Unit Plan 28 (Grade 3 Math): Fact Fluency Power-Up—Strategies & Games
Solidify multiplication and division within 100 using properties, fact families, and spaced-retrieval games that build accuracy, flexible strategy use, and confident problem solving.
Focus: Solidify multiplication/division within 100 using properties, known facts, and spaced retrieval games that build accuracy, flexibility, and confidence.
Grade Level: 3
Subject Area: Mathematics (Operations & Algebraic Thinking)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students strengthen core ×/÷ facts with quick, engaging routines that foreground strategies (not just speed). We connect arrays, patterns, and properties to derive new facts from known ones, use fact families to link × and ÷, and play short retrieval games that mix practice with explanation.
Essential Questions
- Which strategy helps me figure out a fact I don’t remember right away?
- How do properties (commutative, associative, distributive) make new facts from old ones?
- How can I explain my pattern or model so others can use it too?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Use commutative, associative, and distributive strategies to derive unknown ×/÷ facts.
- Explain patterns in the multiplication table and relate fact families (× and ÷) within 100.
- Choose and justify efficient strategies (e.g., doubles, fives/tens, near-squares, break apart) during games.
- Improve fluency while maintaining accuracy and explanation.
Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 3
- 3.OA.7: Fluently multiply/divide within 100, using strategies and properties; know from memory by end of Grade 3.
- 3.OA.5: Apply properties of operations (commutative, associative, distributive) as strategies.
- 3.OA.9: Identify/explain patterns in arithmetic (e.g., even×odd, multiples, table regularities).
- Mathematical Practices (threaded): MP.1–MP.6 (make sense, reason quantitatively, argue, model, tools, precision).
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can choose a strategy (like turnaround, break apart, or doubles/near facts) and explain it.
- I can connect multiplication and division using a fact family.
- I can spot and explain a pattern in the multiplication table.
- I keep my work accurate and clear during games.