Ryan Moyer

Math Unit 4 Multiplying Decimals

Reflection
Over the past month, my math class has been studying and working to master multiplying
decimals. Our two main objectives were to multiply decimal numbers and to understand powers
of ten (how the decimal moves when we multiply them). I set my proficiency target at 70%
correct on the summative assessment. At the end of the unit, my students took their 10 problem
summative assessment. Unfortunately only 30% of my students achieved at least a 70%.
However, for my math group, anything above a 50% on the test is good. With that in mind, 60%
of my students scored above 50%.
Student
A.H.
B.B.
C.B.
D.S.
D.D.
D.L.
E.B.
G.J.
G.L.
I.H.
J.T.
J.N.
K.M.
L.C.
P.T.
P.E.
R.L.
T.T.
T.G.
T.S.

Gender
Female
Female
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Female
Male
Female
Male
Male
Female
Male
Male
Female
Male
Male

Unit Test
Race
(out of 10)
Caucasian
9
Caucasian
4
African American
4
African American
9
African American
3
Hispanic
7
Caucasian
5.5
Caucasian
6.5
Caucasian
6
African American
5
African American
8
Caucasian
5.5
Caucasian
6
Caucasian
7
Caucasian
7.5
Caucasian
4
Hispanic
5
African American
4
Caucasian
6
African American
5
Out of
10

Unit Test Problem Areas

For those students who scored at or below

Mutliplying
Issues
26%

50%, Mrs. Norman will be pulling them throughout

the next few days to go over their biggest issues.

Decimal
Issues
74%

After looking over which questions these students

missed and what their mistakes on those problems
were, I came up with two general areas that the

students struggled with the most. First, they struggled with general multiplication issues. The
second issue was much more prominent; they struggled with decimal placement. Most students
could generally get the correct numbers in their product, but inserting the decimal at the end
either didnt happen because they overlooked it or they put it in the wrong spot.
At the start of the unit, I conducted a pre-assessment just to see what the students already
knew about multiplication in general and multiplying with decimals. They scores were pretty
miserable, but that was expected with this particular class. What it really showed me is how
much growth the students could potentially show. Despite the low final assessment results, the
growth from pre-test to post-test is remarkable. On the graphs below, the pre-test scores and
post-test scores were averaged by race and gender. The students scores improved on average
around 30 percentage points from pre-test to post-test. On the graph on the next page, each
students pre- and post-test results are shown. Of note, A.H. went up about 50 percentage points,
and D.S. raised his grade by 60 percentage points. Several others had gains in the 30s and 40s.

Pre/Post Reults by Gender

70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Pre/Post Results by Race

70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Male

Female

Pre-Test

27%

32%

Post-Test

64%

54%

Caucasian

African
American

Hispanic

Pre-Test

36%

22%

16%

Post-Test

60%

54%

60%

Student Scores (Percentages) for Pre-Test vs. Unit

Summative Test
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
A.H. B.B. C.B. D.S. D.D. D.L. E.B. G.J. G.L. I.H. J.T. J.N. K.M. L.C. P.T. P.E. R.L. T.T. T.G. T.S.
Pre-Test

Unit Test

Throughout the unit, we had several class work/homework assignments. Unfortunately,

missing work is a much more common issue that I had realized, especially with this particular
group of students. As shown on the chart below, the number of missing assignments is large.
Toward the end of the unit, I assigned work during class and had students turn it in regardless of
if they finished it or not, just so I could see if they were doing it right. If I noticed a lot of
students were missing the same problem or making the same sorts of mistakes, we reviewed the
concept the next day. By the end of the unit, most of the homework scores were relatively good.
Students who had mastered the content or completed the assignments before class was over were
instructed to continue with the H.O.T. Problems at the end of the section. These problems
challenge the students to apply what theyve learned at a deeper level.
Student
A.H.
B.B.
C.B.
D.S.
D.D.

Gender
Female
Female
Female
Male
Female

Race
Caucasian
Caucasian
African American
African American
African American

Pg.
Pg. Pg. Pg.
163 169 171 175
5
4
4
5
4

Resale Pg.
Depot 180
2
4

2.5
5

Mid-Ch.
Pg.
Pg.
Check Pt. 189 193
3.5
3.5
8
4
4
6
5
8
0.5
7
8

D.L.
E.B.
G.J.
G.L.
I.H.
J.T.
J.N.
K.M.
L.C.
P.T.
P.E.
R.L.
T.T.
T.G.
T.S.

Male
Female
Male
Female
Female
Male
Female
Male
Male
Female
Male
Male
Female
Male
Male

Hispanic
Caucasian
Caucasian
Caucasian
African American
African American
Caucasian
Caucasian
Caucasian
Caucasian
Caucasian
Hispanic
African American
Caucasian
African American
Out of

4.5

5
5
3.5

5
6

5
2
2
4

4.5
3.5
4

3
3
2
3
1
4

2
2.5

6
1.5
8
7
3.5
8
4.5

1.5

5
6

2.5

4.5
5.5

2
6.5
3

7
6.5
2.5
8.5

8
7
7
8
8

4.5
9

7
2
8
8

1
4
2
2

6
6

7
8

1
4

8.5
13

Reflecting back on myself, I feel like I grew a lot in my management throughout the unit.
This class is my most difficult class of the day. They have very little motivation and very little
self-discipline. The class is made up of students with the lowest math ability between both fifth
grade homerooms and it was difficult for me to make them see why this was important to know
or how to get them to care about paying attention and learning the content. I used real world
examples during my teaching, including using a real receipt from a restaurant to figure out how
much to leave as a tip and creating a Resale Depot in the classroom where students bought
different amounts of different items. These lessons seemed to engage more students because they
saw the real-life application. However, these took me a little out of my comfort zone without the
textbooks support.
If I were to teach this unit again, I might use even less of the textbook and more creative
approaches. I attempted to use base ten blocks at one point in the unit, but the students couldnt
handle using them in an appropriate way so we only did one or two problems with them. I would

love to be able to use these tactile models more, but when behavior is such a problem, its
difficult. However, some students really can benefit from having that hands-on experience.
This unit showed me how different students in the same grade can be academically. Some
of my students can barely grasp multiplying whole numbers, some can multiply but completely
shut down at the sight of a decimal point, and most students in the other math group can multiply
decimal numbers without an issue. As a teacher, this unit taught me to be very flexible with
scheduling, but it also taught me that I cant drag a lesson too slowly or Ill lose engagement. Its
been difficult, but Ive learned so much about my students and myself as a teacher.