Hello, families!

My name is Miss VanderWoude and I am your childs intern teacher this year. You should
have all already heard from me a couple of weeks ago if your child gave you the letter I
sent home with him or her! I graduated from MSU, and at MSU, every teacher candidate
picks a subject to focus on, and mine was math. I am so excited to be teaching Unit 4:
Multiplication and Division to your children!
This is our first multiplication and division unit of the year, and your children will be
learning the most common uses of both multiplication and division. The problems that
they will be working on deal with the concepts of equal grouping and equal sharing. The
story problems that they will be given involve strategies that your children already know,
such as:
Using
Children
Books per children
Books in all
6
?
18
objects to

act out

the problems

3x3=9

Creating diagrams to represent the problem

An after-school program has 6 children and 18 books.
How many books can each child have at a time?

18 6 = 3

Representing problems with pictures and arrays

Mollys neighborhood has 4 streets, and each street has 9 houses.
How many houses are there in her neighborhood?

4 x 9 = 36

Using number models to represent solution strategies

Example problem: A soccer team has 40 soccer balls, and the coach asks each child to pick up 5
balls at the end of practice. How many children were at soccer practice that day?
Example student thinking:

5 x ? = 40
If there are 40 balls and
each child has to pick up 5
balls, there must be 8
children at practice.

or

40 5 = 8
If there are 40 balls and
each child has to pick up 5
balls, there must be 8
children at practice.

Here are some important vocabulary words related to multiplication that we will be using
in class!
Factors: the smaller numbers multiplied together
Product: the result of a multiplication problem
5x9=

factor
product

factor

Multiples of
a number: the product of the
number (whose multiples you are looking for) and any other whole number
o Example: Multiples of 4 are 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, etc.
Multiplication/division diagram: a diagram to represent multiplication and
division problems. It always has three parts: the number of groups, the number of
items in each group, and the total number of items. (The book problem on the
first page of this letter is an example.)
Rectangular array: a group of objects organized into rows and columns
o Example: a checkers board has 64 squares: there are 8 rows and 8
columns
Square number: the product of a factor multiplied by itself (the rectangular
array always looks like a square!)
And here are some important vocabulary words for division!
Equal groups: groups of objects that have the same number of objects
o Example: our classroom is set up in equal groups of desks each group
has 4 desks
45 5 = 9
Dividend: the number that is being divided
Divisor: the number that divides the dividend
Quotient: The result of a division problem
dividend divisor
quotient

 Remainder: the amount left over after dividing

If you want to help your child learn their multiplication facts, division facts, or the
concept of division, you could try playing a couple of games that we will be playing at
school. It is often helpful to work on small groups of facts at a time. I recommend starting
with facts for the 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s. Once children have mastered these, they can use
what they know to work on the harder facts.
Beat the Calculator
o One person is the Calculator (and has a calculator). The other person is
the Brain (this player only uses their brain). The two players compete
against each other to see who can be the first to know the answer to a
multiplication problem.
Division Arrays
o Draw two number cards and make a two-digit number. Pull out that many
counters or other small objects. Roll a die, and organize the counter in
that number of rows. What is the quotient? What is the remainder?