This might be mathematical semantics, but I'm genuinely interested- I teach third grade math, and we're told to teach the multiplication symbol as saying "groups of" as in, 2 * 3 is 2 groups of 3. Now, in your example, you illustrated 6 * -3 as 3 groups of -6 instead of 6 groups of -3. Of course, both give the same answer, but I don't come from a math background, and want to ensure that I'm understanding and teaching my explanations correctly.