Multiplication and Division - Multiply 3 numbers - Presentation

The lesson on multiplying three numbers is designed to strengthen students' understanding of multiplication and the commutative property. Commutativity in multiplication means that the order in which numbers are multiplied does not affect the product. During the lesson, students are encouraged to discuss and explore this concept through various activities. For instance, they are tasked with completing phrases such as "I have __ lot of __, 3 times" and translating these into multiplication sentences like "___ x ___ x ___". By arranging cubes or toys to represent different multiplication calculations, students visually grasp how the commutative property works and learn to identify similarities and differences when the order of factors is changed.

Further activities involve completing tables where students fill in missing multiplication sentences, such as "8 x 3" or "12 x __", and calculating the products. The exercises are designed to help students understand how to group numbers for efficient calculation and to recognize that despite rearranging the factors, the end result remains unchanged. For example, whether it's "2 x 3 x 6" or "6 x 2 x 3", the product is 36. Additionally, reasoning tasks challenge students to find the product of three given digits and compare it to a target number, such as 84, while considering if the product is smaller or larger. Independent work reinforces the lesson's objectives, prompting students to use concrete materials to build calculations, decide the order of multiplication, and discuss the efficiency of different orders.