"The King's Commissioners" or the Value of Multiplication
I poured out 47 counters on the table and gave the boys the problem of figuring out how to count them as quickly as the could and still be accurate. The fourth student suggested that they count them into groups of 5. The fifth student then said that we should combine the groups of 5 into groups of ten. The third student then wanted to try all the combinations to make sure that none of them came out even.
"A confused king has appointed a commissioner to handle every problem in the kingdom from flat tires to chicken pox. Now he has no idea how many commissioners there areand he orders his royal advisers to gather and count them as they walk through the door. The first adviser counts by twos, the second by fives, and the little princess by tens. Of course, they all arrive at the same answer. The king is utterly perplexed, but his daughter clears up the mystery and readers learn the value of multiplication." -School Library Journal
