MULTIPLICATION MATTERS

I learned my multiplication table virtually overnight, when I was in 3rd grade. I had this math teacher who had long nails. She liked to randomly call on students and, if they were not able to answer correctly, she poked them on the head with those nails while saying, "Study, study, study". I didn't want to be poked on the head. My wild imagination led me to believe she was going to draw blood (although to my knowledge, she never did). I memorized the table so I can make sure that I never got poked on the head; it worked.

Fast forward three decades...I was dealing with 4th and 5th graders who could not memorize their math facts, for one reason or another. I still encounter students who just cannot remember. I wish I had a tip for them, for memorizing their facts. I certainly would not wish them to learn out of fear like I did, but I am at a loss as to how to help them memorize. If those catchy rhymes like "Six times eight I used to hate, now I know it's forty-eight" don't work, what will?

I decided not to focus on memorization. Rather, I thought I would teach students how to figure it out. If they can't memorize, they should at least know how to get there without counting up all the way from one.

I used to have this multiplication table hanging in my room when I was a tutor. My students asked why I didn't write all the products down. I said it wasn't my job to give them all the answers. I just needed to help them know how to figure things out themselves.

So, when a student cannot remember what 6•7 is, I teach them to go back to what they know (and I assume they know the multiples of 5 and 10). Typically, it means going back to 5•7. So I ask, "If you have 5 sevens, you have...?" and they answer 35. Then I ask, "If 5 sevens is 35, what would 6 sevens be?" and sometimes I have to word it differently, like "If 5 sevens is 35, 6 sevens would be 7 more than 35" if the student is truly struggling.

Sometimes it's multiples of 9 that gives them trouble. I try to remind them of the "finger trick" but even that can be hard to remember. So if a student is trying to solve 9•8, I guide them by asking, "Would you like to start at 5•8 or 10•8?" If they had worked with me before, they would know to start from 10•8 and work their way down. 

This is not ideal. It takes time, but it takes less time than counting up from one (and possibly losing count)...or drawing 72 dots on paper. Of course, one would hope that with as many times as we go through it, some of the facts will stick. Until that happens, and because it is futile to get frustrated over what is not being memorized, the least we can do is provide the students with a better understanding of number sense so that they can work out what they cannot memorize. That's one more tool in their virtual toolbox.