Texas Math Models

grades 3 and 4 · Texas

A real question from each skill, worked all the way through.

One question from each skill, worked out the way a teacher would, with what usually goes wrong and one thing to try tonight. TEKS are listed as well.

Comparing and ordering big numbers

3.2D

Deciding which of two numbers is larger when both run to the ten thousands, and putting a list of them in order.

8 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

4 common mistakes

Adding and subtracting to 1,000

3.4A

Two- and three-digit addition and subtraction, including the two-step problems where the answer to the first part feeds the second.

10 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

4 common mistakes

Solving one- and two-step multiplication and division problems

3.4K

Working out which operation a word problem is asking for, and why.

8 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

3 common mistakes

Multiplication and division word problems

3.5B

Representing a problem with a picture or an equation before solving it, using the strip diagram Texas classrooms use.

8 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

3 common mistakes

Relationships in a table

3.5E

Reading a table of number pairs and saying, in words, the rule that links one column to the other.

9 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

3 common mistakes

Area of rectangles

3.6C

Finding how many unit squares cover a rectangle, and seeing why the number of rows times the number in each row gives it.

7 questions across the 5 released tests, about 1 a test · on all 5 tests

3 common mistakes

Perimeter, and a missing side

3.7B

Adding up the distance around a shape, and working backwards to one side when the perimeter is the thing you are given.

7 questions across the 5 released tests, about 1 a test · on all 5 tests

3 common mistakes

Reading and building graphs

3.8A

Pulling numbers out of a pictograph, bar graph, dot plot or frequency table, where one picture or one line can stand for more than one.

10 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

3 common mistakes

What a digit is worth

4.2B

Reading a number written out in parts, such as (6 x 100,000) + (2 x 1,000), and saying what each digit is worth, including decimals.

10 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

4 common mistakes

Decimals and fractions that mean the same thing

4.2G

Seeing that 0.7 and 7/10 and 70/100 are three names for one amount, using grids, strips and money.

10 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

4 common mistakes

Comparing two fractions

4.3D

Deciding which of two fractions is bigger when the top and bottom numbers are both different.

10 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

3 common mistakes

Adding and subtracting decimals

4.4A

Column addition and subtraction with decimals to the hundredths, including borrowing across a zero.

6 questions across the 5 released tests, about 1 a test · on all 5 tests

4 common mistakes

Drawing a word problem before solving it

4.5A

Turning a multi-step problem into a strip diagram and an equation with a letter for the part you do not know yet.

9 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

3 common mistakes

Perimeter and area of rectangles

4.5D

Working out the distance around a rectangle and the space inside it, and telling the two apart.

10 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

4 common mistakes

Measurement word problems

4.8C

Length, time, liquid volume, mass and money problems: reading a scale, adding up distances, working out when something ends.

9 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

4 common mistakes

Showing data on dot plots, tables and stem-and-leaf plots

4.9A

Putting a list of numbers into a chart, and checking a chart against the list it came from, without losing any of them.

10 questions across the 5 released tests, about 2 a test · on all 5 tests

3 common mistakes

Want the whole picture? See five years of STAAR in one page.