John Delos Reyes

Child Study
ITE 324
I am currently in a fourth grade classroom at Waipahu Elementary School. My
class consists of 24 students, 13 boys and 11 girls. A wide percentage of these
students come from low income families. The demographic is pre-dominantly
Micronesian and Filipino. Between those students, there are six ESL and three SPED.
In the grade level, teachers specialize in subjects, which mean students rotate
between two teachers throughout the day. On Wednesdays and Fridays, the kids
rotate between English and Math. Right now, the students are in the transition
phase from single digit multiplication to double digit multiplication:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NBT.B.5:
Multiply a whole number of up to four digits by a one-digit whole number, and
multiply two two-digit numbers, using strategies based on place value and
the properties of operations. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using
equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models.

For this child study, I will be focusing on "Sammy", a 10-year old boy in C25. I will be
observing on his mathematical proficiencies and relational understandings. Since
their math is focused on single digit and double digit multiplication, I will be paying
close attention to his conceptual understanding. According to Van De Walle, this will
include the student's "knowledge about the relationships or foundational ideas" of
multiplication. This covers the idea of the relation between addition and
multiplication (2 times 3 is the same as 2 plus 2 plus 2), breaking numbers apart (39
is the same as 30 plus 9) and how the basic function of multiplication relates into

double-digit multiplication. Since double-digit multiplication is a process, I will take

note of their procedural fluency. In the classroom, my mentor teacher requires the
students to use a four-part chart, which is a method that answers the question in
words, pictures and numbers. When observing Sammy, I can take note of the
different ways he represents multiplication.
(4a) Sammy is a 4th grader that has a solid attendance record. He
participates during class discussions and raises his hand to answer questions. I
chose to "study" him over the course of this standard because he shows a strong
foundation of mathematics. On his timed single digit multiplication exams, he
receives consistent ME's. He knows his multiples, from 1-12 through memorization.
As an exit pass activity, my mentor teacher has the students do multiplication flash
cards. Sammy has no problem answering these questions. Although he is strong in
multiplication, he seems to struggle when the problem is represented in words. The
problem given was:
"EF has 29 backpacks. In each bag, there are 7 books. EF gave away 14 of his
backpacks. How

many books did EF give away?"

Sammy read the question and immediately saw the numbers 29, 7 and 14. Although
the solution would be to multiply 14 and 7, he used 29 because it was in the
problem. He didn't read what the problem was asking and multiplied 29 and 7. (4b)
Regardless of his careless mistakes, Sammy shows solid proficiency in mathematics.
He is able to answer through algorithm. When multiplying numbers vertically, he
knows to start at the ones place value, moving onto the tens then hundreds. He
knows to carry numbers over the next place value. On another worksheet, he
displayed multiplication through distributive property. For the problem 87x3, he
broke the problem down into two equations, 80x3 and 7x3 adding the two sums

together. He successfully used distributive property to determine that 87x3=261.

On another assignment, he displayed multiplication through pictures. For the
problem 98x2, Sammy drew 2 circles. Using base ten manipulative blocks, he drew
98 in each circle. He then grouped all the tens blocks together and all the ones
blocks together. He added them together and determined that 98x2=196.
From the worksheets, assignments and exams I gathered, I was able to
conclude that Sammy has a strong knowledge of multiplication. He doesn't have a
difficult time representing multiplication through different mediums, whether it be
pictures, numbers or words. He shows understanding of numbers and how they
break down into place values. To gain concrete evidence, I am going to hold a
diagnostic interview with the student. Since my classroom focuses on mathematics
on Wednesdays and Fridays, my mentor teacher is allowing me to interview him
anytime throughout the day. I will spend about 10-20 minutes on Wednesday,
November 12 and Friday November 14 (if needed).
As I observed him over the course of the month, I noticed Sammy begin to
struggle once we entered double-digit multiplication. Although he was still
participating during discussion, his answers to the questions were incorrect. When
asked to give procedures of how to solve, he didn't know what to do. Although he
showed conceptual understanding and procedural fluency with single digit
multiplication, it didn't transfer over to his double-digit. It shows that Sammy
understands basic multiplication but doesn't know where to go when he's doing
double digit numbers. He doesn't know where to carry numbers and which place
value to move onto. After discussing with my mentor teacher, we will focus on his
strategies for computation. Van de Walle includes a number of activities that would
help assess Sammy's knowledge of double digit multiplication. Activity 13.1 Build It

