Skip-Counting Sports Star

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

To start, grab a piece of paper and make a tally mark for each basket your team scores while skip counting by twos. You’ll count like this: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18.

Wow! When your team made 9 baskets, they scored 18 points!

• But what is skip counting?

Look at this number line.

• See how each number has a mark between them?

That’s the skipped part!

• How does skip counting relate to multiplication?

Remember that multiplying is the same as repeated addition. If you skip count by 2s (2, 4, 6, 8), it is the same as 2 + 2 + 2 + 2.

Check out this table.

The left column shows how many times you add 2s, and the right column shows the results of skip counting by 2s.

• What do you notice?

If you multiply the number in the left column by two, you get the number in the right column! 

2 x 1 = 2

2 x 2 = 4

2 x 3 = 6

Suppose you had to solve the problem 2 x 6 but didn't know the answer. You could skip count by 2s six times.

2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12.

The answer is 12!

• What would it look like if you skip counted by 3s?

Draw a number line on your paper, like the one below, and write the numbers 1-20.

Now, skip count by 3s and circle every third number.

• What numbers did you circle?

Yes! 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18.

Use those numbers to make a table like the one below.

• What is 3 x 5?

If you need a clue, look at the table again.

Yes! 3 x 5 = 15.

You can double-check your answer by adding 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 or skip counting by 3s five times: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15.

You’re doing great!

Head to the Got It? section to tackle some exciting problems and games!