How to teach division to year 3

How to teach division to year 3 children?

Are you looking for ideas on “How to teach division to year 3 students?”. Here, you will find the different fun hands-on activities and strategies to teach division to the grade 3 children.

HOW TO TEACH DIVISION TO YEAR 3

The division is a new and tricky concept for primary school children. So, the kids might feel hard or difficult to understand the concept of division. Follow the below methods to teach the division concepts in a simple way.

My elder child is in Grade 3. So, I have started to search for simple and easy methods to make him understand the concept of division. Here, I have explained the step-by-step process to introduce division to the children.

So, first, you need to introduce “what is division?”, “when or where to use division”, “how does it help us in our daily lives?”. So, when the child understands the basics of the division, they can be able to do it easily. Read on the post to know more about the teaching methodology of division.

Step by step process on "How to teach division to year 3?"

Step1: Division in real life

First, you need to use the word "equal sharing". You can start with a 2-way conversation with your kids. You need to ask them that "Do they like to share things or How does mom share the candies among the kids". So, the kids would come up with the answer.

Now, we need to introduce the term division. You need to define the term as division means "equal sharing".

So, before introducing the exact definition of division to kids. Start relating the division with real-life problems of sharing. Now, the kids would be able to understand the meaning of division. Now you can explain the actual definition of division.

What is division?

In a simple term, division means repeated subtraction. The division means equal sharing or equal grouping. Dividing into equal groups is called division.

Step 2: Division using concrete objects

When the child understands the meaning of the term division. We need to explain the concepts with concrete objects. You can use lego toys, building blocks toys, or candies to explain this division concept.

For eg, Place the candies of 6, tell the kids to divide the candies for 6 people, 2 persons, 3 people, and 1 person. The child would be able to divide the candies equally to all the people.

Step 3: Division as making groups

The next step is division as making groups. So, before introducing the terms and division symbols. It is best to introduce the division as making equal groups. You can teach this concept with a real-time scenario.

For eg, 3 wafers are divided equally between 3 children. How many wafers does each child get?

Answer: Each child gets 1 wafer. The child can answer this very easily.

Here, use the word divided instead of shared. You can use the picture representation to teach the division as making the groups

Refer to the below pictures to explain the division as making groups.

year 3 division methods

Step 4: Writing the division fact or division sentence

Replace the division as groups into the division fact. Now, you can introduce the division symbol and the terms dividend, divisor, quotient, and remainder.

Dividend - The number to be divided is called the dividend. 15 is the dividend in the below example.

Divisor - The number that we are dividing by is called the divisor. The number 3 is the divisor in the below example.

Quotient - The answer in the division is called the quotient. The number 5 is the quotient in the below example.

For eg: 15 divided by 3

Total number of pens = 15

Number of groups = 3

Each group has 5 pens.

We can rewrite the above as

15 divided by 3 equals 5

The coloring activity helps the children to remember these terms. Refer to the below image to rewrite it as a division fact and the coloring activity of the division terms.

Step 5: Division as repeated subtraction using the number line

The division is also known as repeated subtraction. The first number is repeatedly subtracted by the second number until the answer becomes 0.

For eg, 32 divided by 8 = 4

step 1: 32 -8 = 24

step 2: 24 - 8 =16

step 3: 16 - 8 = 8

step 4: 8 - 8 = 0

The first number has to be subtracted repeatedly by the second number until the answer becomes 0. You can also use the number line to teach this concept.

Step 5: Properties of division

It is very important to teach the properties of division to kids once they understand the concept. You need to give enough practice to properties of division.

Property 1: Dividing a number by 1

When the number is divided by 1, the quotient is always the number itself.

Eg, 45 divided by 1 = 45.

Eg, 2 divided by 1 = 2.

Property 2: Dividing a number by itself

When a number is divided by itself, the quotient is always 1.

Eg, 23 divided by 23 = 1.

Eg, 5 divided by 5 = 1.

Property 3: Dividing Zero by any number

When zero is divided by any number, the quotient is always 0.

Eg, 0 divided by 32 is 0.

Eg, 0 divided by 7 is 0.

Property 4: Dividing a number by 0

When a number is divided by 0, the answer is undefined. That is, we cannot divide any number by zero.

Eg, 13 divided by 0 is undefined.

HOW TO TEACH DIVISION

Step 5: Division using bus stop method/ Short division method

Now, you are going to introduce the exact method to divide the number. The bus stop method to divide the number. So, start with the single-digit division and move on to 2 digits and 3 digit divisions. I will make a separate post on teaching the long division method.

Start with the Single- digit / 1-digit division with a remainder of 0

Step 1: In this method, we need to draw the bus stop.

Step 2: Write the number that you are going to divide (dividend) inside the bus stop. You can also tell the children to write the bigger number or first number in the division sentence inside the bus stop.

Step 3: Write the divisor outside the bus stop.

Step 4: Ask the child to write the multiplication table of a divisor in the workout area. It helps the child to relate multiplication with that division. Follow this step until the child does it directly.

Step 5: Now, check how many times the divisor goes to get the number that is inside the bus stop.

Refer to the below pictures to explain this concept.

TEACH DIVISION TO GRADE 3

I will come up with a separate post on long division, remainder on division, 2 -digit division without regrouping, 2-digit division with regrouping, 3 -digit division, and applying the 0 in the quotient.

Final Note

I hope the topic on "How to teach division to year 3" would assist you in teaching the concept to your kids or students. Follow these tips to teach division to your young learners.

'Momovators' is all about education and parenting. I will share with you the tips and tricks which were worked for me to teach my kids.

You can download the free preschool and kindergarten worksheets.