Lesson 10

Drawings, Situations, and Diagrams, Oh My!

Lesson Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is for students to connect situations involving equal groups to tape diagrams.

Lesson Narrative

This lesson introduces tape diagrams as a way to represent equal groups and multiplication, building on students' work with scaled picture graphs and discrete drawings of equal groups. Students deepen their understanding of multiplication as they connect tape diagrams to situations that involve equal groups. They are then introduced to multiplication expressions as a way to represent the quantities and situations encountered in the lesson. This happens at the end to allow students to work with other representations of multiplication before they learn about abstract symbols that represent multiplication.

  • Engagement
  • MLR8

Activity 2: Card Sort: Equal Groups

Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

  • Interpret a situation involving equal groups and represent it with a diagram.
  • Make sense of tape diagrams that represent multiplication.

Student Facing

  • Let’s represent equal groups.

Required Materials

Materials to Copy

  • Card Sort Equal Groups

Required Preparation

Activity 2:

Create a set of cards from the blackline master for each group of 2. 

CCSS Standards

Addressing

Building Towards

Lesson Timeline

Warm-up 10 min
Activity 1 15 min
Activity 2 20 min
Lesson Synthesis 10 min
Cool-down 5 min

Teacher Reflection Questions

How did connecting different representations of multiplication during the card sort support students in developing their understanding of multiplication?

Suggested Centers

  • Capture Squares (1–3), Stage 4: Subtract within 20 (Supporting)
  • Five in a Row: Addition and Subtraction (1–2), Stage 7: Add within 1,000 without Composing (Supporting)

Print Formatted Materials

Teachers with a valid work email address can click here to register or sign in for free access to Cool Down, Teacher Guide, and PowerPoint materials.

Student Task Statements pdf docx
Lesson Cover Page pdf docx
Cool Down Log In
Teacher Guide Log In
Teacher Presentation Materials pdf docx
Blackline Masters zip

Additional Resources

Google Slides Log In
PowerPoint Slides Log In