Too often, children are asked to memorize the multiplication facts without discovering what they really mean. Teachers need to teach multiplication for understanding. One of the many ways I did that was to ask questions such as:
2 cars – how many mirrors?
7 tricycles – how many wheels?
4 spiders – how many legs?
Once students have grasped the meaning of multiplication, they need to develop speed in the recall of the facts.
For many years, I have been using games instead of worksheets or timed tests after the students developed the logic of multiplication. The results were encouraging. The students began to memorize the facts more easily, and when tested at the end of the school year, had retained the facts. In other words, the multiplication facts had gone into long-term memory!
Motivation to learn the times’ tables must come from within, but the teacher has much to do with this motivation. Students can be motivated to learn the multiplication combinations because games are fun and there are a variety of them. See my 3rd grade multiplication games.
One of my favorites is Salute Multiplication.
Salute Multiplication
What you need:
2 players
deck of cards with face cards removed
Shuffle deck and place face down in a pile.
Player #1 turns over the top card and places it face up on the table for all to see.
Player #2 draws a card and does not look at it. Player 2 holds the card above his or her eyes so that player #1 can see it, but he can’t.
Player #1 multiplies the 2 cards mentally and says the product out loud.
Player #2 listens and decides what his or her card must be and says that number out loud.
Example: Player #1 turns over a 6 for all to see. Without looking at it, player #2 puts a 4 on his forehead. Player #1 mentally
multiplies 6 x 4 and says, “24”. Player #2 must figure out
6 x ? = 24.
Both players decide if the response is correct. If it is, player #1 gets 1 point.
Players reverse roles and play continues until one player has 10 points.
Take some of the frustration out of getting your students to memorize the multiplication tables – give a game a try!
