Helping Your Students Get a Head Start when Beginning Multiplication
Are you going to start teaching multiplication soon?
Third grade is THE YEAR for introducing students to multiplication. And those multiplication skills will carry over into all the grades after that.
You need to get your students off to a great start with multiplication. Understanding those beginning multiplication concepts is SO important to their math future.
Good news…I have plenty of beginning multiplication tips and resources to help your students master multiplication.
Before diving into all the multiplication details, I have FREE multiplication facts skip counting strips to help students learn multiplication facts! Click here to join my email list and get this free resource.
Multiplication and Repeated Addition
Repeated addition is adding the same number over and over. For example, 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 is repeated addition. Prior to learning multiplication, students should have already learned addition. They may have even practiced repeated addition already. To introduce multiplication, students need to be taught that a repeated addition problem is the equivalent to a multiplication problem. When students find out they have basically already done multiplication through repeated addition, it’s like a lightbulb goes off in their heads.
Here are some of my favorite ways to teach repeated addition and multiplication:
Give counters to each student in the class. Have each student hold up the same number of counters. Add up all the counters in the class and make repeated addition and multiplication problems. Note: It’s important to emphasize to students that the addition and multiplication problems have the same answer.
Make a real-life example: Your class is going to the store to buy dog toys for all the students’ dogs. How many dogs do students have altogether? How much does a dog toy cost? Make repeated addition and multiplication sentences to find the total your class will spend.
Repeated addition games & activities - I have lots of math games to practice repeated addition and multiplication! You can find some of them here:
Multiplication & Repeated Addition Board Game
Multiplication & Repeated Addition Solve the Room Activity
Multiplication & Repeated Addition Puzzle Worksheets
I also have my best-selling beginning multiplication matching games, which you can get by clicking the picture below!
Multiplication with Equal Groups
Multiplication with equal groups is ideal for students who are visual or tactile learners, because it involves physically sorting items into groups. In this multiplication method, students put an equal number of items into groups and count them all to find the product.
Here are some of my favorite ways to teach multiplication with equal groups:
Borrow some hula hoops from your school’s gym teacher. Have students take off one shoe each (they LOVE this). Then have a certain number of students put a shoe in each hula hoop. Write the multiplication problem. Count all the shoes to find the product. Note: In some schools, students are not allowed to take off their shoes due to the fire code. Check with your administrator first.
Use food! I loved using cheese fish crackers. Have students draw 10 fishbowls ( these can just be circles) on a piece of paper. It’s helpful to model how to do this on the board. Each student gets a small cup of crackers. Give students different equal groups problems to solve. They place crackers in the number of bowls stated to make the problem. Make sure to check for food allergies before this activity - you may need to use a different type of food or physical counters rather than food.
Need activities and games for multiplication with equal groups? Check out the resources below by clicking on them.
Multiplication with Equal Groups Matching Game
Multiplication with Equal Groups Game for Google Slides™
Multiplication with Equal Groups Boom™ Cards & Printable Task Cards
You can also get my beginning multiplication board games by clicking on the picture below!
Multiplication with Arrays
In second grade math, students relate repeated addition and arrays. This is so helpful when teaching multiplication with arrays in third grade! Students should already be familiar with the concept of an array. If you have already taught multiplication and repeated addition, you can review how repeated addition relates to arrays, and then convert repeated addition problems into multiplication problems.
Here are some of my favorite ways to teach multiplication with arrays:
Make arrays using bingo dabbers. Students love doing this! If you can find a large roll of paper to use, that’s ideal, as you’ll need lots of room. Have students write the array dimensions right on the paper and make multiplication problems. You can also use cotton swabs or small stamps with construction paper if you have less room.
Mini stickers! Students also love this. Students can create the arrays themselves using mini stickers, or you can create them ahead of time on index cards, hide them around the room, and have students find and solve the arrays.
Find arrays in real life. Egg cartons, checkerboards, floor tiles, and muffin pans are all examples of arrays in real life. You can then use these objects to create different sizes of arrays. Students can also draw these real-life arrays they find or snap pictures and write multiplication problems to go with them. If you have square floor tiles in your classroom, students can outline them in painter’s tape to make arrays.
Bonus strategy: Use arrays to introduce the Associative Property of Multiplication. It’s important that students begin practicing and using multiplication properties early on. While you are teaching arrays, show students how the array can be turned 90 degrees and still have the same product.
Activities and games to practice multiplication arrays:
Multiplication Arrays Bingo Game
Need plenty of beginning multiplication activities for your students? Check out the discounted bundle by clicking on the picture below!
Once your students are ready to start learning multiplication facts, a multiplication table can come in handy. You can click here to check out a “poppable” multiplication table that is sure to motivate students to find and learn those multiplication facts! (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Let me know!
Have questions about these strategies? What strategies for beginning multiplication do you find helpful with your students? Email me at laura@thirdgradeengaged.com and let me know!
