Unit Plan 32 (Grade 4 Math): Patterns & Multiplicative Thinking—Revisited
Generate and extend patterns; describe rules and features like growth and parity; distinguish additive vs. multiplicative patterns and model them with tables, equations, and real-world contexts.
Focus: Generate and extend patterns; explain structure and features (growth, parity, repeated reasoning); connect rules to multiplication and comparison contexts.
Grade Level: 4
Subject Area: Mathematics (Operations & Algebraic Thinking)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students revisit patterns to strengthen multiplicative thinking. They build and analyze number, shape, and input–output patterns, describe rules in words and with equations/expressions using an unknown, and justify features like growth rate, parity (even/odd), and repetition. They connect patterns to multiplication and comparisons in real contexts.
Essential Questions
- How do I find and describe the rule for a pattern?
- Where do I see multiplication in patterns, and how is it different from addition growth?
- How can repeated reasoning help me predict the next terms and explain why a pattern works?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Generate and extend numeric and visual patterns; describe a clear rule and growth.
- Use input–output tables to connect term number to value; explain parity and other features.
- Distinguish additive vs multiplicative growth; justify the difference with representations.
- Model pattern situations with equations using a letter for an unknown and explain reasoning.
- Apply patterns to multiplicative comparison word problems and defend solutions.
Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 4
- 4.OA.5: Generate a number or shape pattern that follows a given rule; identify features of the pattern that were not explicit in the rule (e.g., every third term is even).
- 4.OA.2 (connection): Multiply or divide to solve word problems involving multiplicative comparison, using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown to represent the problem.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can state the rule for a pattern and show how I know.
- I can explain whether a pattern grows by adding or by multiplying and what that means.
- I can use an input–output table and an equation with an unknown to model and predict.