Students will use a google slide presentation to subitize, compose, and decompose numbers presented as quick dot images.

This article focuses on automaticity and conceptual understanding of multiplication versus memorization of facts. The video, along with the dot cards (linked) allow students to see multiplication as "groups of" before introduction of the multiplication expression, (i.e. 5 x 7). This activity provides students with the conceptual understanding of multiplication and allows for student discourse around strategies for finding the total (counting up, decomposing). Here are a few guiding questions for educators to consider before implementing the activity:
When do students practice multiplication that's not written as AxB? (for the purpose of automaticity) When/how is multiplicative reasoning fostered?When do multiplication strategies become automatized?When do number strategies become number knowledge?