REASON #1: STUDENTS ARE NOT MAKING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN MULTIPLICATION FACTS

The multiplication facts are all related. We can use what we know in order to solve anything! So many students see facts like 5×6 and 6×6 as completely isolated facts, but in reality, they are connected because 6×6 is just one more group of 6 than 5×6!

SOLUTION

Teach connections! Teach about doubling the groups, adding a group, subtracting a group, and halving the groups. When students UNDERSTAND these connections, they won’t simply rely on memorization. I’ve made a lot of YouTube videos about multiplication connections and strategies that you can view on my YouTube channel HERE.

REASON #2: LESS TIME FOR THE BASICS

Today’s curriculum is overwhelming. It is jam-packed with topics and often we are “covering” them rather than diving deep, simply because of a lack of time. We need to ensure that even when our math classes are focused on other topics such as geometry or fractions, we are still practicing basic facts on a daily basis.

SOLUTION

Basic facts can easily be integrated into your daily routine. Here are a few ideas for how you can implement this:

• Make your daily morning work math fact-based. Have students solve a few equations in the morning rather than always relying on a morning message or other ELA-related task.
• Integrate basic facts into your Math Warm-Up. A couple of problem-solving or other fact-based tasks can be incorporated into the start of each math class. This does not have to take any more than 3 or 4 minutes so that you still have plenty of time to focus on the other topics you are teaching that day. This Multiplication Equation of the Day booklet is a great way to incorporate math fact practice!
• Use centers or stations. When you have math stations set up in your classroom, ensure that one of those stations is always dedicated to fact review. This can include card and dice games, partner practice, or other fact-based activities.

REASON #3: TEACHING THE MULTIPLICATION FACTS IN THE WRONG ORDER

When I first started teaching, I taught the multiplication facts in regular numerical order – the 1’s first, then the 2’s, then the 3’s, etc. Little did I know this was completely wrong! Teaching in regular numerical order does not make practical sense when you think about learning multiplication in a strategic way.

SOLUTION

When you get strategic with your teaching, your students will learn more efficiently and more effectively. It also won’t feel as difficult for them! This means that motivation and success will increase! Teach the facts in a strategic order that allows students to make connections and build on what they know. This is the order that I suggest for teaching the facts:

• The 2’s
• The 10’s
• The 5’s
• The 1’s and 0’s
• The 4’s
• The 3’s
• The 9s
• The 6’s
• The 7’s
• The 8’s

The reason for this strategic order is that students are knocking out all of the easy facts first. This builds confidence, and means that when they get to the difficult facts, there are very few left to learn!

I’ve written an entire blog post about this suggested order of teaching that includes a lot of visuals so you can see exactly WHY you definitely want to teach in this order! See that post HERE.

This brings me to the commutative property…

REASON #4: NOT UNDERSTANDING THE COMMUTATIVE PROPERTY OF MULTIPLICATION

Often our students will look at the first factor of an equation and become intimidated if it is a number they perceive as “difficult” to multiply. For example, the 7 times tables can be intimidating, so a fact like 7×4 might look difficult at first glance.

SOLUTION

Our students must understand the commutative property of multiplication. It is essential that they understand that for a fact like 7×4, the product will be the same as 4×7. So they could use the 4’s strategy (double the double) to solve this fact.

When students understand the commutative property of multiplication, the number of facts they need to learn is cut down drastically. I talk about this more in the post that I mentioned above about the suggested order of teaching, but I just want to reiterate – by the time that students have reached the last set of facts , they have already learned most of them because of the commutative property of multiplication.

REASON #5: THE WRONG MIX OF MEMORIZATION AND STRATEGY

We know that mental math strategies are important for multiplication, but so is automaticity of the facts. However, if we begin with memorization before we teach strategy, many of our students will struggle with fact retention and never attain this goal.

SOLUTION

We can integrate mental math strategies along with techniques for memorization, but we have to be strategic about it. Begin by teaching your students strategies for each set of facts. Allow them the time that they need to understand each strategy before moving on to a new one. Once students really UNDERSTAND the process of the multiplication strategy, then begin to incorporate memorization. Our goal is automaticity with the facts, meaning that students are solving a fact within 1-3 seconds. So for example, you might begin teaching the 2 times tables using the doubles strategy. However, once students understand this strategy, you will begin to encourage automaticity, meaning that students are no longer relying so heavily on the strategy, and they just “know” the answer.

NEXT STEPS

If you have read this far, I know that you are committed to helping your students achieve mastery of the multiplication facts. I am passionate about multiplication and I would love to help you! Here are a few links to helpful blog posts and resources that were mentioned in this article:

BLOG POST: A Suggested Order of Teaching The Basic Multiplication Facts

SELF-PACED PROGRAM FOR FACT MASTERY: The Multiplication Station

DAILY PRACTICE: Multiplication Equation of the Day Booklet

FUN MULTIPLICATION GAMES: Multiplication Bump