Connie S.

Costa
MIAA 350-Parker
Reflection #2
March 2014

Sixth Grade Activity Euclidean Algorithm


I have learned many valuable things in this class, one of them being the Euclidean
Algorithm for finding greatest common factor. Why do I enjoy using it so much? I enjoy
teaching it because it is one more strategy I can give to my students to help them find the
greatest common factor and I believe it accessible to my struggling students.
Ive always taught my students to list all of the factors and to use prime
factorization to find the GCF. Most can use these strategies successfully. However, there
are still some students, believe it or not, that even in the sixth grade still dont know their
basic math facts. Therefore, listing all the factors can be intimidating. Listing the prime
factors can be just as daunting. Using the Euclidean Algorithm allows students to find the
GCF without the need to know all of the factors or needing to know the prime factors and
how to use exponents.
While the Euclidean Algorithm does require students to divide, in most cases at
the sixth grade level, the smaller number will go into the larger number only once or
twice and it is very obvious to the student. As the student works the problem out, the use
of their math facts knowledge is minimal.
I had a few minutes of open time one day and decided to show my class the
Euclidean Algorithm. I used 30 and 54 to demonstrate the strategy. First, I had my
students list the factors and make the factor tree to find the prime factorization. They
moaned and groaned and a few couldnt remember how to do either of these functions. I
Costa 2
had taught this back at the beginning of the school year. Once they struggled to get the
GCF of 30 and 54 and everyone agreed that it was 6, I showed them the Euclidean
Algorithm. They were amazed! I even had one student say to me, Why didnt you teach
us this before!? I explained to him and the class that I had just learned it myself! They
thought it was a great way to find GCF.
We practiced a few more problems and all of my students, even my struggling
students, found success using the Euclidean Algorithm. Ive even shared it with a few of
my colleagues who were unfamiliar with it. I will definitely be teaching this to my
students from here on out.