Teach-Primary-18.3

Wave confusion goodbye and get Year 6 children SATs-ready with this strategy for teaching long division JESS EASTON www.teachwire.net | 31 The example question I’ll be using here is 2,142 ÷ 17. Begin by asking pupils to write down the first few multiples of the number they’re dividing by, e.g. 17, 34, 51, 68, 85, 102... The multiples can either be written down in a list or on a number track. Now use sentence stems to help with the division. The sentence stem here would be ‘__ hundreds divided by __ is equal to __ hundreds with a remainder of ___’. Fitting this stem to our division would look like ’21 hundreds divided by 17 is equal to 1 hundred with a remainder of 4’. We’ve worked this out by calculating how many 17s go into 21 (which is 1), which leaves a remainder of 4. Finally, look at the ones. The sentence stem for this would be ‘102 ones divided by 17 is equal to 6 ones with no remainder’. This is calculated by looking at the number track to see how many 17s go into 102, which is 6 with no remainder. This gives us our answer of 126. Once your students have got the hang of this, I would challenge them with different equations, so they can face long division in their SATs with ease! Now look at the tens. Again, use the sentence stem to work out the answer. The completed sentence stem would be ‘44 tens divided by 17 is equal to 2 tens with a remainder of 10’. This is calculated by looking at the number track to see how many 17s go into 44 (which is 2) and this then leaves a remainder of 10. The next step is to ask students to put the question into the correct format. By this we mean placing the number that you’re dividing by outside the overbar, or division bracket, and the number you’re dividing inside it. The correct format should look something like this: 7 2142 Remind pupils that the number you’re dividing by always goes outside the bracket. You could test this understanding by giving them another division equation and checking they place the figures correctly. W hilst long division is a fundamental part of children’s maths education, it’s a topic that raises a lot of questions and causes confusion – and not just for pupils! It can be something we, as teachers, shy away from. To help put these worries aside, I’ve broken down step-by-step how I would teachmy students long division, usingWhite Rose Education resources, so they’re ready to face their SATSwith confidence. Jess Easton is an experienced education professional, with a background spanning over a decade. Jess’ experience includes various leadership roles, including head of maths, and nowworks as director of CPD at White Rose Education. F EATURE S MA THS 1 1 4 2 – 1 7 4 1 7 2 1 2 1 4 4 4 0 2 – 1 – 7 4 3 1 1 7 2 1 2 6 1 4 4 4 0 0 2 2 0 2 – 1 – – 7 4 3 1 1 1 7 2