3rd Grade · Week 1 of 36 · Math
× as equal groups
1. Hook
- Hear the goal. Watch one worked example (pictures + steps).
- Try the interactive lab on this page. Move something. Read what happened.
- Guided fills, then independent practice, then the scored quiz.
- Teach it back: one example + the usual mistake.
There is no classroom teacher. This page teaches you. The lab is on this site — not an outside classroom. Stay on this page. The pictures, the game, and Your work are the lesson.
3 × 7 means 3 equal groups of 7. Is that 10 or 21?
Then: lab → guided → quiz → teach it back. The lab is the lesson, not a decoration.
2. Teach
Interpret multiplication as equal groups: a × b is a groups of b objects each (CCSS 3.OA.1, 3.OA.3).
Standards alignment: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA (domain-level; works with any state’s standards)
STEM this week is × as equal groups: write the number, label the unit, check a second way.
- In 3 × 7, 3 is the number of groups and 7 is the number in each group.
- The product is the total: 3 × 7 = 21.
- You can show it with groups, arrays, repeated addition (7 + 7 + 7), or skip-counting.
Story: 3 vases with 7 flowers each. 7 + 7 + 7 = 21 flowers.
Array: 3 rows, 7 in each row. Count by 7s: 7, 14, 21.
Commutative property: 3 × 7 = 7 × 3. Both are 21.
- Problem: 4 bags, 6 marbles each.
- Groups: 4. Size: 6.
- Equation: 4 × 6 = ?
- Skip-count by 6: 6, 12, 18, 24.
- 24 marbles.
Draw and solve: 5 plates with 3 cookies each; 2 rows of 8 chairs; 3 spiders with 8 legs each.
Adding the factors (3 × 7 = 10). Multiplication is groups of, not plus.
Buying several packs with the same number in each uses multiplication.
No classroom teacher today — this page is the lesson. A grown-up sits nearby. Model once, wait 10–20 seconds, then prompt. A grown-up sits nearby. Model once, wait, then let the child try.
See it · try it (interactive lab)
Do this lab on Life Academy. Move something. Read what changed — then quiz.
Your work — type it here
Type the answer. Then tap Check my work. This is the assignment — not optional reading.
3. Guided practice
Try these with me — type the missing word, then check.
Reveal the thinking
Name the groups and group size, then skip-count.
4. Independent practice
Work the set. Check when finished — this is practice (mastery quiz is next).
5. Mastery check
Scored quiz — results save to your gradebook.
Show the math — don't only tap a letter
The lab is the worked example you can move. Then the quiz checks that you own × as equal groups.
Classroom · Gradebook · Transcripts
Stay on this page. The studio, the lab, pictures, and Your work are the lesson.
6. Reflection / teach-back
Teach-back: Explain × as equal groups in your own words. Give one example and name the usual mistake.