Year 3 multiplication

[Aev]

Hello!
I'm trying to plan a Year 3 lesson on multiplication with manipulatives but I don't know how to start. I'm a TA so teaching isn't what I'm trained in and I've never met the kids since this is for an interview. I have 20-30 minutes for the activity, any ideas?

Do you mean an entire lesson for the whole class or an activity for a small group? Could you post the brief you've been given?

If you get the job how do you propose you are going to do it if you don’t know what to do? Surely you can’t ask mumsnet every day

If you're really stuck, then this isn't the job for you. Asking on here is cheating a bit really

Well, it’s not really because the teacher will set some ideas of what they want the teaching assistant to do. Also different schools have different resources that they want used. I used to be a supply teaching assistant for a few weeks and I had a stock of activities if I needed to occupy kids for a few minutes here and there or during a lesson etc. I would google the brief that you’ve been given and have a look at some YouTube videos to get you started. Then plan on how you might show that to a few children getting them to be as active and making things as interactive as you can. Take any resources you might need with you if you have them. They’ll be looking at how you interact with the children and involve them rather than the actual content itself. I wouldn’t be too worried about that.

I'm not sure why you're getting a hard time.

Have you been given any further details? Are the children working at year 3 level, or below? Are there SEN to consider? What manipulatives are available?

Have a look in home bargains at the Easter bonnet decorations. I did this and got some little nests that each had three eggs in and took along a set of dice. Roll dice, collect each basket and then children could count sets of three and record answers ☺️

good luck

I am a teacher. I think it’s disgusting what they expect from TA’s for the remuneration they get. They are basically expecting you to plan a bloody lesson! It’s not cheating at all, you still have to understand the concepts and deliver it in a way that children understand and respond to! The teacher should be giving you instruction anyway on a day to day basis.

Have they give you any idea of level of ability? I would most likely play it safe and keep it fun. They should know 2, 5, 10’s and be learning 3’s, 4’s, 8’s. How long is the activity? Could you start by chanting the 10’s, 2’s and 5’s? You could clap or march each time you count. And then something like snakes and ladders with 3’s, 4’s or 8’s? Don’t forget some stickers and lots of positive praise. If you have a Twinkl acct there’s lots of games on there. I think they’ll be looking to see that you can have a good relationship with the children and a good knowledge of multiplication yourself tbh. Good luck!

I imagine they'll learn and progress with experience and practice, like anyone does in a line of work. What a ridiculous statement.

The eggs and nests idea from a previous poster is lovely.

Counting in 3s is perfect for year 3s. They should be confident with 2x, 5x and 10x and working on 3x, 4x and 8x. But some children will be working at an earlier stage and others will be more confident.

You are aiming for them to understand that they are step counting - adding 3 each time. Making arrays is helpful. They can see visually that eg 4x3 is the same as 3x4. Possibly link with division.

Manipulatives I often use for multiplication - and the school should have - are multi link cubes to make towers of 3, Numicon tiles, counters or 'gems', possibly cuisenaire rods and a number track, any little objects to count and make arrays, eg small resin ducks / coloured plastic bears or penguins / pom poms etc.

You could go on to spot the multiples of 3 on a 1-50 number line, 1-100 square pop it, can they spot any patters, have the multiples of 3 written on cards for them to order - or a puppet / action figure could hide one and children have to work out what's missing etc.

4x table is also good to do similar - and you can also make links with the 2x table and doubling / halving.

Good luck

I always like to use the peg boards so they can create arrays themselves easily. Numicon is another good one- won't demonstrate the array as easily though. As a teacher I think it's a bit cheeky they are expecting a ta to plan a lesson. Take a guided reading maybe. Be given an activity to deliver during interview sure. Unless you're a higher level TA this seems a bit above your remit and I would approach as a bit of a red flag.

Start off with something that recaps on what they should know (2s, 5s and 10s). Use that as a checking point to see that they do know those. You need something very simple as a manipulative (ideally you'd know what the school hs got). If not, get some counters. Pick a few questions to test that knowledge by asking all the children to make arrays. You could even have the questions ready in a little bag and the children can take turns picking them out.

Next show making an array with the 3 x table yourself. Then get children doing the same. As it is March, almost, lets assume these kids might know their 3s. So be ready to judge whether they can do some 4s and 8s questions. As you do each one keep using the wording too. E.g 6 groups of 3. In this second activity ibwould get the children writing this under the array on a whiteboard and then finishing with the final written version 6 x 3 = 18. Make it, say it, write it.

Support any children who are struggling and keep an eye on those who breeze through.

Prepare an array that is wrong (visually on a sheet if you can in advance) and finish off with asking children to look at the array and tell you if it is correct. Discuss why / why not.

If from activity 1 you noticed some children don't know their 2s, 5s and 10s...refer back to them too and pop in a question about that.

Be careful to get the arrays the right way round e.g 2 x 5 is not visibly shown the same as 5 x 2. Use the language x groups of x.

Do not get anything mega exciting as suggested above. If you do, you'll need more skills to control the behaviour of very excited kids.

Ask the school for lots of counters in advance.

Final tip, pick the questions in advance so you can manipulate it. E.g. you don't want everyone making 7x10, that will take forever!

Good luck!