Circles & Stars Multiplication

This activity for teaching multiplication facts has been around for some time! In the original activity, students use dice and pencil and paper. The dice are used to determine the two factors of the multiplication problem. With the first toss, the student draws that number of circles. With the second toss, the student draws that number of stars inside each circle. From their drawing, they write their multiplication sentence.

This computer activity substitutes the dice with an online dice program and the pencil and paper with an online whiteboard. Both of these sites are easy to use and no log in is required!

Classroom Computer Setup

• Students can pair up with each student on one of the sites on their own computer.
• Students can pair up and share one computer. Students will switch between sites in the browser.
• Students can work independently on their own computer. (But I like collaboration, best!)

Activity Procedure

Partner One: 

The student who will be "tossing the dice" will open Dice Roller on Random.org. http://www.random.org/dice/.

They will change the number of dice to "toss" to 1 die.

Once they roll the die, they will tell their partner how many CIRCLES to draw.

Partner Two: 

The student who will be doing the drawing will open A Web Whiteboard on their computer.
http://awwapp.com/

They will be able to choose the width and color of the pen they used to draw the circles and stars with.

Once they complete the circles and stars, they select the Text tool, click on the page and type their multiplication sentence. They could also add their names to the page.

To complete the activity, they can save their drawing as an image file.

Their completed images can then be used to create other projects or simply printed and turned in.