Unit 1

Introduction

Mathematical Background
Concepts
Much of the work in Unit 1 is a review of key multiplication and division skills and concepts
from Grade 3, including the following:
Interpreting products and quotients of whole numbers
Using multiplication and division within 100 to solve story problems in situations involving
equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities
Determining the unknown whole number in a multiplication or division equation
Applying properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide
Fluently multiplying and dividing within 100
Even though students are required to know from memory all products of two 1-digit numbers by the
end of third grade, its probably not reasonable to expect that this will be the case for all incoming
fourth graders without a few weeks to revisit the strategies and models. Also, basic fact strategies such
as doubling to multiply by 2 or using a Double-Doubles strategy to multiply by 4 can be extended
to situations in which students are multiplying much larger numbers by single digits. For example,
to solve 4 125, a student familiar with the Double-Doubles strategy for single-digit multiplication
might double 125 to get 250, and double it again to get 500. A student familiar with the Half-Tens
strategy might solve 5 68 by multiplying 10 68 and halving the result: 680 2 = 340.
While multiplication and division were major topics in Grade 3, the transition from additive to
multiplicative thinking is a journey of several years for most learners. To help students make
the transition, the authors of the Common Core Standards stipulate that fourth graders learn
to interpret a multiplication equation as a comparison. Students who learned to interpret the
multiplication equation 4 6 = 24 as 4 groups of 6 is equal to 24 in Grade 3 are now expected to
interpret that equation to mean 24 is 4 times as many as 6, and 6 times as many as 4. Although this
sounds simpleperhaps just a matter of linguisticsunderstanding what it really means when we
say that something is twice as big, three times as tall, or four times as much is not easy. Consider
the following task and three responses you might see in a typical fourth grade classroom.
Draw a line that is exactly 2 inches long. Then draw a second line that is exactly 3 times as
long as the first line.
Student A I made the line 5 inches long because 2 and then 3 more is 5.

2 inches
5 inches
Student B I respectfully disagree with you. I think the line should be 6 inches long because thats 3 times as many
as 2 inches. Its like 2 and 2 and 2.

2 inches

6 inches

Student C I said it was 8 inches long because you have 2 inches, right? And then if you make it 3 more times, like
2, and then 2 and 2 and 2, you get 8.

The first and third responses above reflect two of the most common misconceptions about
multiplicative comparisons. Student A has made an additive comparison instead of a multiplicative comparison, drawing a line that is 3 inches more than the first, rather than 3 times as many.
Student C interprets 3 times as many to mean that you add 3 times more to the original length.
Both of these students are still employing additive rather than multiplicative reasoning.
Central to understanding what it means to say that something is 4 times as much, many, tall,
or long, than something else is the idea that 4 of the smaller amount, quantity, height, or length
have to fit exactly into the larger amount, quantity, height, or length. That is the idea shown in
this illustration from Module 3:

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Unit 1

Introduction

Un t 1 Module 3

Session 3 1 copy for display

Jim & the Giant

Sam says that the giant is 3 times as tall as Jim. Do you agree with Sam? Why or why not?

The giant is actually 4 times as tall as Jim.

The giant is the same as 4 Jims standing on top
of each other.
Jim is one-fourth as tall as the giant.
In addition to being able to interpret multiplication equations as statements of multiplicative
comparison, fourth graders are expected to multiply or divide to solve story problems involving
multiplicative comparison. To do this, they must be able to translate comparative situations into
equations with an unknown. Here are examples of three different types of story problems Grade
4 students are expected to be able to solve and write equations for:
Unknown Product
Jon has 12 matchbox cars. His brother, Andrew, has 3 times that many matchbox cars.
How many matchbox cars does Andrew have? (12 3 = n)
Group Size Unknown
Sara bought a book and a CD. The book cost $21, which was 3 times more than the CD
cost. How much did the CD cost? (21 n = 3 or 3 n = 21)
Number of Groups Unknown
Jacob bought a pair of shoes for $20 and a jacket for $60. How many times as much did the
jacket cost than the shoes? (60 20 = n or 20 n = 60)
Because these types of situations are so central to multiplicative reasoning, and this type of
reasoning is so central to Grade 4, you will find them throughout Bridges and Number Corner
all year long. Students are given numerous opportunities to write and identify equations and
statements for multiplicative comparison, as well as to solve contextual problems, starting in the
first session of Unit 1.
Another element new to the fourth grade year is an understanding of factors, multiples, prime,
and composite numbers. Here, the array model used in Grade 3 proves its worth as students discover that they can make several different rectangles with 12 tiles, but only one rectangle with
13 tiles. Building on the work they did during the previous year, students come to recognize
the dimensions of an array as factors and the area as a product. Its but a short hop to go from
building and recording arrays built with 12 tiles to listing the factors of 12.

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Introduction

Unit 1

4 3 = 12

12

13

6
2
6

gcen er org

2 6 = 12

ngcenter org

13
1
13

Twelve is a composite number because it has more factors than just itself and 1. I can see
that the factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. Thirteen is a prime number. No matter how hard
you try, you can only build one rectangle with 13 tiles, so it only has two factors1 and 13.
Strategies
The ability to recall the single-digit multiplication facts is important to free up students mental
energies for reasoning and problem solving. Students will use these facts as they advance to
more complex mathematics, such as solving multi-digit multiplication and division problems
and working with fractions. This automaticity can be accomplished in part by helping students
use the facts they know to help them reason about those facts with which they are not yet fluent.
In this unit, students consider specific strategies for remembering different categories of multiplication facts. They use a table of multiplication facts and the array model to review these strategies,
which were first introduced in third grade Bridges. While some fourth graders may not yet have
mastered all of their multiplication facts, many of your returning Bridges students will recall most, if
not all, of these strategies. Review the table below so that you are familiar with the strategies as well.
Multiplication Strategies
Factor Category

Example How the strategy works

Zero facts

03=0
70=0

The product of any number and 0 is 0.