and Break It, the purpose is to display double-digit multiplication visually. I would
give Sammy a problem like 23 x 18. He would break it up using distributive property
(23 x 10 + 23 x 8). From there, he would draw an array and make slices to see the
total number of slices that can be made. Activity 13.2 Make It Easy is an activity
that breaks down vertical multiplication into rectangular grids. The grids line up
place values. It makes it easier for the student by showing them where to carry
numbers and which place value to move onto. Between these two, I think Activity
13.2 would be the best one to do with Sammy. It isn't "difficult" but the activity
effectively breaks down the algorithm of multiplication. It's rectangular grid makes it
visual for the student. The easier activity would be Activity 13.1. Sammy has a solid
understanding of distributive property and knows how to break up numbers.
Between these two activities, Activity 13.2 would be the most effective.
Script:
(Ask Sammy to join me in the back table - white boards, scratch paper, dry erase
markers, pencil)
"Thank you for coming back here. The reason I have you here is so that I can better
myself as a teacher. We are just going to do a couple of practice problems and an
activity or two. I'm going to take a couple notes on your thinking process and
problem solving skills. I'll start off with some basic multiplication problems and we'll
work our way up from there. You can work on the whiteboard."
-6 x 8
-7 x 5 show me 7 x 5?"
-12 x 3
-14 x 5 -

"Aside from using algorithm, is there another way you can

"If 4 x 5 is 20, where do you put the '2'?"

"Good job Sammy. Now let's move onto double-digit multiplication."

-11 x 12 "Now that we finished multiplying the 2, what do we do?"
-28 x 24 "Since 4 x 8 is 32, where are you going to put the '3'?"
"Since 2 x 8 is 16, where are you going to put the '1'?"
"Alright. Let's do an activity. I will give you a multiplication problem. What we're
going to do is draw lines that align the numbers in each place value. That way, we

can multiply by place values. With every product we come up with, we are going to
align them directly underneath before we add them together."
-84 x 16

"Now that we're multiplying the '1', what place value is it

in?"
(Have Sammy multiply using the rectangular alignment then again with
standard algorithm
process.)
-84 x 16
"Before we start multiplying the '1', what do we have to do?"
"Thank you for your help Sammy. You can return back to your seat."
(7)

(8) As we started the interview, Sammy's performance went pretty well. We

started off with a few warm up questions and he answered all of them correctly. His
double digit to single digit multiplication problems were all correct. Then we
transitioned into double digit to double digit problems. I gave him 11 x 12. At first,
he multiplied everything at once rather than by each place value. Then he noticed
his mistake and immediately corrected it. It seems like he needed a quick review to
freshen his memory. Once he consistently got these problems correct, we went on
with the Van De Walle activity. He rotated his paper and placed each digit in its
proper place-value column. Using this definitely helped him organizing his thoughts.
He knew where to carry each number and which digit to move onto next. We started
with double-digit problems and he got them all correct. He asked me to challenge
him so I gave him 531 x 24 and 231 x 14. He had no problem answering them.

(9) Activity 13.1 Build It and Break It, would be a good short term activity for
Sammy. Based off of his work, he has a solid understanding of multiplication. In this
activity, we break the factors using distributive property and turning them into
array's. This would be good because it shows multiplication in a different way. It
turns it visually using grids. It would expand Sammy's prior knowledge of
multiplying. As far as long term, I think making flash cards that represent fact
families would be good for him. On each card, he can write that 7 x6 is 42 while 42 /
7 is equal to 6. Right now, they're transitioning into division and it would be good
how multiplication and division are connected.
(11) "What is the problem/reason for being stuck?" During my interview, I was
stuck because Sammy did a really good job answering my questions. When I was
observing him over the last couple of weeks, he had a difficult time transitioning
from single digit to double digit multiplication. I had an assumption that he would
struggle a bit during the interview. When I gave him the problems, he answered
them all easily. Since he didn't have any trouble, my interview was fairly short and I
didn't know what to do. "So what does this tell me/imply about my teaching?" It
implies that I lack options in my plans. Since I wasn't expecting him to do that well, I
was caught off guard and didn't have anything to reply. I had one plan and one goal,
and it since it didn't go according to my expectations, I got stuck. "Now what do I
need to do to improve situation/prevent recurrence?" I need to have a few more
tricks up my sleeves. I need to be able to have alternative activities and lessons in
the event that my student is ahead. When I teach, I need to make accommodations
for not only struggling learners, but accelerated ones as well.