Free Writing Day 8

Teaching Multiplication to the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”

For the past couple of weeks, I have been teaching a group of students their multiplication tables. We’ve made it up to the fives, and after each set, we’ve been filling in a blank chart to reiterate the lesson. Today, while we were filling it in, 0-5, I began to remind them that they could use this chart as a reference if they weren’t sure of an answer. “Have you guys seen ‘Star Wars’?” I asked, to which I got a resounding “No!” (Disappointing, but what can you do?). So, as I was wearing my “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” shirt (the old school cartoon ones, not the new CGI guys), I said, “Ok. In ‘Star Wars’, they say, “Use the Force, Luke!” Since you guys have never seen it, how about if I say, “Use the chart!” It was then that one of the students said, “Oooo! You can give us turtle names. We can be team turtle!” So, they each picked their favorite turtle. It worked out perfectly, because they gave me the name Donatello, and he happens to be my favorite ninja turtle. The main teacher was given the nickname “Master Splinter”, and unknown multiplication problems were given the name “Shredder” (for those who don’t know, he’s the main bad guy of the stories). For the next fifteen minutes, I would ask them a multiplication problem by saying, “Ok Michaelangelo, use the chart and tell me what 6x5 is!” They found this to be very exciting, and I feel like it will help make the times tables stick in their minds.

It’s moments like this that make me want to continue on and finish my teaching degree. I love it when the figurative light bulb goes off over their heads!