To assess prior knowledge, students will review the multiplication facts for which one factor is 5 or less.
Provide students with paper and crayons and ask them to draw six blue vertical lines on the paper. Now ask them to draw four red horizontal lines intersecting the vertical lines. Ask them to circle in purple each place there is an intersection and count the number of intersections. Challenge them to identify what multiplication fact they have just demonstrated. Tell them that in this model, the number of rows is given first. [4 ×6 = 24.] Ask them to turn their papers a quarter turn and name the multiplication fact now modeled. [6 ×4 = 24.]
Encourage them to generate other facts where one factor is 6, including 6 × 0 and 6 × 1.
Repeat with 7 as a factor.
It may be helpful for students to visualize the vertical lines as city streets, the horizontal lines as roads, and the intersections as marking where a stoplight is needed.
Distribute index cards to each pair and ask each student to make a set of 10 cards numbered 0 to 9, one to a card.
When they have finished, ask them to shuffle the two decks together and stack them face down. Tell them to take turns turning over the top card, multiplying the number drawn by 6 and then saying the product. As each card is used, it should be returned to the bottom of the deck. Give students time to play, and then ask the class to skip count in unison by 6. Encourage them to do so without looking at the game board. Repeat for 7 as a factor.
Ask students to save the numbered cards for later use.
Next, ask students to make a deck of triangle fact cards for the 6 and 7 tables by putting 2 factors, one of them a 6 or a 7, on 2 of the corners and the product in the third corner.
They may wish to use red and blue for the factors and purple for the product. Remind the students that they can check the multiplication chart for products they are unsure of.
When they have made triangle fact cards for the facts 0 × 6 to 9 × 6 and 0 × 7 to 9 × 7, ask each student to cover the product on one card with his or her thumb, show the card to the other student, and ask him or her to tell the product. Encourage the students to separate the cars with the facts they know from those they are less sure of.
