During the past few math word problem lessons I have slowly been introducing the grade 3’s to multiplication and division word problems. They have been doing lots of activities on multiplication and division so I knew they were able to do it but through observation I saw that they weren’t able to identify whether a problem was multiplication or division and they weren’t sure how to show their work in these problems. I decided to do a mini lesson on the carpet with them while the 2’s worked on an addition and subtraction word problem sheet. While doing the lesson on the carpet I noticed that all of them were confused on what exactly multiplication and division was. They knew how to solve the equation if it was written out for them but they didn’t really know what they were doing. Even after going through a lesson, using manipulative’s and pulling from their ideas, it was like it was the first time they had ever done it. This was really good for me to see and take note of because now I know that we need to take a few steps back and first make their understanding of these two processes concrete before I ask them to do more word problems. It also showed me that just doing math facts will not teach the students everything they need to know to understand something.