Ones facts

14=4
81=8

The product of any number and 1 is that number.

Doubles facts

26=12
92=18

To multiply any number by 2, double that number.

Doubles Plus One facts

36=18
93=27

To multiply any number by 3, double the

number and then add the number. For example,
36=(26)+6=12+6=18.

Double-Doubles facts

46=24
94=36

To multiply any number by 4, double that

number, and then double the result. For example,
46=2(26)=212=24.

Double-Double-Doubles facts

86=48
98=72

To multiply any number by 8, double that number,

double the result, and then double one more time. For
example, 86=2(2(26))=2(212)=224=48.

Half-Tens facts

57=35
85=40

To multiply any number by 5, it may be simples to

first multiply that numbr by 10 and then divide the
product by 2. For example, to solve 8 5, find 8 10
and divide 80 by 2 to get 40.

Half-Tens Plus One Set facts

67=42
86=48

To multiply any number by 6, first multiply the

number by 5 and then add the number to the result.
For example, 8 6 = (8 5) + 8 = 48.

10

Tens facts

10 8 = 80 Multiplying by 10 comes naturally for students with a

6 10 = 60 solid grasp of skip-counting and place value concepts.

Tens Minus One Set facts

97=63
99=81

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To multiply any number by 9, think of the related

Tens fact and then subtract the number. For
example, 97=(107)7=707=63.

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Introduction

Unit 1

As students shift away from using additive reasoning (skip-counting) to find products, they begin
to use multiplicative strategies like doubling (e.g., thinking of 8 2 as 8 doubled). This can lead to
use of the doubling and halving strategy (e.g., 12 4 = 6 8). Students can also use partial products with smaller chunks of numbers first and then use them with bigger chunks (e.g., 32 12
= 32 10 + 32 2). As they reason multiplicatively, they can also use over strategies for certain
problems (e.g., 99 47 = 100 47 1 47). We want to help students build a repertoire of strategies based on multiplicative reasoning that they can eventually apply to multi-digit multiplication.
4 27
27, 54, 81, 108

4 27
27, 54, 108

Skip-Counting

Doubling
4 27 = 2 54

Doubling/Halving

or

4 27 = (4 10) + (4 10) + (4 7)

4 27 = (4 20) + (4 7)

or 4

20

80

28
108

Partial Products

Models
The models and strategies that appear in Unit 1 serve to help students review and re-access what
they learned in Grade 3. These include the open number line, the array or area model, and the
ratio table. All three will be extended and greatly expanded in fourth grade, especially the area
model and the ratio table.
The Open Number Line
Because some of your students may be using additive thinking to solve multiplication problems,
the open number line is used early in Unit 1 to show repeated addition as a bridge to the array,
which encourages multiplicative thinking. The open number line will resurface later in the year
as a way to model addition and subtraction strategies as well.

13
3

23

33

43

53

3
12

15

The Array or Area Model

In the area model for multiplication, the total area of the rectangle represents the product, and
the two dimensions represent the factors.
The dimensions
represent the factors.

3
factors

product

4 3 = 12

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The area represents

the product.

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Unit 1

Introduction

Because multiplication and division are inverse operations, the same model can be used to
illustrate division.

dividend

divisor

The known
dimension
represents
the divisor.

quotient

12 4 = 3

divisor

3
4 12

The unknown
dimension
represents
the quotient.

3
quotient

The area represents

the dividend.

12

dividend

Bridges helps students use the array model for multiplication by beginning with discrete models
in third grade. Students progress over time, using closed arrays, base ten area pieces with linear
pieces, and then open arrays. With closed arrays, they can count each square unit by 1s. With base
ten area pieces and linear pieces, the area is now modeled in bigger chunks, tens and ones, and the
dimensions are defined with linear pieces, helping students differentiate between linear measures
and area measures. With open arrays, students can chunk the arrays into pieces that are convenient and efficient for the problem. With each model, students can chunk areas into bigger pieces,
moving away from counting strategies, to repeated addition, and then to multiplicative thinking.

Closed Array

Linear Pieces and

Base Ten Area Pieces

Open Array

While students will discover many ways to solve multiplication and division problems, the
array model provides a way for them to discuss their strategies with one another, decompose the
numbers, apply the distributive property, and identify partial products.
The Ratio Table
The ratio table is used in Bridges to simultaneously build multiplicative thinking and proportional
reasoning. The model is introduced in Unit 1 to represent students strategies. Students will fill
in tables for situations with a constant ratio such as when one row in a box has 8 crayons and
there are 4 rows. Later, the ratio table will become a tool for students to use in problem solving to
compute multiplication, division, and fraction problems, as well as make conversions. This model
will also be used for many years to come in higher mathematics to model proportional situations.

Rows of
crayons

Number
of crayons

1
2
3
6

8
16
24
48

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