-

the usefulness of multiplication in a real-world scenario

-

how different methods of multiplication may be used to calculate the same results

-

asking questions

-

building content vocabulary

-

counting groups in order to multiply

-

using skip-counting to multiply

-

understanding and using symbols for multiplication

-

using multiplication to solve story problems (based on song lyrics)

-

Visuals in the text support different multiplication methods, such as skip-counting (pages 6, 9, and 15) and counting in groups (pages 11, 12-13, 20-21, and 25). Use the images on pages 12 and 13 to demonstrate how different combinations of factors (and groupings by row) can add up to the same product.

-

Numbers are boldfaced throughout the text for ease of reference.

-

Page 10 is especially useful for introducing important vocabulary in the context of a story problem. Use this page to make explicit links between symbols such as the line at the bottom of an equation and an equal sign. Connect both of these symbols to the word equals. An explicit connection between the symbol x and the word times is also made on this page. And the concepts of factors and product are explained and related to a specific multiplication fact.

-

The term farrier (introduced on page 8) will likely be unfamiliar to most students. Use the context clues and photograph to make sure students understand the term, encouraging them to reread to clarify, if necessary.

-

ELLs and struggling readers my need help understanding certain content vocabulary and idiomatic phrases, such as nanny goats (page 14), of course and old-fashioned (page 16), and cornstalks (page 18). Use pictures, direct definitions, and gestures as necessary to help students understand these words. Encourage them to try using the words in sentences. Prompt them with sentence frames as needed.

-

Language Arts, Grades 2-5: 1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 12

-

Mathematics, Grade 2: 1 (Number and Operations), 12 (Connections to the Grade 2 Focal Points); Grade 3: 1 (Number and Operations), 2 (Algebra), 11 (Grade 3 Curriculum Focal Points); Grade 4: 1 (Number and Operations), 2 (Algebra), 11 (Grade 4 Curriculum Focal Points); Grade 5: 1 (Number and Operations), 2 (Algebra), 12 (Connections to the Grade 5 Focal Points)

The book also addresses the following mathematics benchmarks, for Grades 2-5:

-

Grade 2: N.2, N.1.2.3, N.12.1, N.12.3

-

Grade 3: N.1.2, N.1.2.1, N.1.2.2, N.1.2.3, N.1.3, N.1.3.1, N.1.3.2, N.1.3.6, N.2.2, N.2.2.3, N.11.1, N.11.1.1

-

Grade 4: N.1.2, N.1.2.1, N.1.2.2, N.1.2.3, N.1.3, N.1.3.1, N.1.3.2, N.1.3.6, N.2.2, N.2.2.3, N.11.1, N.11.1.1

-

Grade 5: N.1.2, N.1.2.1, N.1.2.2, N.1.2.3, N.1.3, N.1.3.1, N.1.3.2, N.1.3.6, N.2.2, N.2.2.3, N.12.4

* To find full descriptions of standards and benchmarks, visit the Marshall Cavendish Correlations site .

-

Read the front and back covers aloud with students. Encourage them to ask questions about the book. Explain that asking questions before you read and as you read gives your reading purpose: you read to find the answers to your questions. If students need help generating questions, model a few, such as "Why would I use multiplication on a farm? I don’t see animals on the cover, but will the book talk about them?" Write students’ questions down on the board or on chart paper to return to after reading.

-

Preview content vocabulary by directing students to the glossary. Help students understand both important math terms, such as factor and product , and farm-related terms, including crops and farrier . Ask students if they have any questions or predications about how the words will be used in the book.

-

Review the list of questions that students asked before reading. Ask if each of them was answered, and if so, what the answers were. If questions were not answered, ask students where they might look outside the book for answers. Finally, check if students have come up with any new questions about farms or multiplication now that they have finished the book. Add these to the list, along with ideas about where to research answers further.

-

Tell students to work with a partner to find and retell each of the different places in the book that multiplication is used. Provide sticky notes if possible, for students to mark the examples and to write any thoughts they have about how multiplication was useful for explaining a farm-related situation.

-

Read the book’s final question from page 27. Ask students if they can think of any examples of using multiplication in their lives. Ask if they could show a multiplication problem by standing up and lining up in rows.

-

Provide a large sheet of paper and allow students to work in pairs or small groups to draw a farm and farm animals together. To avoid conflicting opinions of what the farm should look like, have only one student add one item or set of animals at a time to the farm. Encourage students to show groups of animals or rows of crops. Ask them to write out descriptions as well as numerical calculations of the things pictured in different groups. For example: "There are three rows of five corn plants. So there are fifteen corn plants on the farm." After a set amount of time for creating the farm, have groups share their drawings with one another.

Math

Find and print the lyrics to the John Denver song "Grandma’s Feather Bed" from an online source. Possible Web sites to find the lyrics include this one or this one. The chorus of the song lists the numbers of various farm animals that are involved in some way with a (presumably enormous) feather bed. Have students make a list of the animals on the bed and the numbers of each. Note that you will need to explain some slang terms, such as "forty ’leven geese." This actually leads to a multiplication problem for advanced students! It means, of course, that there were 40 x 11 geese. You can have them calculate this, or ignore it (the geese aren’t actually on the bed in the song, anyway). Meanwhile, you can either explain or tell students to ignore the phrase "whole bolt of cloth for the tick" since it doesn’t involve any animals. In the end, the students should create a list that looks like what follows:

-

40 x 11 = 440 geese (this listing is optional)

-

8 kids

-

4 hound dogs

-

1 piggie from the shed

Once students have created a list of the animals involved with this one bed, ask them how many of each animal would be involved if Grandma had two feather beds just like this. Ask how many animals there would be for three beds. Encourage students to use any multiplication method they used from the book to calculate their answers. (Again, you may have students disregard the geese or offer this as a challenge for advanced students.) As a closing activity, find a recording of the song, play it, and have a sing-along or have students hold up fingers when the numbers of animals are mentioned.