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In June 2020 schools will be required to use a digital check to test year four pupils on their fluent recall of multiplication tables up to twelve. This will be achieved through a digital test containing twenty-five questions which should take around five minutes.
An information video is available from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhAJMJUsAac
A voluntary pilot service to support school’s preparation will be available between April and June.
For learners with SEND learning and recalling times table facts can pose many challenges, including:
- Developing conceptual understanding – some pupils learn the facts but lack the understanding of what the facts really mean in practice.
- Some facts are very similar so are easily confused.
- Pupils with memory difficulties can often struggle to consistently retain facts and/or accurately retrieve facts – especially under pressure.
The following are some practical ideas and resources that may support learners with SEND to learn and recall multiplication tables:
- Support your pupils to develop the conceptual understanding ‘behind’ each fact by exploring it in a concrete and then pictorial sense before looking at the abstract representation. For example:
| Concrete | Pictorial | Abstract | |||||||||
| Use cubes for your pupil to physically combine two groups of two objects to make four. |
|
2 x 2 = 4
|
- For each table learn the key facts first: 2xn, 5xn and 10xn. Once these are secure teach pupils to derive the rest using their key facts. For example: to work out 12x pupils can combine 10x and 2x.
- Increase visual support. Allow your pupils to see the fact as well as hear it presented and answered orally.
- Make the ‘buy one get one free’ principle really explicit (the commutative law: 3×2 is the same as 2×3). This will provide relief as pupils will see that they half the job of learning facts to do.
- Games are available from: https://www.timestables.co.uk/games/
- Visit: https://www.theguardian.com/education/teacher-blog/2013/apr/29/times-tables-teaching-resource for links to lots of ideas.
- Times Tables Rock Stars: https://ttrockstars.com/home
- Sport Super Movers from the BBC provide songs and dances to support pupils in learning tables: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/supermovers/42675177
- Use a multiplication grid to look for patterns.