Minilessons for Extending Multiplication and Division is one of two yearlong resource guides in Contexts for Learning Mathematics’ Investigating Multiplication and Division (3–5)
Minilessons for Extending Multiplication and Division can be helpful in grades 4–5 as students work with multiplication and division beyond the basic facts. This guide contains 77 minilessons structured as strings of related computation problems. They are likely to generate discussion of certain strategies or big ideas that are landmarks on the landscape of learning for multiplication and division, particularly using numbers with two and three digits.
Although the emphasis is on the development of mental arithmetic strategies, this does not mean learners have to solve the problems in their heads—but it is important for them to do the problems with their heads! In other words, as you use this guide, encourage students to examine the numbers in each problem and think about clever, efficient ways to solve it. The relationships between the problems in the minilesson will support students as they progress through the string. The open array is used throughout to represent student strategies.
