Dear Family,

Your student is learning how the operations addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are used in real-world situations. They draw and analyze tape diagrams to see how statements and expressions are related. Then they write word problems to match an expression or tape diagram. They explore how placing parentheses in an expression can change its value. Your student uses operations with whole numbers to solve multi-step word problems. They see there are multiple ways to draw a model to represent a problem.

AT HOME ACTIVITY

Birthday Word Problem

Have your student write their birthday or another important date in number form by using four digits for the year. Ask them to use the numbers in the date to create an expression that includes two different operations (+, −, ×, or ÷) and parentheses.

• For the date August 19, 2011, your student would write an expression with the numbers 8, 19, and 2,011 such as 2,011 − (8 × 19).

Then have them write a word problem that matches their expression.

• A word problem to match 2,011 − (8 × 19) is: I scored 2,011 points in my video game. Then I got to the last level. I tried to pass the level and failed 8 times. Each time I tried to pass the level and failed, I lost 19 points. How many points do I have now?

Finally, they can evaluate the expression and solve their word problem.

• 2,011 − (8 × 19) = 2,011 − 152 = 1,859 I have 1,859 points now.