Chocolate Chip Cookies | January 26, 2015

Solve the problem below using a bar model. Is this problem a Part-Part-Whole situation? Draw a picture of your solution and e-mail it to michelle.valdez@kentwoodps.org. Thanks!

Emma made some chocolate chip cookies in the morning. She delivered 26 of the cookies to her neighbor that afternoon. She still had 18 cookies left. How many cookies did Emma make this morning? 

Sparklers for New Year's Eve | January 6, 2015

Solve the problem below using a bar model. It's just a little bit harder than the last one, so if you're not sure what to do, look at the post from before. 

Cara and Dylan were given 40 sparklers to share on New Year's Eve. Cara used 17 of the sparklers. Dylan used the rest. How many sparklers did Dylan use? 

It's a New Year! | January 5, 2015

Have you heard of bar models? Let's start at the beginning. 

It's a new year. It's a great time to start learning something new!

Have you ever heard of using bar models to help solve math problems? They're a great tool for visualizing all of the quantities in the problem and how the quantities relate to each other. They help you make sense of the problem so that you know which math operations to use to solve the problem.

In honor of the new year, let's start at the beginning. Then week by week, problem by problem, you'll learn a useful strategy for solving math problems. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of the math - the math that never made sense to you before - all of a sudden starts to make sense. 

Here's your first problem!

Anna and Barry each made a list of new year resolutions. Anna's list had 24 resolutions on it. Barry's list had 17 resolutions. How many resolutions did Anna and Barry list in all?

I'm thinking that there are two parts here, Anna and Barry, and that the two parts are being combined because the question is asking how many resolutions "in all". I'll draw a bar for Anna as one part and a bar for Barry as the other part. My bar for Barry will be a little bit smaller because 17 is smaller than 24. I'll also write my answer statement with a blank for where I'll put my answer.

Anna and Barry listed _____ resolutions in all.

Now I'm thinking that I should put the numbers from the problem into my bar model. I am also going to put a question mark in the model to represent the quantity I am trying to find.

Now I'm remembering that when I know the parts, I can add them to find the whole. That makes sense with my picture, too. If I add 24 + 17 = 41, it makes sense that the question mark is representing 41, a pretty big number compared to 24 and 17. Now I can answer the question. 

Anna and Barry listed    41    resolutions in all.