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This lesson was taught on September 15th, 2019. The lesson was focused on the objective : 5. NBT 5 Multiply by multi digit number. (Ex. 458 x77). As I thought about how to integrate this lesson, I was really stumped. I began to think about the process of multiplying multi-digit numbers in depth. I soon saw how movement could help students to understand the "why" behind the process. As I looked at the process of multiplying the ones, then a one by a ten, then a one by a hundred, etc. I saw that dance could help in this process. The students would become the number. If the "top" number being multiplied was a one, then the students would shake hands with straight arms. When the one was multiplied by a ten on the "top", the students would dosey doe around one another. Lastly when the students multiplied with the hundreds place they would skip linking arms.
This process allowed me to clarify what are we really multiplying by? If the "top" number is skipping, then what place value does it hold and what is the true number? Through this process, I saw the students to see math in a new way. Suddenly it made sense that the 5 in the example above wasn't really a 5, but a 50. Thus when we carry "ones" they're not truly "ones" but the next ten. This lesson took a lot of patience to explain, and some direct explanations. The students however quickly grasped the idea and were able to become the numbers. As they did they were explaining larger and larger numbers.
There was something magical to me as the students moved in math. They identified themselves with the numbers and then were able to comprehend the numbers' relationships in a whole new way. I loved watching the students work and collaborate together, something that dance teaches so well, and which is so useful when problem solving and reasoning in math. The students' excitement was invigorating as they performed for me, other groups, and one another!
FULL LESSON PLAN HERE: