Multiplication and division - Multiply by 4 - Planning

In Year 3's Autumn term, the focus of Lesson 7 in the Multiplication and Division unit is mastering the 3 times table. The lesson is structured to reinforce children's ability to multiply and divide by three, enhancing their fluency with these fundamental skills. The class begins with a starter activity that involves counting in threes, both forwards and backwards, from 0 to 36. This counting exercise, often supported by visual aids such as a number line, helps students to become more comfortable with the sequence of numbers in the three times table. A practical activity encourages children to use coloured sticks or matchsticks to create groups of three, forming triangles, and then to articulate their findings using structured stem sentences. This hands-on approach, combined with verbal reinforcement, aims to solidify their understanding of multiplication as repeated addition.

As the lesson progresses, children engage in activities designed to address common misconceptions and deepen their conceptual understanding of multiplication and division. Activity 1 focuses on fluency in recalling the three times table, using coloured sticks to visually represent multiplication expressions. Activity 2 challenges students to reason and explain their thought processes when linking multiplication and division. Partner work further promotes mathematical discussion, as students sort cards into a loop, justifying their choices with stem sentences and using concrete resources to validate their reasoning. The lesson's plenary involves reflection on what was learned, with an emphasis on the importance of understanding commutativity and the non-commutative nature of division. Differentiated tasks cater to varying levels of proficiency, from working towards the expected level to achieving greater depth, with children filling in missing information and practising the three times table in different orders.