What more of an enjoyable way to aid the transition from
addition/subtraction to multiplication than some Math Games! Today the boys and girls were placed with a
partner and given a pair of dice, game pieces, and two versions of the game
"Toss Up". They worked together to practice the multiplication facts
we've learned so far.
The target for the lesson was NOT rote memorization but for
students to learn new vocabulary and how to visualize multiplication.
The easiest way to do this is to think in terms of groups. For thinking about
multiplying in this way they need to understand that 3x5 means 3 groups of 5. Similarly 5x3 means that you have 5 groups of
3.
Although the answers are the same and we discussed this, the initial goal is to be able to draw
pictures that accurately go along with problems on an assessment. After we’ve built up a foundation and
understanding of what multiplication is, we will work toward more challenging
problems and alternate ways to think about multiplication : )
