We began multiplication in my room with a deep exploration that it represents equal groups of something. I have found that learnzillion.com is becoming one of my best friends to teaching Common Core mathematics this year. They have short FREE videos that are just fabulous. The videos are generally short—usually around 4-5 minutes—but really help students to be able to see and understand concepts. I sometimes like to print out a PowerPoint slide page (also free!) of the videos and have my students cut and paste them into their math notebooks for future reference. Did I mention this site is free yet? J You should check it out. If you are like me, it may just save you a TON of time lesson planning, and yet you don’t even feel bad about it because the lessons are so quality. www.learnzillion.com (Ok. I promise I am not a paid endorser for Learnzillion. Hahaha. I just wanted to share!!)
As I stated earlier, the first main point I wanted to teach was that multiplication represents equal groups. We played many games to demonstrate this. One of these games involved students rolling dice (always a favorite in my room) and getting that many groups. Then, they rolled again and put that number in each group. They created a multiplication equation from these numbers and counted their objects all together to find their product. (I made a few different versions of this game, based on different themes. In my room, we began this slightly before Christmas, so we played the Holiday Lights Groups Game. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Introduction-to-Multiplication-Equal-Groups-Game-3OA1-Holiday-Themed-1007555
I have also created a version in case you are reviewing or beginning this concept in autumn. Leafy Groups Game http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fall-Multiplication-Game-Leafy-Groups-3OA1-1024943
Valentine’s Day http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Valentines-Day-Multiplication-Game-1026526)
My students really seemed to enjoy this. I feel like it really helped them to conceptualize that multiplication has a number of groups with the same number in each group. This laid the groundwork for making arrays and doing “fair share” division problems. I also really liked this game because they were able to play it completely independently during math workshop rotations, but I still had a recording sheet to check to make sure they were on task and understanding the concept.
I have also created a version in case you are reviewing or beginning this concept in autumn. Leafy Groups Game http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fall-Multiplication-Game-Leafy-Groups-3OA1-1024943
Valentine’s Day http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Valentines-Day-Multiplication-Game-1026526)
My students really seemed to enjoy this. I feel like it really helped them to conceptualize that multiplication has a number of groups with the same number in each group. This laid the groundwork for making arrays and doing “fair share” division problems. I also really liked this game because they were able to play it completely independently during math workshop rotations, but I still had a recording sheet to check to make sure they were on task and understanding the concept.
After we understood the fundamental concept of multiplication, we moved on to arrays. My students seemed to understand arrays fairly quickly. We spent a lot of time talked about equal groups, which translated well into “Let’s pretend each row is a group, and I have an equal number in each group (column).” One of my favorite things to do while teaching arrays was to have students create their own arrays with manipulatives. I had a bunch of spare magnets lent to me, and students used dry erase boards to create their arrays. If you are looking to spice up arrays even more, you could have students use M&Ms or goldfish to create their array. I did a lot of modeling about how arrays translate into a multiplication sentence. “Ok, I have an array with 5 rows, and there are 4 in each row. That means that I have 4 equal groups. I know that when I have an equal group problem, it is probably going to be multiplication or division. So I have 5 groups with 4 in each. 5X4=20” My students practiced this and practiced this until it made complete sense to each of them. (This was also a good time for us to discover repeated addition. It worked so well into the arrays. We would add the number in the first row plus the number in the second row and so on to demonstrate repeated addition.
Now that my students have a solid understanding of what multiplication is, we are ready to move on to memorization of multiplication skills, which I feel is still so important to learn. I hope to update you on how we do it and how it goes very soon. Thanks for reading!! If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section at the bottom. Have fun teaching!!!
Now that my students have a solid understanding of what multiplication is, we are ready to move on to memorization of multiplication skills, which I feel is still so important to learn. I hope to update you on how we do it and how it goes very soon. Thanks for reading!! If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section at the bottom. Have fun teaching!!!