Today was another "flex" day so most teachers were not present. A few more did show up and I met several of them. I worked on various small tasks and printed off some materials on common core.
I also discovered this poster hanging near a 4th grade classroom:
I thought it looked like a great opportunity for developing some notions of multiplication! Cathy Fosnot and her crew have lessons with similar pictures. For example, the meaning of multiplication is highlighted with the 3 ice cream sundaes (3x1) compared to the plate of 3 mini-cakes (1x3). Many of the plates show arrays of items which has strong potential as a model for multiplication. They can support an understanding of the commutative property of multiplication. For example, with the red cakes on the bottom, students can verify that 4x2=2x4 (four groups of two is the same as two groups of four). The three-tiered plate of candies can develop the associative property of multiplication: 3x(3x2)=(3x3)x2.
Sadly, the teacher had no intention of using the poster for math.
Too bad about the poster. I just think of all the missed opportunities sitting right there. I love using pictures such as this to promote/think about multiplication.
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