How to Support Multiplication and Division with Ready Set Math
Summaries of:
Ready Set Math Module 7: Multiplication & Division: Counting-based Strategies
Ready Set Math Module 8: Multiplication & Division: Strategies & Basic Facts
Blog post written by: Melissa Wilke and Kurt Kinsey
Fact Fluency in Multiplication and Division
Fact fluency continues to be a thorn in many intermediate classrooms. How do we move our students from counting to knowing their facts?
If they just practice more, they will just know it, right?
There is so much more to building fluency than memorization and a drill-and-kill approach.
Early experiences for multiplication and division learning involve building equal groups and counting by one to determine the total. Building on this knowledge, students can advance to counting in multiples to solve equal grouping tasks, and then, to the use of non-counting strategies.
It is important to recognize the use of visual materials to advance student thinking as it’s related to multiplication and division.
The trajectory for multiplication and division involves 5 key phases of instruction:
- Forming equal groups
- Verbal sequences of multiples commonly referred to as skip-counting
- Counting-based strategies for multiplication and division
- Non-counting strategies using multiplicative reasoning
- Generalize number relationships to build automaticity
The two Ready Set Math modules, Multiplication & Division: Counting-Based Strategies and Multiplication & Division: Strategies and Basic Facts, incorporate the learning progression and trajectory establishing an end goal of automatized knowledge of multiplication and division basic facts that is grounded in multiplicative reasoning strategies.
Multiplication & Division: Counting-Based Strategies
In the first module, Multiplication & Division: Counting-Based Strategies, students are engaged in experiences involving forming equal groups, producing verbal sequences in multiples, and applying counting-based strategies involving equal-sized groups to gain a foundation of understanding for multiplication and division.
The use of instructional settings such as n-groups and n-tiles, are used to represent items and groups supporting student thinking through the trajectory.
The use of instructional settings such as n-tiles and arrays are used intentionally to support student thinking through the trajectory.
Multiplication & Division: Strategies and Basic Facts
The learning then shifts to non-counting strategies for multiplication and division in the second module, Multiplication & Division: Strategies and Basic Facts.
This progression for learning includes building knowledge of foundational factors, using this knowledge to reason about other factors, generalizing these relationships, and building automaticity.
Professional Development for Ready Set Math
Throughout the modules, teachers are supported in-the -moment with professional learning and teaching tips for implementation and facilitation.
These moments are aligned with Math Recovery research and best practices through our Guiding Principles bringing awareness to the intricacies of supporting students in gaining fluency in multiplication and division.
More about Ready Set Math
Are you ready? Get Set! Get Ready Set Math Now!
How to Support Early Numeracy with Ready Set Math
How to Support Addition and Subtraction with Ready Set Math
How to Instruct Place Value and Mental Math Strategies with Ready Set Math
How Support Fractions with Ready Set Math
Learn more about Ready Set Math from US Math Recovery®