Dice or spinners
Manipulatives (small pom poms, small grocery food pieces)
Pipe cleaners
Graphic organizer mats
Expo markers
Bag for organizing materials
Preparation:
Set up graphic organizer mats with a bag picture and a section to write equations.
Gather dice or spinners, manipulatives, pipe cleaners, and expo markers.
Organize materials in bags for each student or group.
Setting Up the Activity:
Explain the concept of creating multiplication equations by rolling dice or spinning spinners.
Demonstrate how to use the graphic organizer mat to model and visualize multiplication equations.
Creating Equations:
Students roll the dice or spin the spinner to determine their multiplication equation.
If using three dice, students can explore the associative property (e.g., (2 x 3) x 4).
Students model their multiplication equation using manipulatives, such as small pom poms and pipe cleaners to create arrays.
Visualizing the Equation:
Students place the pom poms on the graphic organizer mat, using the pipe cleaner to separate rows and columns.
For example, if the equation is 3 x 4, they create 3 rows of 4 pom poms each.
Recording the Equation:
Students use an expo marker to write the multiplication equation on the mat.
Encourage students to discuss their equation and the visual model with their peers.
Exploring Properties:
Introduce the associative property by having students roll three dice and model equations like (2 x 3) x 4.
Introduce the distributive property by having students use pom poms and pipe cleaners to separate an array into smaller groups (e.g., 6 x 4 can be shown as (3 x 4) + (3 x 4)).
Discussion and Reinforcement:
Discuss with students how the visual model helps them understand multiplication.
Encourage students to share and explain their equations and models with the class.
Repetition and Practice:
Repeat the activity with different dice rolls or spinner spins to practice various multiplication equations.
Allow students to explore different properties of multiplication and discuss their findings.