5 Effective Strategies to Teach Multiplication

 

Research shows that students who learn to use these mental math strategies memorize multiplication and division facts faster than those who do not.

These nine flip books were designed to give students an interactive, fun way to practice mental math five strategies for multiplication facts.  They make differentiating your instruction easy because there is a flip book for each set of multiplication facts: 2's – 10's.

They are effective for students who are just beginning their journey with multiplication in third grade…and those students in fourth and fifth who still are on that journey… to make the recall of the facts automatic.

These interactive flip books illustrate and provide practice with five basic multiplication strategies:

  1. EQUAL GROUPS
  2. ARRAYS
  3. REPEATED ADDITION
  4. SKIP-COUNTING
  5. RELATED FACTS

1.  Equal Groups

This is a perfect strategy to use to introduce multiplication because it is concrete and very visual.  I suggest providing multiple opportunities for your students to use manipulatives to make equal groups.

2.  Arrays

Arrays are another essential strategy to use when introducing multiplication because they are also concrete and very visual.  

Additionally, it is an effective way to introduce the Commutative Property {2×4 = 4×2} to your students.  Just by flipping the array, 90* students can see that the total number of objects did not change.

3.  Repeated Addition

The Repeated Addition strategy starts to move away from the concrete (objects) to the more abstract use of numbers to illustrate multiplication.

4.  Skip Counting

Skip counting is not only a great multiplication strategy – it lays an important foundation in understanding multiples – which will be very useful when students get into fractions.

5.  Related Facts

I love teaching this strategy because it helps the students understand the connection between multiplication and division as inverse operations.  It also reinforces the commutative property in multiplication and division. I chose to use the triangle flash cards model here because it is an extremely effective way to reinforce this concept while making the learning of the division facts so much easier!

Practice with Games

Scattered practice. 5 - 10 minutes a day, spread throughout the school year, yields powerful results. (Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock 2001)

Games are a fun, engaging, and effective way to give your students lots of practice with the math facts covered in each flip book!  This is an important step in helping your students to become automatic in their recall of math facts.  This game on the back of each flip book may be used during and after the flipbook is completed.

Try out these fun ‘Four in a Row'  games with your students. The download link is below.

Anchor Posters

These multiplication strategy anchor posters provide a great visual reminder for your students as they learn these key multiplication strategies.  Put them up on your math wall or use them in small groups to teach and review the different strategies.

Are you looking for a new and exciting way to help your students learn multiplication?
 
These multiplication strategy flipbooks are the perfect solution! They are filled with fun and interactive activities that will help your students learn multiplication strategies and become faster in their recall of multiplication facts.
 
Your students will love using these flip books! They are a fun and interactive way for them to learn and practice their multiplication skills!

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Welcome

My name is Peggy Means. I am a child of God and a retired elementary teacher. I loved teaching and creating engaging resources for my students. Now, I love sharing my resources and ideas with busy teachers around the world.

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