Tuesday, July 18, 2023

More Great Math Resources to Teach Multiplication in 2023!


a multiplication chart with facts up to 12x12
Multiplication Chart (Credit DadsWorksheets.com)

Multiplication is a fundamental skill that plays a crucial role in a child's mathematical development that is as relevant in 2023 as ever before. As educators and parents, it is essential to provide children with effective tools and strategies that make learning multiplication both engaging and enjoyable. In this post, I will share three highly beneficial tools for teaching multiplication to grade school age children: multiplication charts, timed fact practice, and printable worksheets with answer keys.

Multiplication Charts

Multiplication charts serve as visual aids that help children understand the basic concept of multiplication. These charts can be displayed in classrooms or at home, providing an accessible reference point for students when solving multiplication problems.

The advantage of using a multiplication chart for learning math facts is that it allow children to visually identify patterns and relationships between numbers. This visual representation helps them grasp the concept of multiplication as repeated addition or groups of equal size.

Additionally, multiplication charts enable students to quickly find products by following the row and column intersections. This approach enhances their mental math skills by facilitating faster recall of basic multiplication facts.

Timed Fact Practice

Timed multiplication fact practice exercises are an effective way to reinforce multiplication skills while improving fluency and speed. If you're like me, you probably learned your multiplication facts this way during your own time in grade school. These exercises involve setting a time limit for students to solve a series of multiplication problems (usually 50 or 60 problems) to build recall proficiency.

By introducing an element of competition against the clock, timed fact practice encourages students to think quickly and accurately recall their multiplication facts. This tool also helps build confidence as children see their progress learning different sets of multiplication facts over time. Watch out for those x7 facts!

To implement timed fact practice effectively, it is important to ensure that the problems are appropriately leveled according to each student's abilities and that you grade the tests as they go along. Gradually increase the difficulty level as students become more proficient in their knowledge of basic facts.

Printable Worksheets with Answer Keys

Printable multiplication worksheets provide an excellent resource for independent practice and reinforcement of multiplication concepts learned in class. These worksheets can be customized based on specific learning objectives or individual student needs, making them versatile tools for differentiated instruction.

The inclusion of an answer key with printable worksheets allows students to self-assess their work, encouraging a sense of independence and responsibility for their learning. Answer keys also enable parents and educators to monitor progress and identify areas that require additional support or intervention.

When designing printable worksheets, it is crucial to ensure they offer a variety of problem-solving approaches. For instance, incorporating word problems or real-life scenarios helps students apply multiplication skills in practical situations, fostering a deeper understanding of its relevance in daily life.

Monday, October 4, 2021

It's Never Too Early to Get Started with Math Worksheets!

Base Ten Blocks Worksheet

Introducing math concepts at an early age is one way for students to get a jump on many of the concepts they will be exposed to in later grades. Finding a good source of preschool math worksheets or Kindergarten math worksheets can be challenge. Fortunately, I have some recommendations for you!

Basic familiarity with numbers can start with simple worksheets like number matching or number tracing. These worksheets can help students recognize the spelled out name of a number along with its numerical form, and provide some simple counting practice (and here's useful link if you need some handwriting practice paper as well!)

One important topic for young students is basic number sense. While as adults we take for granted how numbers in familiar Arabic decimal form relate to quantities, these concepts can often be an early stumbling block. Base ten blocks worksheets can help students visualize quantity using units, rods, flats and cubes to help associate quantity with place value.

Basic counting activities teach students how numbers precede and follow each other in order. Missing numbers worksheets are a fun way for students to practice counting numbers, including starting in the middle of a sequence of numbers instead of always beginning from one. And tools like a hundreds chart can start building comfort with adding numbers using basic "counting up" skills.

No matter when you start, being basic math schools is an important first step in a child's development. Have other recommendations for early learning math worksheets? Drop your suggestions in the comments below!


Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Multiplication Charts, Worksheets and Teaching Resources

 

Multiplication Chart

Learning how to multiply has always been a rite of passage for 3rd grade students, and you'll find no shortage of timed multiplication tests or multiplication worksheets online, however these should only be some of the tools you'll use to build multiplication skills.

Students start out learning multiplication facts and memorizing the multiplication chart is a key first step. A printable chart is a resource every student should have in their math binder until those facts can be recalled quickly and reliably. Having a few simple rules for learning the multiplication facts can be a strategy for building fact recall.

As your 3rd and 4th graders move on to two digit and three digit multiplication, other tools that illustrate exactly how to work these problems can help students work past stumbling blocks. A multiplication calculator that shows the work needed to break down multi-digit problems is one resource that students (and adults!) may find incredibly useful, and the interactive calculator linked here definitely shows how each step in a long multiplication problems combines to form the final product.

