Five pages on breaking a fact apart into two facts you know and adding them, the distributive property. On page 1 a line already splits each array: write the fact for each part and add (9 × 8 = 9 × 5 + 9 × 3 = 45 + 27 = 72); two of the arrays are split by rows. On page 2 students draw the line themselves to make the 5s or 2s fact each array asks for. Page 3 splits rectangles with their side lengths: write the area of each part inside it and add, and on the last two find the missing side length first. Page 4 has 12 break-apart equations with one number missing (9 × 6 = 7 × 6 + __ × 6), then four facts where students circle the one break apart that matches. Page 5 has four stories that break a fact apart (9 rows of 7 carrots counted as 9 rows of 4 and 9 rows of 3) and two "Who is right?" problems with two ways to break a fact apart.
Build an array with counters or draw one on grid paper and lay a pencil across it to split it. Ask what two facts the class sees, and whether the total changed. Then move the pencil: a different split, the same total. Page 2 makes a good talk: why might a 5s fact be easier to start from?
Break apart facts out loud: 7 × 6 is 7 × 3 and 7 × 3, 21 and 21, 42. Use a muffin tin, an egg carton or a sheet of stickers and cover part of it with a hand to see the two facts.
This pack supports the following Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:
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The distributive property: breaking a hard fact apart into two facts you know, like 9 × 8 = 9 × 5 + 9 × 3. Students split arrays and rectangles, write the two facts and add, find missing numbers, solve stories and decide who broke a fact apart the right way.
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