, they will need these understandings to help
them develop the concept of division.

Algebra
Module 2, Lesson 16: Applications of the Pythagorean Theorem
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-8-mathematics-module-2-topic-dlesson-16

This lesson extended the previous one on the introduction of the

Pythagorean theorem. It applied using the theorem to finding the missing side
lengths of triangles, applying it to distances on a coordinate plane, and finding the
length of a diagonal in a rectangle.

Audio:

Exit Ticket
1

Find the length of the missing side of the rectangle shown below, if possible.

Find the length of all three sides of the right triangle shown below, if possible.

The errors that students had were mainly procedural ones. They had
difficulty with correctly identifying the legs of the triangle, particularly which side
was C. The other error was in the last step of taking the square root of the number
to find the length of the side. Applying the process to other situations did not seem
to be a problem.
Both of these problems were relatively easy to fix with some further
practice. Knowledge of square roots, in particular, will be used repetitively
throughout algebra.