Student Work #6

This is a photo of a worksheet dealing with double digit subtraction problems. It may look very familiar, because there are a handful of students who just are not grasping the concept of borrowing and carrying. My MT had me work with three students for an hour on the same type of problems. The students used the base ten cubes to help them with these subtraction problems. I noticed that they struggled with the basic techniques of using the base ten cubes. One student, for example, would create the first number (lets say 43) with the cubes. When I instructed him to, "take away 17" he would start to take away that many cubes. However, after he took them away, he would not separate them clearly and ended up counting some of the ones he already took away.

In this case, I think it is extremely important to specify HOW to use the base ten cubes. I noticed this particular student was able to complete the subtraction problem without using the cubes and figured out the right answer. The class has been encouraged to use the cubes as much as they can, but for him it is confusing. Which is becoming detrimental to his ability to move on, therefore stunting his success. To aid him with these subtraction problems, I would like to work with him one-on-one again and test the waters to see how he does without using the base-ten cubes at all. I also think that giving a worksheet with a little variety, and not just the same exact "cookie-cutter" problems would help him better understand the concept. The math problems are just going to continue to become more complex as he gets older, so straying away from the base ten cubes seems as though it would be a very beneficial step for him to take.

3 Questions:

1) How would this particular student react to not having the base ten cubes available to him?
2) Would a variety of subtraction problems aid in his understanding?
3) How could I develop this worksheet into a higher-level task?

Answers:
1) I think he would benefit from the absence of the base ten cubes. He would probably be a little distraught not to have them available, but based on the confusion I saw from him, I think he would end up doing better overall.

2) Yes. Instead of making all of the problems look the same, switiching it up and adding variety would show me that he really understood the concept. By repeating the exact same problems over and over again just shows he memorizes how to do it, but that isn't the issue here.

3) Although, for this particular student, this is a high-level task, I think I could further enhance it for the students who are not struggling. Developing this problems into word problems would transform this task. Adding a stipulation, such as, draw a picture to go along with your thinking or draw the base-ten cubes to show your work would make this slightly more difficult.