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With this in mind, we’ve pulled a whitepaper together entitled Creative Ways of Teaching Times Tables, drawing on the experiences of some of our contacts in schools across the country.
The whitepaper covers many of the different ways to teach times tables for both Key Stage 1 and 2, as well as giving useful information about:
- Rote Learning
- Testing & Assessing Development
- Homework & Parental Involvement
- Extra Support (with teaching the times tables)
Here are two of the many ideas outlined in the document that you might not have thought of applying to the teaching of times tables to give you a taste of what’s in the whitepaper.
Key Stage 1
At Key Stage 1, the focus should be on practical and visual techniques to help students grasp the basics of multiplication.
One way we can teach times tables at this age is by using shoes! Looking at pairing shoes is often a good starter for children to learn about the two times table, and is perfect, because if there is one thing every classroom has lots of, it’s shoes!
Key Stage 2
As children move into Key Stage 2, they should have gained a good understanding of the mechanics of multiplication, so the focus turns to activities that help them commit the all-important number facts to memory. One approach to this is to use immersion techniques, so that times tables appear everywhere they possibly can in the children’s daily environment. They could feature in hallway and classroom displays, for example, or you may have murals showcasing multiplication sequences and patterns. This repeated exposure will help to embed times tables into the students’ long-term memories.
To find out more about how other teachers in the field are getting creative when teaching times tables, take a look at our Creative Ways of Teaching Times Tables whitepaper.
P.S. To all the schools that helped us create this whitepaper, we’d like to say a massive thank you!