Unit 2, Lesson 13
Find the Area of a Figure
Grade 3
Preparation
Lesson Purpose
The purpose of this lesson is for students to calculate the area of ungridded figures made of rectangles, using multiplication and addition.
Lesson Narrative
Students continue to find the areas of figures composed of rectangles by decomposing them into non-overlapping rectangles. In this lesson, the square tiling is slowly removed to focus students on multiplying side lengths to find area.
- Engagement
- MLR7
- Explain (orally) strategies for calculating the area of ungridded figures composed of rectangles.
- Let’s find the area of a figure.
Required Preparation
None
Teacher Reflection Questions
This lesson is designed to help students shift toward multiplying to find areas, rather than counting unit squares. Did you see this shift in students’ strategies? What questions could you ask students about their strategies to help them make that shift if they are still counting?
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