No matter how you get there, mastering multiplication is an important grade school skill that is a foundation for other math topics. Give the tools linked here a try and leave a comment if you have other suggestions!


Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Linear Equations Worksheets

Linear Equation Worksheets
I've talked about the amazing slope intercept calculator at DadsWorksheets previously, but I'm really impressed with the new linear equations math worksheets just posted there.

When we're learning algebra, one of the first topics students encounter is graphing linear equations in slope intercept form. A key part of understand those equations involves understanding slope, and Dad has a collection of worksheets where students calculate slope from points. and determine the direction of slope. After that, students will usually be asked to find the equation of a line from two points.

Those are great starts, and once students understand the basics, graphing linear inequalities or solving systems of equations are the next steps down the path towards non-linear algebra topics.

You can navigate through all of these worksheet topics on Dad's linear equations worksheets page, and if you need more scratch paper for graphing, also be sure to check out his collection of blank coordinate plane PDFs.

Thanks for checking it out!

Monday, March 23, 2020

Resources for Teaching Fraction Arithmetic



Square Root Chart
Fractions is a math topic that baffles many third and fourth grade kids, so having a collection of useful teaching resources on hand is critical to student success. Working with fractions requires combining many of the operations learned in earlier grades, and understanding what fractional quantities really mean can take a lot of exposure and practice. I wanted to share a few resources with you that should help with fraction concepts, whether you are working with students in the classroom or at home.

Equivalent Fractions Chart

There is one super useful resource for visualizing the relationships between fractions with different denominators, and also seeing how equivalent fractions can be used to reduce fractions. I'm talking about a fractions chart! While I've shown a black background version to the left (which looks amazing), if you follow through the link you'll find versions with white background suitable for printing and inserting in 4th grade math notebooks or other places of interest. There are even full size equivalent fraction posters that are perfect for classroom walls.

Identifying and Visualizing Fractions

Pie diagrams are the everyday way to illustrate fractional quantities, and I've already linked to a visual fraction calculator that does this for any problem you can dream up. But in terms of desk work, you can see some of the same representations with this series of graphic fraction worksheets. Kids completing these worksheets will need to write fractions based on the pie diagrams, or alternatively create their own pie diagrams from written fractions.

Math Operations with Fractions

Working with fractions involves many detailed steps to complete even basic fraction addition and fraction subtraction. The adding fractions worksheets start out with problems that have common denominators, and then gradually progress to problems with different denominators and also mixed fractions.

Subtraction is similar, and the subtracting fraction worksheets follow the same path, avoiding different denominators at first and then progressing through mixed fractions. They also gradually introduce borrowing from wholes in mixed fractions once students have mastered earlier fraction subtraction skills.

Fraction multiplication comes with it's own special set of skills. This series of multiplying fractions worksheets includes, as you would expect, mixed fractions and it has special sets that focus on things like cross cancelling.

After multiplication, dividing fractions is a piece of cake. Just remember to take the reciprocal and follow the usual steps for multiplication.


No matter how you approach teaching or learning fractions, you'll find plenty of resources to practice using the fraction worksheet links above. If you have more suggestions, let me know in the comments!

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Teaching slope intercept form? This calculator is a great tool!



When we start teaching algebra concepts in middle school, graphing on the coordinate plane is one of those first topics to help with visualizing linear equations.

That familiar slope intercept form ("y=mx+b") is something all students need to become intimately familiar with, and students should be comfortable converting the two points that define a line into both the slope and the y-intercept value so that they can generate linear equations in this form.

This slope intercept form calculator is a fantastic interactive tool for showing how slope is determined from two points. It doesn't just calculate the slope, it graphs the equation on a coordinate plane and shows you have the rise-over-run values are determined from the points.

It also allows you to directly enter a slope or a y-intercept, and it will update the equation in real time to show you how those changes affect the line.

These interactive features make the calculator an incredible resource when used with a smartboard or projector in the classroom. You can explain slope concepts like positive slopes and negative slopes quickly because the graphs are drawn for you instantly.

If you are teaching the concepts around basic linear equations and calculating slope, give this calculator a try!


Wednesday, December 14, 2016

This Interactive Age Calculator is Really Amazing!

If you're trying to teach calendar concepts in the classroom, or just looking for an interesting way to figure out when your next few birthdays are going to sneak up on you, then you should definitely check out this amazing age calculator...


What makes this age calculator interesting is that it doesn't just show you chronological age based on your birthday, but it allows you to choose all sorts of other date related events and put those in the context of your birthday. For example, you can see a calendar of past and future presidential election dates and it will give you information about which election in which you'll be eligible to vote. This would be a great classroom activity around election time!

There are also other activities around comparing your birthday to your friends or saving money over time. Overall, this is much more than an age calculator... It's a super age calculator! Check it out!