Pinterest led me to The Star Spangled Planner teacher's blog - particularly this post (it's well worth a look if you are currently teaching multiplication):

http://www.starrspangledplanner.com/2014/12/10-multiplication-center-ideas.html?m=1

​Among many great ideas, there was using Lego blocks to create and solve arrays. My class has really enjoyed this, and it has been the perfect self-differentiating activity. I have some kids who are struggling with the idea of 2 x 4, while at the same time I have a couple of kiddos who are quite happily multiplying double digit numbers (crazy for P3, right?). But these Lego arrays have been good - the kids are able to create easy or hard arrays and solve them - it's up to them.

​So here are the results of today's work in my 3 different groups:

This is my group who finds multiplication the trickiest. Most went for the very straightforward bricks, although I did have a couple of 2 x 17 type problems (and I know which kiddo needs to remember to put in an equal sign instead of another multiplication symbol). You can see one bigger green square block - it was 8 x 8. We came close, but needed a bit of support to figure it out. But I loved the fact that this kid was able (and wanted) to challenge himself this way.

 This group was a bit more adventurous, although you can definitely see a few wrong answers in there! But they were challenging themselves, which is great to see. I helped one person figure out 16 x 8, and several others then jumped on that particular bandwagon.

This last picture is from my kiddos who are largely getting the hang of multiplication quite well. Most of this group was out with SfL for a 'challenge' maths session, so they only had a few minutes right at the end to come up with these equations. These pictures show the challenge of teaching, don't they? A huge spread of understanding between the different groups.

​By the last group, I realised I needed to get them to use black markers, so I could easily read their equations in my pictures. Tomorrow, this will be an independent station, so I've prepared a simple sheet for them to paste into their jotters, so they can write down (and be held accountable for!) the Lego equations they solve. If you'd like to use this idea, click on the picture below to get your own Lego equations sheet (I've copied it in greyscale, rather than colour).

I hope everyone has had a restful Christmas break. I took my own advice and had a lovely time off with family, but now that means the last couple of days have been hectic! Luckily, here in Aberdeenshire we didn't have the September long weekend, and those extra 2 days were added to our Christmas holiday, so we go back to school tomorrow.

​In maths, we'll be starting to look at multiplication and division. I'll have my class do a pre-assessment tomorrow, to find out exactly what they do and don't know. However, I'm pretty sure I'll find a range of different levels of understanding of multiplication (I know that at least a couple of kids already know all of their times tables to 10), so I've made a set of differentiated game boards for us to start off with this week.

​Kids seem to pick up doubles fairly easily - most of my class know their doubles to 20, and many can double beyond 20 relatively easily (we work on this skill each morning as part of our morning administration routine - we double the number of children having school dinners each day). The doubles strategy in multiplication builds on the doubling skills that the kids already have. The 4 times table just doubles the answers in the 2 times table (and 8 doubles 4, 16 doubles 8, etc).

​The games I've made start at an easy level (the one shown above), to help support my kiddos who find maths a bit trickier. There is also a game board using the 2, 4 and 8 tables, as well as a challenge board using the 4, 8 and 16 tables. Each board has its own small 'multiplication grid' answer card, so kids can check their answers as they go (and they aren't practising the wrong sums!).

​You can click on the picture above or here to download your copy of these games.

​The game is played very easily. Each player takes a turn rolling the die. They then move their counter that many spaces. If they have rolled a '3' and land on the '4', they multiply those 2 numbers together. If they answer '12' correctly, they remain on that space. If they answer incorrectly, they go back to their previous space (you can obviously modify this rule, if you want - so children could go back 1 space, etc for a wrong answer). I find that it helps to have a small penalty for a wrong answer - that is usually enough incentive for the playing partners to not let each other cheat, by looking at the answer grid before answering their question!

​I'll be using this game in conjunction with doing number talks that focus on this doubling strategy. So I'll also be modelling for the kids how to use mathematical language to explain how they got each answer (e.g., 'I know that 3 x 2 = 6, so I know that 3 x 4 is double 6, or 12').

​Hope your first week back goes well. If you are starting to look at multiplication as well, and are able to use this game, I'd love to hear from you about any modifications you make or how your kids like it.