Mathematically:

Addresses standards: 3.NF.A.2a and MP.1
Helps students understand fractions in relation to whole numbers 3.NF.A.2a
Includes an example of a fraction greater than one, allowing students to see that fractions are not limited to values between $0$ and $1$
Requires students to make sense of the problem and persevere in solving it (MP.1)
In the classroom:

Engages students quickly without needing much scaffolding by the teacher
Encourages students to share their developing thinking

This is an excerpt from "Tomb Robbers." Ch’in Shih Huang Ti was the first emperor of China. He had a great fear of his own death. He kept searching for a secret that would let him live forever. He also began to build his own tomb. It took 30 years. There are many legends about what the tomb contains. Some stories say it has 270 small copies of Shih Huang Ti’s palaces. Others say it has rivers of mercury. Still others say it has weapons—crossbows—waiting to shoot anyone who tries to enter. For years, the tomb was covered with earth. Then, in 1974, a peasant was plowing a field. He found a life-sized statue. Many more statues were found later. They were part of the emperor’s “spirit army,” which was supposed to serve the ruler in the next world. No one knows yet if the tomb has been robbed. Chinese archaeologists are still digging up the area. They are working very slowly and carefully. (McDougal Littell The Language of Literature, 2002)

This lesson was created as part of the Anthology Alignment Project, during which teachers created CCSS-aligned lessons for existing literary and information texts in anthologies. All page numbers and unit/week designations found in this lesson relate to the edition of the anthology named above. If you are using a trade book or different edition of this title, the page/unit/week references in this lesson will not match. Consult the content referenced in the body of the lesson to determine appropriate page numbers for your text.

What we like about this task

Mathematically:

Addresses standards: 4.OA.A, 4.NBT.B, 4.OA.A.3, 4.NBT.B.6, MP.1, and MP.6
Requires students to understand the meaning of the quotient and remainder in order to solve problems in a real-world context
Addresses content across two major clusters (4.OA.A and 4.NBT.B) within the grade, specifically 4.OA.A.3 and 4.NBT.B.6
Requires students to interpret what is being asked and perform extensive calculations (MP.1) accurately and efficiently (MP.6)
In the classroom:

Offers opportunities for students to use strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division to solve division problems
Provides repeated practice of multi-digit division and can be easily altered to allow for repeated use throughout the year
Allows for small group, partner, or individual work

The Standards’ focus on arithmetic can allow greater variety in the tasks students see, giving students time to synthesize their developing knowledge and practice their calculation skills to fluency. One important place to have variety is in the addition and subtraction situations that students see in word problems. The case of addition and subtraction word problems reflects the general truth that there’s more to arithmetic than initially meets the eye.

During the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, Reuven is forced to sell Zlateh, the family goat, because business has been bad. On his way to the butcher, Aaron (Reuven's son) and Zlateh get caught in a terrible snowstorm, and after finding shelter in a haystack, they develop a deeper bond and interdependence. (McDougal Littell The Language of Literature, 2002)

This lesson was created as part of the Anthology Alignment Project, during which teachers created CCSS-aligned lessons for existing literary and information texts in anthologies. All page numbers and unit/week designations found in this lesson relate to the edition of the anthology named above. If you are using a trade book or different edition of this title, the page/unit/week references in this lesson will not match. Consult the content referenced in the body of the lesson to determine appropriate page numbers for your text.