Learning the Multiplication Table: Help for 3rd Grade Students

Multiplication Facts for 3rd Grade

Memorizing the basic multiplication facts takes persistence and hard work, but it's worth it. Multiplication is a skill you'll use in every math class you ever take, and you'll need it in the real world, too. Everything from baking and building to sewing and managing money requires a sound knowledge of multiplication.

Flashcards

Using flashcards to learn multiplication is simple and straightforward, and it's one of the fastest ways to get the job done. Depending on how much time you have to learn your facts and how long your attention span is, you can use flashcards to study just a few facts a day or all of them at once.

Start by writing the multiplication facts on index cards with the answers on one side and the facts on the other. Be sure the cards are thick enough and your writing is light enough so you can't see the answers through the cards. Once you've made all the flashcards, divide them into groups starting with ones (e.g., 1 x 1, 1 x 2, 1 x 3). The next group will have the twos (e.g., 2 x 2, 2 x 3), and the third group will contain the threes. Notice that each group will have one fewer card the previous one.

Once you've memorized the first group (the ones), move on to the second group (the twos). When you've memorized both groups, combine them and review. Then move on to the threes and repeat the process until you've memorized all of the facts. Don't forget to shuffle the cards throughout the process so that you memorize the actual facts, not just the order of the cards.

Games

Now that you've done the hard work of memorizing the facts, you can reward yourself by playing games to review. You could compete against a friend to see who can go through their flashcards the fastest. You can also compete against yourself to try to beat your own best time.

Another fun practice game you can play uses dice. Take turns rolling two dice and multiplying the numbers together. The product is your score for that turn. The player who has the highest total score after a certain number of turns is the winner.

To make this game more challenging, you can use three dice instead of two. Roll all three dice, add two of the numbers together and multiply that result by the third number to calculate your score for that turn. Try to choose the combination of addition and multiplication that will give you the highest score.

For example, if you roll two sixes and a two, you can either add the sixes together (6 + 6 = 12) and multiply by two (12 x 2 = 24), or you can add two and six (2 + 6 = 8) and then multiply by six (8 x 6 = 48). The second option would give you a much higher score.