Math Challenge homework- Solution #1!

This year, every grade level is giving a challenge homework math problem to students that they are given a week to solve at home with support.  This is the build on students' problem solving and critical thinking skills and to provide an extra boost of rigor to our regular, nightly homework.  These problems will often have multiple steps and more than one possible solution. Time is taken each Monday to read it through together and give students a basic understanding of the problem presented.  On Fridays, students get the opportunity to share their strategies and solutions with the class. Please assist your child in completing this each week.
I am going to try and post some solutions and work samples each week to let you see the things we are doing in class!

Last week, the problem was entitled, "Twenty Divided Into Six".The problem read, "Katie had a pack of twenty cards numbered from 1 to 20 She arranged the cards into unequal piles. The numbers on the cards in each pile added to the same total. What was the total and how could this be done?"

On Monday, we shared key vocabulary terms and their definitions so that students would be ready to go home and work on a solution.
On Friday, we laid out cards with the digits on them and began to manipulate them and problem solve together.  After trying some unsuccessful "Magic Numbers", student shared and showed some of the solutions they found at home using the cards in front of the whole class.
Here are two samples of how some of our students and their families solved the problem: