introducing...
The Multiplication Station
A strategy-based program for basic multiplication fact fluency and a conceptual understanding of multiplication
- Do your students struggle with the basic multiplication facts?
- Do you find that your students typically forget the multiplication facts easily, or don’t remember them in the first place?
- Do you want to implement a strategic approach to teaching multiplication, but you don’t know where to start?
- Do you wish you had a way to ensure that every student is being appropriately challenged and working to their full potential?
The Multiplication Station is a self-paced, student-centered program for the basic multiplication facts. Students work at their own pace through each level, mastering multiplication strategies and facts as they go. The self-paced nature ensures that each student is working at a pace that is just right!
Hi! I’m Shelley!
During my first year as a teacher, I taught a Grade 3-4 combined class. When it came time to teach multiplication, I didn’t know what I was going to do. Some of the students had already been doing multiplication for a year, while others didn’t even know what it meant. How was I going to appeal to all the students and ensure I was targeting each of their unique abilities? I didn’t want to hold some students back, and I didn’t want to get too far ahead for others.
That’s when the Multiplication Station was born (a much less sophisticated version back then). I developed a self-paced program where students could work through a series of multiplication activities at their own pace. I integrated principles of student engagement such as power, fun, and choice. The result was amazing. I literally had students begging me to keep doing multiplication.
The Multiplication Station has evolved a lot since then. But it still includes those same basic principles that will engage, motivate, and ensure success for all students in your classroom.
This program has helped students in tens of thousands of classrooms around the world master the multiplication facts!
I cannot say enough good things about this resource!!! I am a Special Education teacher but teaching Math is not my strength. I was not sure how to go about teaching multiplication and this resource was worth all the money I invested in it. My student has a significant difficulty learning Math but I feel like this resource has helped him master multiplication in a way that he is able to solve problems without necessarily memorizing all the tables, since he is able to apply strategies he knows (and some are based on the easier tables, for example the x4 table uses the x2 table as a strategy). I also like that there is a review of the different tables as students progress through the unit. He is able to do some worksheets independently and some with support, and he does not really complain about doing them (he tends to get bored very easily and it is super hard to find something he will not complain about).
Special Ed for Everyone
I love this resource! It was recommended to be in a math social media group and I couldn't be more grateful. It teaches each set of facts by scaffolding from concrete to abstract so that students wrap their heads around the strategies independently. I also love that it spirals throughout as they learn each fact set. Thank you!
Speducator15
Just wanted you to know how much my students LOVE this program! They are motivated to learn their facts and beg to do the activities during free time!!!! I am amazed and LOVE this resource!!!!
Connie G.
The Multiplication Station will help your students achieve:
- fact fluency for the multiplication facts to 10x10
- a deep understanding of what multiplication really means (conceptual understanding).
- the ability to make connections between facts and use what they know to solve new problems (this is the missing puzzle piece in SO many classrooms).
- a sense of empowerment and confidence
The Multiplication Station can work for you even if:
- the way you learned multiplication in school was much different
- you teach students who ‘should’ already know the multiplication facts
- you teach in an intervention or homeschool setting
- you have tried many other approaches that haven’t worked
Is The Multiplication Station right for me?
The Multiplication Station is designed for busy teachers who want to give their students the opportunity to master multiplication and meet them exactly where they are at. It’s for teachers who are ready to make the leap from teaching for memorization to teaching for understanding. It’s for teachers who are truly committed to their students’ understanding and who live for those light bulb moments where multiplication finally “clicks” for their students.
The Multiplication Station has been used in tens of thousands of classrooms as well as by intervention teachers, special education teachers, homeschool parents, and even grandparents helping their grandchildren with multiplication.
I am passionate about helping you make multiplication exciting, fun and relevant for your students.
You don’t have to continue to face the same problems with multiplication year after year.
The gaps in understanding that are holding your students back CAN be filled!
Math anxiety and dread can be changed to excitement and engagement!
The Multiplication Station is an extensive resource. Here is how this program will work in your classroom.
The Multiplication Station can be organized in different ways. Most teachers organize it in a plastic tub. This is stored in a central location, and students go to the tub to get new activities or answer keys whenever they are needed. This is the set up that I recommend and that most teachers use.
Some teachers decide to make the station into booklets instead. Each booklet includes all the activities that a student needs.
Students will work through twelve levels in all. Each level focuses on a different set of facts. For example, in Level One students will master the x2 facts. In Level Two they will work with the 10’s facts.
In each level, the strategies are slowly built upon and integrated with previous strategies and facts. The strategies that are included are not “tricks” that only work with certain facts. They are true mental math strategies that will enable students to solve any problem.
As students work through a level, they track their progress on their personal tracker. This helps them remember which activity they were on, and keeps them responsible for their own learning.
When students get to the end of a level, they approach you for their “quiz.” This is a very short, oral assessment of the facts and strategies from that level. Assessment Quick Check Cards are included for your convenience. Teacher assessment sheets are also provided to help you keep track of each student’s progress.
When students complete a level, they complete a page in their Multiplication Passport. This helps them stay reflective and acts as a portfolio of all the strategies they have learned.
Hands-on activities are included after every few levels. These are typically activities that incorporate subitizing or reflection.
This resource includes everything you need to make this program a huge success in your classroom, including:
- strategic, progressive, multiplication activities for each set of facts
- answer keys
- an accompanying video to help you prepare and understand your Multiplication Station
- clear set-up instructions
- parent resources and home practice charts
- classroom posters
- student and teacher assessment trackers
- Multiplication Passports
- Plus a digital version of all student activity sheets in Google Slides™️ format for teachers using digital learning
Teacher support is very important to me and I do everything possible to guide you through the process of creating your own Multiplication Station. Within the document you will find checklists, set-up guides, as well as a support video to guide you through the set-up process.
FAQs
Yes! I have heard from many teachers who have used this station with their 5th grade + students. If your students are struggling with the facts, the Multiplication Station will help them learn strategies that will boost retention.
I recommend reading through some of the 5000+ reviews on TpT here. This will help you understand how this station has worked for other grade levels.
The Multiplication Station goes up to 10×10. However, I have included a final level called Beyond 10×10. Students will learn strategies that they can use to solve many different problems beyond 10×10, including 11 and 12. I don’t want to limit students to only solving up to 12×12. Instead, I want to empower them to solve any multi-digit fact using efficient strategies and what they already know.
There are typically 4-6 activity sheets per level.
I have always gotten mine at WalMart in the stationary section, but I have also seen them at Staples or on Amazon.
Often upper grades teachers find themselves in a bind – the curriculum assumes that students already know the multiplication facts, but many students don’t. Teachers need to teach the grade level curriculum and often don’t have time to go back to basic multiplication.
Many teachers use The Multiplication Station as an independent station that students can work on, while they teach grade level content in other stations. This gives students the opportunity to learn efficient strategies for basic multiplication facts, which will help them complete grade level expectations such as multi-digit multiplication.
COPYRIGHT © 2021 — SHELLEY GRAY • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.