Multiplication

Barbara J. Feldman

Is drill and practice the only way to learn the multiplication tables? Today's sites offer some interesting answers. Yes, practice is important, and you'll find several fun ways to do so online. But having a bit of understanding is important too. For example, if you've already memorized 6x7=42, the commutative law of multiplication tells us you do not need to memorize 7x6=42. Read on for more helpful multiplication hints and lots of practice drills.

Aplusmath: Multiplication

4 stars

Got multiplication homework? The Multiplication Homework Helper applet won't give you the answer, but will tell you if your answer is correct. