Anywho, after modeling a few different arrays, it was time to get our hands (or desks) dirty and try them for ourselves. As a class we worked through several problems right on our desk using dry erase markers… Here’s a few snap shots of how the kiddos used an array to find the product for the expression, 3 x 4…
I loved how they showed their thinking!
(You can check those out here!)
Those multi-sided dice made differentiated our partner practice a breeze! My kiddos that were still working on using arrays were given dice with only 7 or 8 sides. The kiddos that were already starting to see arrays with in arrays and had a strong handle on multiplication were given up to 12 sided die.
Here’s a shot of an array one of my mathmaticians made using the 12 sided dice.
Look at that math on the side there!
Here’s a pair of students TRYING to use an array to solve 9 x 9…
Look at that addition over there! Don’t worry! Eventually, they found that they could split their array into 5 x 9 and 4 x 9 to get 81! I can’t wait to continue our array practice tomorrow with stickers! I’d love to hear your favorite way to teach multiplication! Comment below!
You can grab MORE array activities in my “Rays of Arrays” unit. This unit also includes two weeks worth of lesson plans AND a teaching presentation!
Looking for how I introduced arrays in second grade? Check out this post!
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