Doctor Who Mnemonic for Long Division

Looking for a good mnemonic for long division?

For some reason, long division is a thorn in the side for many kids when they first learn it. My 13 year old is still having trouble keeping all the steps straight. It’s a little harder for her since she has trouble focusing and recalling facts and formulas.

So we need a mnemonic, right? Something that can help her remember and recite the steps of “Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring Down.” Something that can help her progress through the division problem one piece at a time.

More than that, I felt like we needed a mnemonic that interests her. One that she’d WANT to remember. And she’s a big Doctor Who fan. So we need a Doctor Who themed mnemonic, don’t you think?

 I mean, the Doctor always saves the day!

So we started brainstorming, I called on some Facebook friends, and we came up with some good ones. Check these out:

DIVIDE – MULTIPLY – SUBTRACT – BRING DOWN

The Doctor’s Magic Spinning Box

Doctor: Mysterious Stranger in a Box

The Doctor’s Many Splendid Bowties

Doctor: Madman in a Stolen Box

Doctor: Madman in a Space Box

Donna, Martha, Sarah (Jane,) Bill 

What do you think? We won’t be using all of them, that would be too confusing. We chose one, and we’ll be sticking with it. 

Which one did we choose?

Doctor: Madman in a Stolen Box!

We’ve been making a “cheat sheet” in the back of her math spiral with formulas to remember, such as the formulas for the circumference and area of a circle. Now we have a Doctor Who themed mnemonic and the actual steps for the long division as well. If she ever needs to look in the back of the spiral and double check her memory she’ll be able to do that.

Hopefully this will help!!