This or That? -4GT

Grade 4gt mathematics Routine

This or That?

Standards for Mathematical Practice: #2, #3, #6 and #7

In this routine, students estimate and compare expressions.  They determine if they would want one thing (this) over another (that). They reason about number and operation as well as reason about properties and relationships between expressions.  This routine comes from Daily Routines to Jumpstart Math Class (Corwin, 2019).

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Students will come to the front of the room with no supplies.

2.  Select two or three sets of expressions to compare.  You may want to share one set of expressions at a time.

3.  Ask the students to compare the expressions in the row.  Would they prefer "this" or "that"

4.  Remind students that this is a mental math activity and that exact answers are not required. 

5.  Provide think time for the students to reason and compare.

6.  Students should turn and talk to a neighbor to share their findings.  

7.  Facilitate a group discussion.  Consider asking the following questions.

• • How did you know the expression was greater than the other?
  • Did you find an exact amount or did you find an estimated amount?
  • Why was it better to use friendly numbers in this comparison?
  • Did you notice a pattern?
  • Does this pattern always work?  When might it not work?
  • Can you think of another expression that would be greater than ___or less than ___?
  • Did anyone compare the expressions differently?
  • How could thinking about expressions in this way help you determine if your exact answer is reasonable?

VIDEO LINK: This or That? Links to an external site.

In the video notice how the teacher introduced the routine by stating that you do not always need to solve the expression. We can use strategies such as rounding, estimating, and thinking about the size of the numbers. The teacher stated the directions and provided wait time. She recorded the students thoughts on the board and asked the class to provide a thumbs up if they agree and thumbs down if they disagree. She asked other students to share their thinking and prompted students to extend their thinking by asking questions such as can you tell me more about that?  The teacher also rephrased what the students shared, Finally, she asked a question to the class to solidify the idea that we can reason about expressions by looking at the size of the factors.

GOOGLE SLIDES: This or That Slides Links to an external site.

These slides include applying the basic operations to whole numbers, fraction, and decimal expressions. There is a blank slide at the end for you want to create your own slide.