Lesson 9
Patterns in the Multiplication Table
Lesson Purpose
The purpose of this lesson is for students to identify and explain patterns in the multiplication table.
Lesson Narrative
Students may have worked with the multiplication table in an optional lesson in a previous unit. In this lesson, they observe patterns and structures in the multiplication table that highlight properties of multiplication and are helpful for multiplying numbers. Although there is an opportunity to highlight multiple properties, the focus of this lesson is the commutative property (though students are not expected to name the property). Students notice that multiplying two numbers in any order gives the same product and make use of this observation to find unknown products (MP8).
- Action and Expression
- MLR2
Learning Goals
Teacher Facing
- Identify arithmetic patterns in the multiplication table and use them to find unknown multiplication facts.
- Recognize that multiplication is commutative.
Student Facing
- Let’s find patterns in the multiplication table and use them to multiply.
Required Preparation
Lesson Timeline
| Warm-up | 10 min |
| Activity 1 | 20 min |
| Activity 2 | 15 min |
| Lesson Synthesis | 10 min |
| Cool-down | 5 min |
Teacher Reflection Questions
What surprised you about student thinking in the first activity?
Suggested Centers
- Rectangle Rumble (3–5), Stage 3: Factors 1–10 (Addressing)
- Capture Squares (1–3), Stage 7: Multiply with 6–9 (Addressing)