Multiplication Interactive Notebooks: Humpday Highlight

I love teaching multiplication and I love interactive notebooks. The teacher part of me leaps for joy every year when this unit comes up. It definitely helps that the students are even more excited for learning multiplication than I am for teaching it (if that's possible). I decided Mrs. Stanford's Humpday Highlight Linky would be the perfect time to show off our work so far.

Before I get started, I have to add a disclaimer that we are not done with our unit yet. My goal for interactive notebooks during this unit is to create a resource that students can refer to for help and examples, not necessarily creating cutsey-lots-of-cutting-involved-activities. I tell my students all year to look in their math notebook first when they have a question, but this is the first unit that they finally catch on. It's awesome to watch them become problem solvers.

Our county has us teach this unit in the same order every year: single-digit multiplication, division, and then double by single digit multiplication. Since, I have low ESL students, I always start with vocabulary. I have students glue the vocabulary sheet into their notebooks and then we color code each feature and word as I explain and describe the vocabulary to them. These pages are one of the most referred to throughout the unit by my students. After introducing and practicing the vocabulary, the students will complete the guided sort below.

Every day or couple of days, I introduce a new strategy and have the students glue in a pre-typed notes strip.  I have the students extend the lines in between the practice problems along the bottom of the strip and we solve these problems together as practice. I have found that students benefit from having pre-typed notes already in their notebook to refer to, along with guided practice. For multiplication and division, I teach: number line, repeated addition (or subtraction), array, area model, sets (equal groups). For double by single digit multiplication, I teach: Sets, Number Line, and Repeated Addition.

We also do property sorts. Our county focuses on Commutative and Identity Property of Multiplication for third graders.

We solve journal prompts a lot during this unit too. Students have to be familiar with every strategy because on our state tests, they will have to figure out the equation from a representation of the problem (number line, equal sets, repeated addition, etc.).

If you are interested in any of the activities in the pictures, you can check it out here. It also comes with some activities not pictured. I will be sure to come back and post more once we finish the unit.

Ice Cream Multiplication is also a big part of my students learning their facts. I use this freebie, from Rachel Parlett, to quiz my students each Wednesday on their facts. If the pass, they advance to the next level and if they don't they repeat. It all leads up to a big ice cream party in June!