Math Must Read Mentor Text- Multiplication and Division- and a HUGE TPT SALE!

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope you had a great week and are enjoying your weekend! I'm here to share a fun book perfect for introducing multiplication and division. It's Math = Fun! Multiplication and Division by Jerry Pallotta.

This book is centered around a sports theme which the students LOVE! It's a great book to read to your class as you are introducing or reviewing multiplication or division. I love how the author makes arrays using sports equipment- so much more exciting than little x's or dots.

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I also like the language the author uses. He is trying to get the kids excited about math by connecting it to sports. He uses sports language but also math language which is so important. Vocabulary words like "equation" and "factor" are part of the dialogue. 

As I read this book to my students, I am going to have them use whiteboards to solve the problems with me and to draw the arrays. In fourth grade, I am teaching multiplication by larger numbers, but all my students need practice with their basic facts. And, many students need a refresher on how to draw an array so this book will be great for easing us back into multiplying!  :)  

As an extension activity, I am going to have my kids design some of their own multiplication sports word problems. I want to challenge them with some higher level thinking. For example, they may write a baseball problem with 6 batters hitting 8 balls each for a total of 48 balls. Then, they will solve their problem and show an array, repeated addition, and a multiplication equation. For my struggling students, I will design the word problems in small groups using basic facts. But, I will encourage my other students to start using larger numbers and will see how they can represent those equations.

I hope this book can be helpful to you, and I can't wait to see your Math mentor texts!  :)

Have a great rest of your weekend, 

Stacia  :)

P.S.- We are having a 20% off SALE in our Teachers Pay Teachers Store for Columbus Day! We've posted some new Halloween products too so make sure to check them out! And Teachers Pay Teachers is having a Facebook Flash Sale for an EXTRA 10% off if you enter the code "FB100K" at checkout! Wow! I'm off to do some shopping...the sale ends Monday!  

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Next week's linky- Science