Catherine Harris

November 4, 2013
Math Lesson: Multiplication and Division Fact Families
Benchmarks
CCSS.3.OA.A.4: Determine the unknown whole number in a multiplication or division equation
relating three whole numbers.
CCSS.3.01.B.6: Understand division as an unknown-factor problem.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
Write multiplication and division fact families.
Determine the unknown number in a multiplication or division equation using fact
families.
Materials
Pencil for each student
Die for each student
Fact family worksheet for each student
White board/ELMO
Anticipatory Set
The students will do their warm up activity using their multiplication facts. The teacher will
begin a class discussion by asking how a multiplication fact can be used to find a division fact.
The teacher will also ask the class what it means to be related, and how they can apply that
definition to mathematics.
Direct Instruction
The teacher will lead the class in a discussion about the relationship between three numbers in
fact families. The teacher will demonstrate how to write a fact family in a triangle formation and
how to write the four facts of a fact family.
Guided Practice
The teacher will work with a small group at the carpet and lead them in a demonstration on how
to create fact families using dice.
Independent Practice
Half of the class will independently work on DreamBox. The other half of the class will
complete the fact family activity using dice on their own.
Procedures
1. The students will come in from recess and go to their seats. They will use their
whiteboards to complete the math facts on the board as a warm up. The teacher will
check each childs whiteboard as they finish. Then the class will go over the facts
together.
2. The teacher will do a call-and-response to get the attention of the class. The teacher will
say, Friends, I have a problem for you. The other day, I realized that I needed to solve a
division problem in real life! I had some leftover candy from Halloween to divide up
between my five nephews. I counted the pieces and found that I had twenty pieces of
candy leftover. Now, the problem was, I couldnt remember my division facts, but I know
my multiplication facts really well! Without telling me the answer to my problem, can
someone tell me how I could use my multiplication facts to help me solve my division
problem? The teacher will then take student volunteers to explain how multiplication
facts are related to division facts. The teacher will then say, Oh, okay! I get it. So my
multiplication facts are related to my division facts. But what does it mean to be related?
Where else have you heard that word before? Again, the teacher will take volunteers to
contribute to the discussion. Finally, the teacher will say, Okay, so I know that I can be
related to members of my family, and I know that numbers can be related. Can we say
that some numbers belong to a family? What do we call that family?
3. The teacher will do a call-and-response activity. The students repeat what the teacher
says. SWBAT Students will be able to create multiplication and division fact
families.
4. The teacher will tell the students that today they will examine how numbers are related.
The teacher will hand out the first worksheet with the fact family houses. The teacher will
explain that in a fact family, we know that we can write the multiplication fact in two
different ways. Then we can use that fact to write a division sentence, which we can also
write in two different ways.
5. The teacher will then model how to write the fact families in the houses. The teacher will
pull sticks for students to write the missing facts in the fact families.
6. The teacher will then have the students break into groups. Team B will go on
DreamBox and complete the worksheet in small groups on a different day. Team A
will meet at the carpet with a white board and pencil. The teacher will sit with Team A at
the carpet. The teacher will demonstrate to the whole group how to roll the dice to get
two numbers to use in a fact family. The teacher will then give the students a sample
problem to try on their own. The students that can do it independently will go back to
their desks with a die to complete the activity independently.
7. The students that need extra help will stay with the teacher at the carpet. The teacher will
explain again how to write fact families and how the numbers are related. The teacher
will model a few more examples for the students, then the students will complete the
activity independently at the carpet where the teacher can monitor and help.
8. The teacher will do a call-and-response activity to bring the students back to their seats.
The teacher will then ask the students her problem again, So now I know that I can solve
my division problem using my multiplication facts. So, thinking of my 5 facts, how can I
divide my twenty pieces of candy between my five nephews? What would be the
multiplication fact that would help me solve my division problem? A student volunteer
will give the answer to the class. The teacher will reiterate to the class that the numbers
are all related to each other in a fact family, so they can use their multiplication facts to
help them answer division problems.
Closure
The teacher will go back to the original division problem about the Halloween candy. The
students will explain how to solve the division problem using the multiplication facts that they
know. The teacher will reiterate that the numbers are related in a fact family.
Assessment
Informal: The teacher will informally assess students during the anticipatory class discussion by
assessing each students involvement in the discussion. The teacher will also informally assess
students by picking sticks to contribute facts to the fact family. Additionally, the teacher will
informally assess students in the small workgroup by determining if they can complete the task
independently.
Formal: The teacher will collect both worksheet activities to see that each student completed
their facts correctly and wrote four different facts in each family.