Part of a teacher’s job to get better every year and to get to know your content better every year. This is the third year of the new math standards and I think this year I have done a ton better with teaching decimal multiplication using models. Here are some of the activities I used this week.
I first focused on a decimal times a whole number. We modeled this with base ten blocks and proved our answers with repeated addition. Afterwards we focused on how to color in a grid to represent the repeated decimal. This is what they will most likely see on the end of the year assessment, STAAR. We reinforced this concept the following day with a game! This game allowed students to color in appropriate models but also compare their decimal products to determine the winner of that round. The game is called Best Out of Nine! You can purchase the game here on my TpT store.
The next two days we focused on the models used to represent tenths times tenths. They may also see this model on STAAR. This is seen using a grid, two different colors and the product is seen as the intersecting boxes. We first practiced this concept together and then I allowed the students to do a little independent/partner practice. This activity requires students to demonstrate a multiplication problem using the grid and then finding the product. Then the students checked their work with an Ipad and QR scanner. You can get this activity for FREE here on my TpT store. I had also allowed my district to use this activity in the curriculum document this year. So hopefully lots of students had a chance to practice this skill using my activity.
The last activity I used was from Games 4 Gaines website. This is a free domino puzzle that uses a standard 28 domino set. I made my students draw each model while solving the domino puzzle. I just printed off a ton of little grids so that they could model each domino they solved. The kids LOVED this activity!
Next week we are off to Camp Grady Spruce- Outdoor Education for three days. When we get back to school, we will focus on the standard algorithm of decimal multiplication. You can get a free copy of the BINGO game we will play to practice standard algorithm on my TpT store!
Pearce, Love and Math!
Jenn
Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you were inspired and you were able to find something new to try in your own classroom! If you didn’t find what you were looking for- please email me! I am happy to help!