The purpose of this activity is for students to represent equal-groups situations with arrays and multiplication expressions. Students should have the option to use math tools, such as counters or connecting cubes, to create the arrays before they draw them. Connecting situations, arrays, and expressions reinforces the idea that multiplication can be used to express the total number of objects in equal groups (MP2).

• “How did you use equal groups to write your multiplication expression?” (I thought about how many groups were in the situation and then how many things were in each group. For example, I know that 2 teams of 10 students is 2 groups of 10, so I can write .)

The purpose of this activity is for students to apply their knowledge from previous activities to draw arrays that match multiplication expressions. Have connecting cubes or counters available for students who need them. In the Launch, students use themselves to make an array for the expression . Feel free to adjust this expression to better fit the number of students in your class.

• Share an array or two for each expression.
• “What connections did you and your partner see between the multiplication expressions and arrays?” (The factors tell us how many things are in each row and column. For , we drew an array with 2 columns that have 3 things in each column. For , we drew an array with 2 rows that have 3 things in each row.)