Beginning to Multiply - PowerPoint

Introducing the concept of multiplication to Year 1 students, a set of maths teaching resources provides a comprehensive guide to understanding and practising this fundamental mathematical operation. The presentation begins by posing the question, "What is multiplication?" and proceeds to explain that multiplication is essentially the process of adding the same number repeatedly. To illustrate this, an example is given with visual aids: three groups of two flowers are shown, and the repeated addition of 2 + 2 + 2 is explained to equal 6. This is further simplified into a multiplication sentence, demonstrating that 2 flowers taken 3 times, written as 2 x 3, equals 6, with the 'x' symbol representing 'times'.

The resources continue to build on this concept by asking students to identify the number of items in each group and the number of equal groups presented. For instance, when shown four groups of three flowers, students are encouraged to express this as the multiplication sentence 3 x 4 = 12. Similarly, they explore examples with spiders, where two spiders in each of five groups lead to the multiplication sentence 2 x 5 = 10. The resources also include worksheets that prompt students to write multiplication sentences for various scenarios, such as finding the total number of sweets, birds, fish, apples, and candles, with each scenario presented as a multiplication problem to solve. These practical exercises help solidify the students' understanding of multiplication as both an abstract concept and a tangible real-world tool.