$3 times tables up to 100$

Then turn both answers and calculations over and make it a game of Pelmanism. Next turn the calculations over and leave the answers face up, so that the first halves come up randomly. At first simply play matching exercises where they are paired up correctly, so they make complete ‘number sentences,’ such as ‘3 x 4 = 12’. Make up a set of twenty four for each times table, with calculations on one group and answers on the rest. Clicking blocks together to make the answers, then laying them down next to each other will outline and reinforce the way in which the numbers progress in any given table.įlashcards are also a useful prop.

It is also helpful to show children that once they know one fact they actually know two, due to the principle of commutativity, which just means that when you know 3 x 4, you also know 4 x 3.įor some learners it will help to physically make the numbers using Unifix or similar (even Lego can work here) to see how the patterns build. These can be used to show the commonalities between tables, how they share answers, that 2, 4, and 8, for example, or 3, 6, and 9 all follow similar patterns. The use of number squares also helps, having a grid of numbers in rows of 10, usually up to 100 (although 144 is where times tables end) upon which learners can look for the patterns made by the answers in each times table. BBC Bitesize has a set although there are plenty of examples on Youtube. That is not to say that having the class say times tables aloud in unison no longer happens, rather that this will be set to music, as a rap, perhaps. Whilst the notion of learning styles has largely been dismissed, multi-sensory learning still has a place in the classroom, so approaches using practical activities, alongside visual and aural ones, will give pupils a greater opportunity for understanding. So nowadays teachers use a variety of teaching methods, intended to provide numerical understanding as well as parroted recall.Īll of us learn in different ways. This can lead to children being able to respond instantly when asked a calculation – such as 6 times 7 – without necessarily understanding what that means, or why that is the answer. Traditionally times tables are taught by rote, that is, everyone chants them altogether. However, there are plenty of ways we can help them to learn them, even having some fun along the way. For many of them this will be a challenge. By the age of ten, English school children are expected to have instant recall of all the times tables up to twelve.