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On this page, you’ll find how this specific lesson plan, Partial Product Multiplication Structures, is aligned to the Common Core Mathematics Standards organized by grade level, domain, and standard ID with in-depth explanations and examples.

Standards Alignment

Grade Level 4th Grade 5th Grade
Domain
Operations & Algebraic Thinking 4.OA.A.1
4.OA.C.5
Numbers & Operations – Base Ten 4.NBT.A.1
4.NBT.B.5		 5.NBT.A.1
5.NBT.B.5

4th Grade

Operations & Algebraic Thinking

Use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems.

  • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.OA.A.1: Through partial products and creating the structures, students are beginning to develop an understanding of interpreting multiplication equations in multiple ways. For example, when seeing the equation “5 x 6,” they can see, in Minecraft, that it is the same as saying, “5 times as many as 6” and vice versa.
15 x 16 structure - 10.png
These partial product structures provide visualizations that can prompt students to interpret multiplication equations in different, conceptual ways.

Generate and analyze patterns.

  • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.OA.C.5: After walking through the process of creating the partial product structure, students should be able to set up the equation and generate the shape pattern for any multiplication equation. Furthermore, they should be able to recognize any erroneous calculations made (e.g. the dimensions of the structure not matching up to the numbers of the multiplication problem).

 

Numbers & Operations in Base Ten

Generalize place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers.

  • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NBT.A.1: Using blocks to build place value structures, students develop an understanding that ten blocks in the ones place value equal that of one block in the tens place value, and so on. Students can look at these place value structures and interpret their numerical value.
15x16.png
Setting up the multiplication requires an understanding of place values. Students should be able to look at these structures and be able to say, “That is 16 x 15.”

Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.

  • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NBT.B.5: Creating the partial product structures by laying out the multi-digit numbers as dimensions is essentially an area model. In this lesson plan, students create the area model first (e.g. the answer) and then do some ‘reverse engineering’ through partial products to calculate the product.
15 x 16 structure - 0.png
The area of the dimensions in the image above is also the answer to the multiplication problem, “16 x 15.”

 

5th Grade

Numbers & Operations in Base Ten

Understand the place value system.

  • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.NBT.A.1: When setting up the multiplication problems, students should develop an understanding that ten blocks in the ones place value equals one block in the tens place value. This can easily extend to the hundreds and thousands place value as well.

Perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths.

  • CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.NBT.B.5: Students are performing the standard algorithm for multiplication using partial products. Constructing the problems and building the place value structures in Minecraft allows them to check their calculations, and provides a visual representation of what is often taught as more of an abstract concept.
Partial Product.png
When creating partial product structures, students are seeing the answer first and then using the standard algorithm to understand how to get to the answer.