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There are lots of great ways to use Multiplication by Heart in the classroom. Here are a few ideas!
- Form teams of 2 – 4 students. Each student picks five cards at random and quizzes their group mates. The cards they miss go a pile and when everyone is done, the team looks over the “hard” multiplication facts together. What makes those ones hard? How can they remember them?
- Play WILD SQUARES!
WILD SQUARES
For 2 – 6 players
Play Wild Squares with your Multiplication by Heart array cards.
Take the 100 array cards, shuffle them, and deal five cards to each player. Place a card with the factors (not the product) face up, and put the deck beside it.
The goal is to discard all of your cards. Whoever can get rid of all their cards first wins.
Players take turns. On a turn, play a card on top of the discard pile. To play a card, one of the factors must match the card below it. For example, if the card on the top of the pile is 4 × 5, then you could play 7 × 4 on top of it, since the cards share a factor (4).
As you place the card, say the product (“28”) or the equation (“7 × 4 = 28”). If you’ve said the correct product and matched with the card below, the next player takes their turn. (Or if no one speaks up to correct you, the next player takes their turn.)
If you said the wrong product (“7 × 4 = 26”) a player challenges you by saying “correction” and giving the correct product (“7 × 4 = 28”) you take back your card and they can play ANY card from their hand on top of the discard pile, even if it doesn’t match the factors of the card below. Play then continues as normal.
If it’s your turn and you don’t have a card that matches the factors of the top card on the discard pile, draw cards until you have a legal play.
If you have a square array in your hand, you can play it on top of ANY card, without matching factors. (You still have to name the product correctly to play it.) Then you can discard a second card of your choice on top of the square.
Example: the card on the top of the pile is 4 × 5. I play 7 × 7, saying “49.” Since this is a square array, the play is legal. Then I play 1 x 9 on top of that, saying “9.” Then the next player takes their turn.