Katie Chock

January 21, 2015

Error Analysis 2nd grade
Students in second grade are working the topic of Concrete to abstract. Their task is to
measure lengths of string using measurement tools; represent length with tape diagrams to
represent and compare the lengths. Students are to measure information and represent them with
a tape diagram.
The problem is:
Steven has a black leather strip that is 13 centimeters long. He cut off 5
centimeters. His teacher gave him a brown leather strip that is 16 centimeters long. What
is the total length of both strips?
Step 1: Find the length of black leather strip after being cut.
Step 2: Find the length of the black and brown leather strips together.
At first the student thought you needed to add 13 + 5. Her original answer was 18 cm.
After Dania reread the problem with girl again, she asked her what the key word in the problem
was that signified the order of operations. She thought she was supposed to add; however, after
rereading the problem, the word cut means subtract. Then she said her answer was 8.
Unfortunately, there are two parts to the question. Then she needed to find the length of the
brown strip to solve the second part. The student was confused at what the question was asking.
The brown strip she knew was 8cm, but did not know what to do with this information. After
reading it with Dania, she knew that she had to add both the brown and black strips together. The
student was confused on what the question was asking, but after reading it with Dania, and Dania
asking questions, the student was able to solve the question.
For a teaching strategy, I would chart different words for the different order of operations.
I would make sure students know the definitions of all words arising in the text. After students

are familiar with vocabulary, they should have an easier time identifying which order of
operation to use. I would also practice breaking down questions, and have students say them in
their own words. Students will become more familiar with the reading and decoding the
language.