3rd Grade Multiplication Arrays
Third graders in Ms. Parkinson’s class at Davis Elementary are starting to learn about multiplication, and one of the ways they learn how to multiply is by making arrays. So today I taught them how to make animated multiplication arrays using ABCYa! Animate. First the students decided what numbers they wanted to multiply together. We discussed how one of those factors is the number of objects in a group and the other factor is the number of equal groups. They used pictures from the clipart library to create one row of objects representing a group. Then they typed out a simple sentence to describe their array such as “I have 3 rows of 4 trees. How many in all?” We duplicated that picture a couple of times (so our animation wouldn’t go too fast) and then added another row. We continued duplicating pictures and adding rows until we had a complete array. One problem we encountered was that some of the pictures would automatically group together. The only way we found to ungroup them was to delete them and start over. On our last picture we typed out the multiplication sentence and the answer, like “3 x 4 = 12.” Animating the array helps students understand the concept because as each group appears they can skip count until they get the total amount. Furthermore, they can review their multiplication facts by viewing each others’ animations (which they are always eager to show off to each other… and since they are online, they can show off and review at home too). If an animation ends up being too fast, I found a site called GifBob that will slow down a .gif file. You can see all the students’ multiplication arrays here.