The Distributive Property! *Freebie!*

Call me crazy, but I LOVE the distributive property when teaching multiplication facts! Some of my students have a really hard time remembering their facts and we work hard on strategies to understand them and make the "tougher" ones a bit easier.

My students have a difficult time grasping the concept of the distributive property in a large-group setting, so I break it down for them as easily as I can in the small group. We begin by using tiles to show equal groups,  which for this array was 6 x 7.
We then "break apart" the large array into two "mini-arrays" using a ruler.

      

We then write two equations, one for each "mini-array."  (6 x 4) and (6 x 3)

We then do our multiplication, and add them back up. 

We discuss why we would want to break our arrays apart towards the middle, so we can work with small numbers. We often break it apart in different ways vertically and horizontally to see if (and explain why) we get the same answer.

I broke this procedure down into simpler terms and my students SWEAR the lightbulb goes off every time!! "Oh.....THAT'S it?!" We review this sheet while following each step to complete our distributive property wipe-off cards (created with my one true love, my desktop laminator! *see previous post!*) Click on the links below to download these freebies!

       

Distributive Property Worksheets

Distributive Property Wipe-Off Cards

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Miss I.

Back to School Freebie!!

     It's that time of year again! Back to school! I still love to go back to school shopping. There's nothing better than new notebooks, binders, highlighters, markers, crayons, etc.- sometimes I even pick up a few things for my students ;). 

   Although next week begins the 'official' start of the school year in my district, every teacher I know has been working hard to get their classroom ready for the big day. The end of the summer is quite bittersweet. I know I don't speak for myself when I say that I spent my entire summer working several other jobs, but I am excited to get back into the classroom and back to a normal routine. 

   I spent my summer doing the million other projects that I don't always have time for during the school year. Aside from decorating and furnishing my new condo, I've taken on a new hobby: calligraphy! I will share more of my home and paper projects soon. Today's focus is all about school!

   Each year I try to choose a fun and exciting classroom theme. Last year, my classroom was decked out in cupcakes and baked goods! The students loved it, but I have to admit that I tired of it quickly since I often spend my weekends surrounded by baked goods (we will also discuss that at a later time...). Last year, I created these fun baked-good themed number posters. They include tens frames, which we know play an integral part in our Common Core Curriculum. Although they won't be hanging in my classroom this year, I hope you will enjoy them in yours!

    In the next few days I will be posting photos of my nice clean classroom and new math bulletin boards. Enjoy the holiday weekend!