Math Misconceptions
Addressing Misconceptions
VOCAB Review
Let's Calculate!
Mix Match
100

What misconception is this?

The student might skip numbers or go out of order saying "one, two, four, nine, three, five".


The child does not know the counting sequence

100

What is the strategy to support students who do not count in sequence?

Read counting books

Use an activity involving correct and incorrect ways of counting for students to identify the mistakes

Match the written work with the number

100

Define Commutative Property

When you add two numbers in any order you will get the same answers

100

Give an example of a fraction equivalent to 1

ex: 5/5

100

Which is bigger?

3 inches or 6 centimeters

3 inches

200

What Misconception is this?

24 - 7

Student subtracts 4 -  7 as 7 - 4 and gets an answer of 23

Student overgeneralizes the Commutative Property of addition and uses it in subtraction

200

How would you address the misconception of the student choosing the wrong operation from a word problem?

Cover up the numbers in the word problem and have the students read the problem.

Have concrete materials available to model the problem


200

Define  Distributive Property and give example

When you multiply two numbers you can split one into two parts (7 can be 5 + 2) multiply each part by the other number and then add them together.

Ex: a X (b + c) = a X b + a X c

200

Write the whole number 25 as a fraction

25/1

200

Name 3 equivalent fractions to 7/8 

14/16, 70/80, 28/32

300

What misconception is this?

Student is not able to think of 14 - 9 as "What plus 9 equals 14?"  or 36/4 as "How many groups of 4 are in 36?"

Students do not recognize inverse realationships

300

How would you address the misconception students reverse the digits when writing two-digit numbers?

ex: writes 53 as 35

Use base ten blocks to display number

300

What is perimeter of a 2D shape?

The perimeter is the distance around a shape

300

8/12 = n/6  n=?

n=4

300

write the decimal, % and fraction to the following

50%

2/3

.363

.5, 1/2

.667, 66.7%

363/1000. 36.6%



400

What misconception is this?

70 - 23 = 53

Student explains 0 from 3 equals 3, and 2 from 7 equals 5.  The answer is 53

When subtracting two digit numbers, student always subtracts the smaller number from the larger number rather then regrouping.

400

How would you address the misconception?

Students always put the word "and" in a number when they read it aloud.

ex: 1,200

one thousand and two hundred

Students must practice reading numbers without using the word "and".  The only time the word "and " is used is to represent a decimal.

400

Define Equivalent Fractions

Fractions which have the same value but may appear in different fraction form using different digits.


400

5 divided by 2/3 =

7.5

400

What is the circumference of a circle?

Draw a model to illustrate.

The circumference is the distance around the circle.
500

What misconception is this?

4005 X 9 = 3645

When multiplying students ignore the internal zeros

500

How would you address this misconception?

Multiplication makes "bigger" numbers and division makes "smaller" numbers

Concrete materials to model problems

Students are overgeneralizing whole numbers to fraction/decimal concepts.  Need to address basic understanding.


500

Define Volume

The amount of units fitting inside a 3D shape

500

4.5 + 1/4 =

4.75

500

Name the 4 Levels of Knowing in Math

1. Intuitive

2. Concrete models/visuals

3. Abstract Thinking/Algorithms

4. Application/ Real World 

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