A Learning Activity is a strategy a teacher chooses to actively
engage students in learning a concept or skill using a digital tool/resource.
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Phase:
After/Explain/Elaborate
Activity:
1.) The students will review multiplication, word problems, and arrays.
3.) The students will discuss what occurred in the book, specifically the order of events needed to plant a garden.
4.) The students will be given the following word problem: "If Groundhog planted X rows of X (food), how many (food) will Groundhog have?" Each student will be given two numbers, such as 12 and 8, to insert into their word problem (i.e. 12 rows of 8). Students may choose the food that they will represent, such as carrots, corn, tomatoes, etc.
5.) Students will be given a piece of brown construction paper to represent their "garden".
6.) The students will create an array that represents their given multiplication problem, i.e. 12x8. They may create their array by drawing it, cutting and pasting clip art or pictures from magazines, using stamps, etc.
7.) After each student has created and decorated their array as desired, they should be sure to include the following mathematical statement. The italicized numbers and words should be adjusted to represent the numbers assigned and food chosen by the student:
"Groundhog planted 12 rows of 8carrots."
12x8=96
8.) Students will share their multiplication works of art with their classmates.
Assessment Strategies:
Assess if the students are able to correctly solve multiplication problems by checking the answers on their arrays.
Assess if the students are able to answer questions associated with the book via verbal questioning.
Assess if the students are able to create an imaginative work of art based on a prompt by using a rubric that checks for a multiplication problem, a word problem, an accurate array, artistic representations of the chosen food, artistic representations of a garden, etc.
Advanced Preparation:
Materials Needed:
Book: Cherry, Lynne. How Groundhog's Garden Grew. Blue Sky Press, 2003.
Brown construction paper
Crayons, colored pencils, markers
Additional construction paper for students to make vegetables
Scissors & glue/glue sticks
Magazines with picture of food
Printed clip art or pictures of food
"Found" or "recycled" small items that could be used to represent vegetables: beads, sequins, beans, etc.
Vegetable stamps & stamp pads (optional)
Variation Tips (optional):
Students could plant real seeds and observe their growth to learn about the life cycle of a plant.
Early finishers may use graph paper to create more arrays.