This is a genuine first attempt, not a teaser. Give about ten seconds of quiet think-time, then take two or three hands-up answers and the route each pupil used. Do not reveal the rule yet — the next step builds it from the evidence.

Walk each example one at a time, pointing at the two smaller rectangles.

• 6 × 13 — the 60 piece and the 18 piece; ask the class to add them to 78.
• 4 × 25 — 80 and 20 make 100; a clean one for confidence.

After the second example, pause for a quick hands-up check before moving on: which two smaller rectangles will we get when we split 16 at the tens? Take two answers, then run the third example.

• 9 × 16 — stress the two rectangles tile with no gap and no overlap.

Only after the third example, point to the on-screen rule and let the class help finish it aloud: multiplying by a sum equals multiplying each part and adding. This naming is the pay-off, not the opener.

This round is for talking it through together — invite a pupil up to the board to choose the split while the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Now we test the rule we just named on fresh numbers — does it still hold? Most pupils will cut at the tens (10 + 4). Watch for a pupil who multiplies the two parts together instead of adding the two partial products; revoice: we add the two rectangles, we don't multiply them. Keep this to the single on-screen product; the further practice products are done in the copybook step that follows.

This round is the practice bank — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

The last two have larger tens parts, so the partial products are bigger; ask which rectangle is the largest each time and why. A fast finisher who is waiting can mouth the next product to themselves — no parallel desk task.

Listen for pupils who reason from the area picture: take the big 6 × 20 rectangle and cut off the extra 6 × 2 strip. Revoice that as so the rule shares out over a minus the same way it shares out over a plus. Confirm 6 × 18 = 120 − 12 = 108 only after the class has reasoned it from the picture, not as the opener.

Recap the rule in one line and link forward: the splitting we did with numbers is exactly what lets us simplify expressions with letters later in the module.