Learning Objective(s):

What do you want

students to know,
understand, or be able to
do as a result of this
lesson?

Students should be able to:

Solve for a multiplication problem they dont know by breaking it
up into multiplication facts that they do know how to solve.
Understand that there are multiple ways to break arrays up and still
get the same answer.

Evidence for
Assessment:
Where will you look
(product, performance,

Students will be solving multiplication problems independently at

the rug on their own personalized white boards (a blank sheet of
paper will be put into a laminated folder pocket so students can use
whiteboard markers).

documentation you
create, etc.) for signs of
student learning?
What will you look for?
What are your criteria?
(examples of statements
or actions that would
show the particular
kinds of understandings,

On their papers, students should draw the arrays of the

multiplication problem they are ultimately meant to solve. They
should then divide or cut the array based on multiplication
problems they can solve. After solving the mini-multiplication
problems the students create for themselves, they will add the
products together in order to solve the original multiplication
problem.

learnings, &/or skills

you are after?)

Example: 8 x 3 = ?
XXX
XXX
XXX
XXX
XXX
-------------------XXX
XXX
XXX
15 + 9 = 24
8 x 3 = 24

3 x 5 =15

3x3=9

Rationale:
Why are you teaching
this lesson? What
connections does it have
to standards? Does it
connect to students
interests, strengths, and
needs? How does it fit
within the curriculum?

This lesson is being taught because the students were introduced to

this topic the previous day, but it did not feel as though the students
fully grasped the concept. In the previous lesson, students were not
given the opportunity to decide where to cut the array the
teachers simply told the students where they should cut it and then
go on to solve the problem. It did not feel as though the students
understood that they could cut the array anywhere they wanted
to, which is an important concept to understand.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.0A.B.5 Apply properties of
operations as strategies to multiply and divide.
Examples:Knowing that 8 x 5 = 40 and 8 x 2 = 16, one can find
8 x 7 as 8 x (5 + 2) = (8 x 5) + (8 x 2) = 40 + 16 = 56.

Prerequisite
Knowledge:
What prior knowledge
are you counting on?
Will this be a problem
for any of your students

Students have already been introduced to the idea of using the

distributive property to solve unknown multiplication equations.
Furthermore, they have been skip counting and drawing arrays as
ways to solve multiplication problems.

and if so, what will you

do?

Learning Experience
In each section below, specify the sequence of instructional
activities. Consider how you will manage materials, bodies,
and time. Use small boxes to indicate time.

Assessment
What will you look/listen
to/for? How are you figuring
out what students are learning?

Starting It

Yesterday, we learned that we

We will be asking students

How will you invite

students into the
learning experience?

could solve multiplication problems

that we dont know by breaking it
up into smaller multiplication
problems that we do know how to
solve. Did it feel a little weird to

throughout our demonstration

where our groups of ___ are.
For example, if we are solving
for 7 x 4, and break it up in our
arrays as (5 x 4) and (2 x 4),

you? If it did, thats OK. Were

we will ask the class, Where
going to go over it again today. But are our 7 groups of 4? Where

did you guys notice how yesterday,

Cassie and I always told you where
in the array to cut it? We
realized yesterday after math that
that wasnt fair to you guys because
some of you might not know what
4 x 7 is, even though thats where
we wanted you to cut the array. So
Cassie and I are going to show you
how even though the places where

did they go? As student

responses, we are looking for
them to say that the 7 groups
of 4 were broken up into 5
groups of 4 and 2 groups of 4.

we cut our arrays may be different

from one another, we will still
ultimately get the same answer. So
for now, just watch Cassie and me.
5 mins
Doing It
Outline your sequence
of instructional moves
including participation

-Cassie and I will demonstrate to

the class on the whiteboard how to
solve a problem like 8 x 7 (we will
each solve it differently) through

Cassie and I will be walking

around to look at students
work as they are solving the
problem. We will be looking

structures, materials,
intellectual resources,
and time allotted. Is
there a product or
performance you will
be expecting students
to create?

modeling and thinking aloud.

-Once Cassie and I finish
demonstrating two separate
problems, we will give students a
problem to solve (7 x 6)
independently. Once students have
completed their work, they will
then come together to share some
of the different ways they decided

for students to have drawn a

complete array based on the
problem they are ultimately
trying to solve, followed by a
cut in the array to break it up
into multiplication problems
the students do know how to
solve. The next step will be for
students to solve the mini-

to break their arrays up and solve

the problem.

arrays they create based on

their cut in the larger array, and
then adding up the two
products to identify the answer.

30 mins

Finishing It
How will you bring
students to closure with
this learning experience
and connect it to future
learning?

So do you guys feel a little bit

more comfortable with this today?
So if you dont know how to solve
a multiplication problem, you can
break it up into multiplication
problems that you do know how to
solve. Hopefully, you all now can
see that you can cut your arrays
whichever way you want to based
on what you know, and no matter

We will be asking the class to

show us with their thumbs how
they feel about the content
after todays lesson.

which way you cut your arrays,

your answers will always be the
same
5 mins
Because students may get distracted with markers and the pocket
Accessibility
What accessibility and folders with the papers inside, students will not be handed those
participation challenges things until it is time for them to begin working independently.
have you taken into
account and how have
you addressed them?
(material and human
resources, sequence of
instruction)
Materials Needed

Whiteboard markers; laminated pocket folders, blank sheets of paper.