Mathematics Grade 3
Strand: OPERATIONS AND ALGEBRAIC THINKING (3.OA) Standard 3.OA.9
Students will use a multiplication chart to identify and share patterns.
Additional Resources
The Best of Times by Greg Tang
Sea Squares by Joy Hulme
Spunky Monkeys on Parade by Stuart J. Murphy
Bats on Parade by Kathi Appelt
One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes
Third grade students should become familiar with basic multiplication combinations and should have many experiences in finding and describing patterns.
1. Demonstrate a positive learning attitude towards mathematics.
3. Reason mathematically.
4. Communicate mathematically.
5. Make mathematical connections.
6. Represent mathematical situations.
Invitation to Learn
Have the class sit in a circle on the floor. Give every student five Tootsie
Rolls to lay on the floor in front of them. This week, the class will practice
the multiples of three by skip counting up to 27. (Twentyseven was selected
because it is the ninth multiple of three. When other multiples are practiced,
state the ending number before the students begin
to count.) Everyone will pat their knees, clap their hands, and snap their fingers.
The person to start the skip-count by three’s will begin on the snap of
their fingers with “0.” The person sitting next to them will say
“3” on the next snap of the fingers, and so on. Should a student
state the wrong number instead of the multiple, then they will have to put a
Tootsie Roll into the center of the circle. The cycle begins where it left off
with the next child. The student that reaches “27” gets to take
all the Tootsie Rolls from the middle of the circle. The play begins again.
(Submitted by Jodi Rees taken from a workshop by Kim Christopherson & Kris
Thurgood.)
Instructional Procedures
At the end of the week, each student will glue their multiplication pattern on a chart to create a “Multiplication Quilt” (this idea was shared by Linda Flynn). Once several patterns have been glued on the quilt, the patterns can be compared and discussed. Sample questions have been included.
Curriculum Integration
Math/Science—Use the calculator constant key to practice the multiples
of a given number. Look at the patterns that are created. This can be done with
partners or alone.
Possible Extensions/Adaptations
Houghton Mifflin 2001 Text Grade 3rd : Level 3.1 Celebrating Traditions Theme
2: Rewards
The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polocco
Homework & Family Connections
Send a multiplication chart home with the students. The student must convince
their parents why only one half of the chart has to be memorized. The parent
will need to write back to tell if the argument was convincing.
List five patterns in your math journal that you see on your multiplication chart.