A child was marked as incorrect for translating “5×3” to “5+5+5” on a grade school math test.
Further discussion is at http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/teacher-marks-child-s-55515-answer-incorrect
According to Common Core: Represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division, 5×3 should be interpret as 5 groups of 3 objects each, which means 3+3+3+3+3.
I think this come from how every-day English express this kind of thing. Like 5 apples (apples appear 5 time), and 5 3’s is similar (3 appears 5 time). This also affect the definition of multiplicand and multiplier. Quote from Wikipedia Multiplication
When thinking of multiplication as repeated addition, the number to be multiplied is called the “multiplicand”, while the number of addends is called the “multiplier”.
In other world, 5×3 should be read as:
3 multiplied by 5
But for division, 5 ÷ 3 is read as:
5 divided by 3
IMHO, this is indeed confusing and inconvenient. If a teacher trying to teach multiplication using the word “multiplied” with blackboard and chalk, she need to
- Write 3 first, and say “three”
Become: 3
- Write ×, and say “multiplied by”
Become: × 3
- Write 5, and say “five”
Become: 5 × 3
Right to left writing, which is not a usual practice in English.
If the teacher insists on left to right writing, she has to say “three” when she write “five”. 😛
Luckily, we have times to rescue. 5×3 should be read as:
5 times 3
Definite's Extractor 
This makes my blood boil.
Yes, in the strict form of “Common Core” maths the forced “left times the groups of the right” means the child did not adhere to the rules and was “incorrect”. But that ridiculous notation makes a mockery of the commutative properties of mathematics and should be outlawed.
That child will now have had their confidence shaken by the bureaucratic nonsense of US schooling. It’s no wonder they give up and end up struggling for the rest of their school career.
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