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Entire Librarylesson-planThird GradeMathParking Lot Multiplication

Lesson Plan

Parking Lot Multiplication

Help your students make sense of the commutative property of multiplication by relating it to arrangements of cars in parking lots.
Need extra help for EL students? Try the Foundations of the Commutative Property pre-lesson.
Grade
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Subject
Math
English Learner
English Learner Content
View aligned standards
3.OA.B.5
4.NBT.B.5
4.OA.A.1
Need extra help for EL students? Try the Foundations of the Commutative Property pre-lesson.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to show their understanding of the commutative property of multiplication, both visually and in writing. Students will be able to make arrays to represent the commutative property of multiplication.

The adjustment to the whole group lesson is a modification to differentiate for children who are English learners.
EL adjustments

Introduction

(5 minutes)
  • Begin the lesson by asking your students to describe a parking lot, or to share what they notice/know about parking lots.
  • Ask the class how cars are arranged in a parking lot. If not mentioned, talk about how parking lots have rows and columns, with space for cars to drive around and between.
  • Tell students that today they will use cars in a parking lot to visualize and solve multiplication problems.

Beginning

  • Provide an image of a parking lot, as well as the term in the student's home language (L1).

Intermediate

  • Provide sentence starters to support student sharing. (e.g., The cars are arranged ________.)