Distributive Property Lesson

Cheryl Rosowski
12/21/2021

Standards:
CC.2.2.3.A.1- Represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division.
CC.2.2.3.A.2- Understand properties of multiplication and the relationship between
multiplication and division.

Instructional outcomes: Students will know what the distributive property is and be able to use
it to solve a multiplication problem involving arrays.

Materials:
● Projector with distributive property mat
● At least 18 magnetic counters for teacher use
● Expo markers for all students and teacher
● Distributive property mat for all students
● 32 cubes for each student in a cup
● Exit ticket for each student

Procedures:

Before:
● Skip counting songs.
● “What are the numbers that are so easy to skip count by that we do not even have songs
for?”
● Stress that counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s are much easier to do. Tell students to keep
this in mind when completing the next part of the lesson.

During:
● The teacher projects the distributive property mat on the whiteboard and places an array
showing 6 rows of 3 with magnetic counters on the whiteboard
● Teacher says, we have talked about the commutative property in multiplication. Who can
tell me what the commutative property means? (teacher calls on students and makes
sure all students know that the commutative property says that we can switch the factors
in a multiplication problem without changing the answer.)
● Teacher explains that today we will talk about the distributive property. The distributive
property helps us find the answer to a multiplication problem by breaking it into two
smaller arrays (with smaller factors).
● Teacher tells the students to look at the array on the board and think about how they
might want to break it apart to make it easier (remind students to think about which
numbers are easy to skip count by)
● Teacher calls on a student to say where the rows should be split, takes her pencil or
marker and slides the rows down to cut the big array into two smaller arrays.
 ● Teacher asks the students what the new multiplication sentence is for the first part and
writes it in the place to the right.
● Teacher repeats the process with the second part of the array.
● Teacher explains that now she knows how many counters are in each array and asks
the students what she should do now to find the total (add the two parts to get the whole)
● Teacher demonstrates this process.
● The class paper passers or teacher assistant helps give 32 cubes and a distributive
property mat to each student
● The teacher instructs the students to create an array using their cubes that shows 8
rows of 3 then tells them to use the distributive property to the cut the array and do the
math to find the total cubes in the array (using their expo marker) The teacher models
each step after the students have a bit to do it on their own (we do part of “I do, we do,
you do”)
● The teacher repeats the process with the students making arrays and cutting them apart.
Problems to try: (7 x 4) (6 x 6) (9 x 3)
● Teacher walks around, offering assistance to students who need it

After:
● Teacher uses a call back to gain students attention
● Teacher instructs students to put all of their cubes back in their cup
● 1 or 2 students are chosen to collect cups, 1 or 2 students are chosen to collect
distributive property mats
● Teacher explains that on today’s exit ticket, the students will do one problem using the
distributive property. She tells them that instead of using cubes, they will draw the array
and instead of sliding them apart, they will just draw a line where they want to cut it.
● The teacher tells the students to put their name on their exit ticket as soon as they get it
and that they are to place it in the basket on the front table when they are finished and
then work on their IXL math skill plan
● Teacher has students pass out the exit tickets

Differentiation:
My class has 3 students who are above level in math and 3 students who are receiving math
intervention. The students who are above level will be given a bigger array to solve for their exit
ticket for more of a challenge. The students who receive math intervention, will be assigned a
smaller array to break apart so that they can still practice the skill, but use numbers that they
can be successful skip counting by.

Assessment:
Students will complete an exit ticket at the end of the lesson. This will be used to determine if
the students understand how to use the distributive property to solve multiplication problems
and if there are any parts that need further explanation and/or reteaching.
Name: ______________________________

Exit Ticket 1

1. Draw an array in the box below showing 4 rows of 2.

2. Cut the above array into two smaller arrays by drawing a line and use the distributive
property to solve the multiplication equation.

Full Array

Part 1:

____ x ____ = ____

Part 2:

____ x ____ = ____

_____ x _____ = ______

_____ + _____ = ______

Name: ______________________________

Exit Ticket 2

3. Draw an array in the box below showing 12 rows of 8.

4. Cut the above array into two smaller arrays by drawing a line and use the distributive
property to solve the multiplication equation.

Full Array

Part 1:

____ x ____ = ____

Part 2:

____ x ____ = ____

_____ x _____ = ______

_____ + _____ = ______

Name: ______________________________

Exit Ticket 3

5. Draw an array in the box below showing 7 rows of 6.

6. Cut the above array into two smaller arrays by drawing a line and use the distributive
property to solve the multiplication equation.

Full Array

Part 1:

____ x ____ = ____

Part 2:

____ x ____ = ____

_____ x _____ = ______

_____ + _____ = ______