How to Teach the Commutative Property to Second Grade

Teaching Commutative Property Addition to Second Graders

• 1

  Erase everything on the black or whiteboard. Give the students paper and writing instruments so they can do the math problems along with you.

• 2

  Write "a + b = b + a" on the board and tell the students that this is the commutative property of addition rule. Explain that it means that if you add two numbers together, the order of the numbers does not matter as they will equal the same number.

• 3

  Supply the students with examples. Ones suitable for their grade level are "1 + 2 = 2 + 1" and "2 + 3 = 3 + 2." Add the figures up to show the children that both sides of the equation have the same total.

Teaching Commutative Property Multiplication to Second Graders

• 4

  Erase everything on the black or whiteboard.

• 5

  Write "a x b = b x a" on the board and tell the kids that this is the commutative property of multiplication rule. Explain that it means that if you multiply two numbers together, the order of the numbers does not matter as they will equal the same number.

• 6

  Supply the students with examples. Ones suitable for their grade level are "1 x 2 = 2 x 1" and "2 x 3 = 3 x 2." Add the figures up to show the children that both sides of the equation have the same total.