Write 4 + 4 + 4 on the board and take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Give a few seconds of quiet think-time first. Someone will likely say "twelve" (the total) and someone may say "three fours" or "three times four" — steer toward the shorter way of writing it, not just the total.

Work these live — don't read them out as a script. Point at the left pan and ask the class to count the groups aloud, then ask how many are in each group.

• 4 + 4 + 4 = 3 × 4 — three groups, four in each. Draw out "three fours".
• 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 4 × 2 — hold out for how many groups this time (four), before naming the multiplication.
• 5 + 5 = 2 × 5 — the shortest addition, so the class can see even two groups still work.

Both pans now show the same equal groups, so pupils see an expression balancing an expression, not a number balancing a sum. So both pans weigh the same is the phrase to keep returning to — the beam being level is the proof they match.

If the balance-scales interactive fails to load: draw two pans on the board, stack the addition as counter tallies in the left pan and the equal groups as the same tallies in the right, and rub out or add tallies until the class agrees both sides match.

Talk this one through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

A pupil lays the counters in rows under the visualiser (or drags on the IWB) while the rest of the class lays the same at their desks with their own counters. For each set: how many rows? how many in each row? what is the repeated addition? what is the multiplication?

• 3 rows of 4 — 4 + 4 + 4 = 3 × 4.
• 2 rows of 6 — 6 + 6 = 2 × 6; watch for pupils who write 6 × 2, and revoice that both name the same amount.
• 5 rows of 2 — five groups this time, the most groups so far.
• 3 rows of 3 — the rows and the group-size match, so listen for pupils spotting that.

If time is short, drop the final set (3 rows of 3) — the first three cover the idea, and set-up plus clear-down between sets eats the clock.

This is the practice round — 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.

• 5 + 5 vs 2 × ? — two groups already, and each group of five, so the group size is 5.
• 2 + 2 + 2 vs 3 × ? — three groups already, so the group size is 2.
• 3 × 4 vs 4 + 4 + ? — three fours needed, two already shown, so the missing part is 4.
• 3 × 4 vs 6 + ? — this one takes two steps, and the board flags it as such. Model it aloud: the left pan is twelve; the right already has 6, and we need to reach twelve, so 6 + ? = 12 means the missing part is 6. Ask a pupil to count on from 6 to 12 to prove it.

The callout to keep asking: how many equal groups are hiding in this addition? Let a pupil predict before pressing Check.

If a pupil points out that 4 × 3 would also make twelve, agree — both name the same amount — but keep the board written as three fours so the group order stays clear.

If the balance-scales interactive is unavailable: write each equation on the board, take the missing number as hands-up answers, and prove each one by counting the groups aloud with the class before moving on.