ABSTRACT
We were starting multiplication. Because of the range of learners I have this year, I decided to begin by extending the introduction to the unit to give more of an overview of how we will be thinking about the multiplication sign as “groups of” and “counts of” and “rows of” in order to help them visualize and attach meaning to the multiplication situations they will be encountering. They were so excited to wrap their heads around it, and the discussion was quite lively, leading to Fiona asking, “Is multiplication related to division in the same way that addition is related to subtraction?” Wow! Her question opened up a whole new opportunity to linger with the idea of the four operations and to speculate about how they might be related. Then, first thing this morning, Todd, a student who really loves math but often keeps his ideas in his head, walked in the door and marched right up to me. “Ms. Kaye, you know that thing you can do with addition when you keep one number whole and add the other one on in parts? Well, I was wondering. Can you do that same thing with multiplication?” I asked him to write his thoughts down. He also agreed to bring his question to the group.
