Year 4 – Week 3 – Multiplication using formal written methods – Monday
About formal written multiplication for Year 4 …
MyMiniMaths introduces formal written multiplication for Year 4 with the free daily fluency, home learning and iQ mastery learning packs supported by a You Tube video tutorial . Learners often need to reminded that multiplication is repeated addition and more efficient approach to adding together the same value many times. This takes the form of 2 and 3 digit numbers multiplied by a single digit value. The formal column or vertical method helps support the understanding of place value across the columns: units or ones, tens, hundreds and thousands. From here, Year 5 learners multiply a single digit by a four digit value in week 3 before making the jump to Year 6 long multiplication and the multiplying of a 3 or 4 digit number by a double digit value in week 2. This introduces the place holder, often known as the, magic zero, often requiring significant reinforcement over time for learners to fully understand its inclusion and significance to the calculation. Totalling the 2 rows for the final answer gives extra practice with addition from week 1. The introduction of multiplying a whole number and a decimal value in Year 6, provides a timely stepping stone before learners moving forward in their learning to multiplying two decimal values in Key Stage 3, which in essence, involves the same approach and application developed in Key Stage 2.
Times tables are integral to the accuracy and success of both short and long multiplication and are frequently the cause of computational errors and often do not reflect the understanding of the learner. In Year 6, by far the most seen mistake is forgetting to include the ‘magic zero’ therefore arriving at a much smaller solution than is required.
Varied Application…
Varied application is the use of 2 or more learning objectives in different contexts. Skills are readily used across the maths curriculum, often without realisation, giving opportunity for learners to apply their understanding and confidence of written multiplication for Year 4 in a variety of mathematical contexts. Varied application promotes the wider curriculum and extends the coverage of skills outside of discrete lessons. Multiplying is one of the fundamental skills required across many areas of the maths curriculum and in real-life and can be applied to other Year 4 learning objectives including:
- WEEK 20 – scaling of values
- WEEK 22 – dividing by 10 & 100
- WEEK 30 – multiplying 3 numbers
- WEEK 32 – area of rectangles
- WEEK 44 – solving problems with money
- WEEK 47 – solving problems with multiplying
- WEEK 50 – equivalent fractions