Supporting Students Who Don’t Know Their Multiplication Facts

“What do I do with students who still don’t know their multiplication facts?” might be one of the most frequently asked questions inside our Upper Elementary Math Teachers group. In this post, I want to give you strategies for building students’ fluency with multiplication facts and offer suggestions for how to support students’ work with grade-level concepts even when they are still working on “mastering” their multiplication facts.

Before we look at strategies for building fluency, we need to know what fluency actually is. A student who is fluent with their multiplication facts can get to an accurate answer both flexibly and efficiently. We often leave out that flexibility piece when thinking about multiplication facts because we think flexibility and speed don’t go together… students CAN be flexible in their thinking and still have automaticity with multiplication.

At this point, if students don’t “know” their multiplication facts, more drill and kill isn’t going to help them in the long run. While I’m not going to get into the research behind this because that isn’t the purpose of this post. Many others have already done this work and I encourage you to take time to learn from them. NCTM is open about their stance on fluency and you can also check out the work of Jo Boaler, John Van de Walle, Susan O’Connell and John SanGiovanni.

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Building Fluency With Multiplication

The hard and meaningful work comes in when we actively do the things necessary to build students’ fluency with multiplication facts. This means moving away from ineffective practices and shifting towards routines and activities that allow students to develop a variety of multiplication strategies.

Before checking out the resources below, you may want to watch the free training Strategies for Developing Fact Fluency over on YouTube. After watching that training, you’ll understand how powerful the next two recommendations are for building students’ fluency with multiplication.

1. Subitizing Cards

Subitizing cards show a collection of items (usually dots) that students learn to identify without having to count each individual object. Just like we can identify the amount shown on dice without having to count, subitizing cards arrange objects in a way that students can look at the cards and quickly know the value using grouping strategies.

Consider using subitizing cards in similar ways that you would use traditional flashcards. Show students the cards, but instead of moving on to the next card after a correct answer is given, ask students how they got their answer. You can also use these cards for classic games like War or Go Fish. The more students work with these visuals, the more efficient strategies they will develop.

If you’d like to grab a set of multiplication subitizing cards, head on over to Graham Fletcher’s website and download them here. You can also watch a short video of how he uses them with students! This is a fantastic page to share with parents if they are looking for something to do at home with their child to help them with their multiplication facts.

2. Number Strings

Number strings (sometimes called problem strings or number talk strings) are a series of problems that are intentionally designed to lead students towards a specific strategy or way of thinking. Most of the time the number strings routine is done as a whole class just as you would carry out a number talk. Instead of discussing a single problem, students would go through a string of problems and discuss how these problems relate and how one or two of the problems could help you solve the other problem. Take a look at the following string of problems:

• 2 x 8

• 5 x 8

• 7 x 8

Think about how a student might use the first two problems (which use students’ knowledge of foundational facts) to help them solve the last multiplication problem? When students understand multiplication as equal groups, they know that 7 x 8 is seven groups of eight. 7 groups of 8 is the same as 2 groups of 8 and 5 groups of 8… 7 x 8 = (2 x 8) + (5 x 8). If students know the first two problems, then they can figure out the last problem. This string of problems was created to show students the “decomposing a factor” strategy. If you know the strategy you would like students to explore, number strings are fairly easy to create! If you are looking to use number strings that are already created for you, Sherry Parrish’s Number Talks books are excellent resources!

Supporting Students in Upper Grades

We cannot use students’ lack of fluency with multiplication facts as an excuse not to expose them to grade-level content. I understand how frustrating it can be to work on multi-digit multiplication or division or many other concepts in upper elementary when students are still struggling with their basic math facts.

We can’t assume that a student who doesn’t “know” all of their multiplication facts also does not have the ability to think deeply about more advanced math concepts. Their lack of “fact mastery” does not mean they are stuck at a 3rd grade math level (whatever that means) and typically is a reflection of ineffective teaching methods and not students’ ability to think and reason.

I think it’s reasonable to make modifications and put supports in place so that students can access grade-level content, as long as we are committed to building their fluency with multiplication facts in other ways (as mentioned above). So what modifications and supports can we use while students are still working on building their fluency with multiplication facts?

1. Use Friendly Numbers

Most students are comfortable with at least the foundational facts (0s, 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s), so it’s okay to temporarily modify problems to include more friendly numbers. Multiplying 532 x 15 is much more accessible than multiplying 986 x 47 to students who are still building their fluency with multiplication facts.

In this situation, modifying the problem to include friendly numbers gives students the opportunity to work with grade-level concepts even though they are still working on mastering those single-digit multiplication facts. As students progress in their fluency with derived facts (3s, 4s, 6s, 7s, 8s, and 9s), they will be able to apply those to the more advanced math concepts that they’ve already been exposed to.

Consider how this subtle modification impacts students’ confidence as a learner. Rather than being a 5th grade student working on single-digit multiplication while the rest of the class works on multi-digit multiplication, this student is now able to participate and learn the strategies and models everyone else is learning.

Modifying the problems or giving students numbers choices allows for differentiation and is a much better option than keeping students from grade-level work entirely because they aren’t fluent with their multiplication facts YET.

2. Provide Support Tools

For students who are really struggling with fact fluency, it is okay to temporarily give them a multiplication chart to use as they work on more advanced math concepts. Think about multiplication charts like you would think about crutches to someone who just had knee surgery. Even though they are doing the exercises and stretches needed to heal their knee, it still takes time and during that time they need crutches to support them so that they can do the things they need to do in life (getting to the shower, going to appointments, etc.). The crutches are not meant to be used forever. They are a temporary support.

Multiplication charts are no different. They are only meant to be used temporarily so that they are not held back from working with other important math concepts. Giving students no supports to access grade-level work while they are still working to build their fluency with multiplication would be like sending the patient home from the hospital to heal without crutches. We want students to have some way to work with more advanced math concepts, even though they aren’t where we’d like them to be with multiplication yet. Consider giving students partially filled multiplication charts so that they are only using them for facts that they personally struggle with.

I hope this post gave you a few new ideas for supporting students in your classroom who are struggling with multiplication fact fluency! I’d love to know how you are building students’ fluency with multiplication facts or how you support students in your own class who are still working with multiplication.