Using partial products to multiply

Multiplication and Division Strategies

Below are some of the strategies we are using to build number sense for multiplication and division. We call the numbers we are multiplying (the factors) our parts and the answer (product) the whole. This is SOOOO important at this beginning of multiplication because students can get confused as to WHEN to multiply or divide (especially when we begin 2x1 digit multiplication).

For multiplication, we try to build off of "easy" basic facts to help us solve facts we don't know. That usually means we use 2s,5s, and 10s as much as possible while we are still trying to memorize facts. Of course our ultimate goal is to have facts memorized up to 10x10 so that NO strategy is needed, but until we are at that point we want to have some number sense on how to solve facts in the most efficient way.

For division, we always use the strategy "Think Multiplication". This means we turn our division sentence into a missing factor multiplication sentence. Then we can use multiples or those easy facts to build up to my answer. One common mistake to look for is that students can end up multiplying the whole by the part instead of looking for the the missing factor.