How to Learn and Practice Division for Fourth Grade Students

Practicing Division in Fourth Grade

Learning from Multiplication

When you first learn to divide, you can use some of the tools from multiplication to make things easier. You can invert your multiplication tables to solve division problems. For example, if you are faced with the problem 20 ÷ 4, you can turn the question around and ask yourself what number times 4 equals 20 (4 x ? = 20). You'll remember from the multiplication tables that 4 x 5 = 20, so that tells you that 20 ÷ 4 = 5.

Whenever you are able to solve a division problem in your head, that's called mental math. To figure out 50 ÷ 2, ask yourself what times 2 equals 50. In this case, you can find the answer by thinking about money. What kind of change can you use to make 50 cents? In other words, what coin do you need 2 of to make 50? The answer is a quarter, so 50 ÷ 2 = 25. With some practice, you'll likely be able to solve most problems with a single-digit number in them without using scrap paper.

Practice Problems

Try solving the following problems in your head. You can use the multiplication trick if that helps:

1. 54 ÷ 9
2. 30 ÷ 6
3. 12 ÷ 4
4. 42 ÷ 7
5. 40 ÷ 5
6. 36 ÷ 6
7. 100 ÷ 4
8. 80 ÷ 10
9. 21 ÷ 3
10. 25 ÷ 5

Answers

1. 6
2. 5
3. 3
4. 6
5. 8
6. 6
7. 25
8. 8
9. 7
10. 5

Make Flashcards

For division problems that you'd like to learn to solve faster, try making your own flashcards to study with. Take note cards or scraps of paper and put them in a pile. On each one, write a division problem on one side and its answer on the other. Now stack the cards so that you only see the questions when you go through the pile. Be sure to mix up the cards so you don't simply memorize the order of the answers.

You can practice running through your flashcards with a friend, alternating who asks the questions, or you can review alone. However you approach it, you'll most likely get much faster if you practice consistently and frequently. If you decide to do this activity with a friend, you can create a mini competition by timing yourselves. Each person has 5 minutes to answer the whole stack of questions; alternatively, you can set the timer to see how fast each of you are, and whoever completes the pile in less time wins.