Teaching Multiplication With Arrays and a Freebie

I have a confession. I absolutely love teaching multiplication with arrays. I love to draw them and I love to see my students drawing them, especially when they are attempting to solve a fact that they have not memorized yet. One of the projects that I am excited to have my students work on this coming school year is a giant multiplication chart where each space on the chart is filled with an array. I'll post pictures if/when we get it finished.

I realize that arrays may not be the most time efficient way of solving multiplication facts, especially when you get to larger facts like 11x12 or 12x10, but I think they provide students enough support and scaffolding as they learn their "smaller" facts to provide the foundation for those "bigger" facts.

One of the games that I will often have my students play in math centers (regardless of the topic) is Matching. Some people call it Memory, but I think that term may be copyrighted, so I call it Matching. The way the game is played is to have all of the cards turned face down on the table or floor. Students take turns flipping over two cards at a time. If the two cards are a match, the student keeps the cards. If not, he has to turn them back over. The key to the game is to keep an eye on the cards that have been flipped so that when a player's turn comes up, he can flip over cards he already knows. The player that makes the most matches is the winner.

       

I created a small freebie of this game and I want you to have it. Obviously you can use it as a Matching Game, but there are many different uses for it. If you do use it as a Matching Game, I would recommend printing it on card stock, but you probably know that already. Just click on the image below and it will download the activity.

If you are looking for other multiplication activities, I have several available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. To take a look, click on the images below and it will take you to the product for more information.

I hope that you enjoy the freebie and I would love to hear how it works for you. Please leave a comment below to let me know how it is working for you and your classroom. You can also follow my blog or follow me on Facebook for other updates.