Just checking out some new videos on Teachertube. Came across this one on multiplication. I’m always looking for new methods to teach fourth graders double digit multiplication. It’s called the Break Apart Box. Here’s a link if you would like to check it out: http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=218713. It looks similar to a method I use called Lattice Multiplication. Lattice is great for kids that struggle with the placement of numbers when learning the standard way of 2-digit multiplication. When you break down the numbers in Lattice, the problem is not so overwhelming. The students are a little more at ease, because they just need to know the basic facts. Lattice helps them to be successful at 2- or 3-digit multiplication.
I love this method for two by two multiplication, and it is very visual too. You can build an area model to show why it works, and for some reason it makes sense to students. I use this when I teach binomial multiplication to my 8th Graders, and it makes so much more sense than the old F.O.I.L. Method we all learned in Algebra 1.
ReplyDeleteIt's one more of those great Math concepts that I never learned until I got to college and through Calculus 1 and 2. Makes me want to scream, "Why?"