Hello! My name is Catherine!
I am a junior at ASU studying Psychology and Family and Human Development. When I was in fourth grade, I loved learning about multiplication! One of my favorite ways to practice my multiplication tables was by timing myself to see how fast I could solve all the problems. Today, we will be putting a twist on simple multiplication problems. I am excited to help your students strengthen their multiplication skills!
The goal of this activity is for students to practice their multiplication skills in a fun and creative way! The student will be provided with a variety of multiplication problems with solutions that correspond to certain colors of construction paper they will be using to complete a project! In order to know what colors to use, they must first solve all the multiplication problems!
This will meet the Arizona Common Core standard 4.OA.C.6, by teaching students to solve a variety of problems based on the multiplication principle of counting.
What you will need:
● Provided template
● Piece of cardboard
● Clear tape
● Glue
● Scissors
● String/yarn ● Pencil
- Construction paper
- Pencil/pen
- Scrap paper
- Scissors
- Colored pencils/markers
Resources:
Below you will find the key your student will be using to find which colors correspond with each of their solutions to the multiplication problems! This key will be referenced during each step of the process, so keep it up for your student to see!
Key:
48 = Yellow
24 = White
18 = Pink
12 = Dark Green
25 = Light Green
72 = Orange
45 = Black
36 = Light Blue
Directions:
With each step of this activity, your student will be solving a different multiplication problem. Encourage your student to use a scrap piece of paper to solve the problems. Once they find the answer to a problem, they will refer to the key to find the color that matches their answer. This will be the color they will be using for this step! To avoid giving away the answers to the problems, the example photos will be in black and white until the end, when the correct colors will be fully revealed! Once your student has solved all the problems and followed all the steps, they may look at the example in color and begin to put all their pieces together! I will provide plenty of reference photos, so your student does not get confused.
Steps:
1) First, have your student solve the following multiplication problem to find what color they will be using for this first step!
6 x 6 = ?
Have your student take out a piece of construction paper in the color that corresponds to the answer they found above. Scissors will not be needed for this step, as this piece of construction paper will be the background of their project.
2) Have your student solve the following multiplication problem to find what color to use for this next step!
Solve: Amelia picks 6 flowers at the beginning of her walk in the park. By the time she gets home, she has 3 times the number of flowers she had at the beginning of her walk. How many total flowers does she have now?
Once your student has solved this problem and found what color to use, have them cut out 4 heart shapes from construction paper in this color. Use the images below to see how large the hearts should be in comparison to their background.
3) Have your student solve the following multiplication problem to find what color to use for this next step!
Solve: 9 x 8 = ?
Once your student has solved this problem and the color that corresponds to their answer, they will cut out a small circle (about an inch in diameter) using construction paper that is this color. Again, they may use the following images as size reference.
4) Have your student solve the following multiplication problem to find what color to use for this next step!
Solve: George counts 4 petals on a flower. He finds a second flower with 3 times the number of petals as the first flower. How many petals does the second flower have?
Using construction paper with a color that corresponds to this answer, have your student cut out a thin strip of paper about 5 inches long. There should be a slight curve at the end of the strip, as you will see below.
5) Have your student solve the following multiplication problem to find what color to use for this next step!
Solve: 6 x 8 = ?
Using construction paper with a color that corresponds to the solution of the problem, have your student cut out an oval about 4 inches long.
6) Have your student solve the following multiplication problem to find what color to use for this next step!
Solve: Jaime finds a flower bouquet with 12 flowers in it. Then, she finds a second bouquet with twice as many flowers. How many flowers does the second bouquet have?
Once your student has solved this problem, have them cut two small hearts out of a piece of construction paper with this color. The hearts should be about 2 inches wide, as you can see in the reference photo below.
7) Have your student solve the following multiplication problem to find what color to use for this next step!
Solve: 9 x 5 = ?
Once your student has found the solution to the problem, have them take out construction paper and a colored pencil or marker that is this color. Your student will be cutting out small pieces of paper in this step, so they might need a little extra help. First, have them cut out two small, curved strips of paper with circles at the end, about 1 inch in length. Next, cut out two small circles, about .5 inches in diameter. Reference the photo below to see what they should look like.
Next, have your student grab the oval they cut out in step 5. Ask them to draw two thick stripes in colored pencil or marker on the oval, as well as a smiley mouth above the stripes. The stripes and smile should be in the same color as the pieces they just cut out.
8) This is the final step before the colors are fully revealed! Have your student solve the following multiplication problem to find what color to use for this next step!
Solve: Jenny finds 5 bumble bees outside everyday for 5 days. How many total bumble bees did she find in those 5 days?
Using construction paper with the color that corresponds to the solution to the problem above, have your student cut out two small hearts, about .5 inches wide.
Final Steps
Now it is time for the reveal! Let your student see the following photo to make sure all the colors match!
Putting the Picture Together:
Now it’s time to put all the pieces of the picture together! Allow your student to reference the photo below to see how everything will fit together. Have them use glue or tape to stick the pieces on.
Result: Once all the multiplication problems are solved and all the pieces of the project are put together, your student should have a picture of a flower and a cute bumble bee!
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