Multiplication Stories

We have started a big new project in my math group, as a way of making sense of multiplication. We are writing and illustrating a how-to book! Each day, after the workbooks are put away, the children choose a multiplication problem. They need to write the number sentence at the top of the page, write the story using words, and then illustrate the problem.

I've told the children that when all of the tables are completed (up to 12 X 12), I will put the pages together to make a book. This book will then become part of our math book library.

It has a great project so far in that children who are advanced mathematicians get extra practice in memorizing their tables, and less advanced children get a deeper understanding of what multiplication actually IS.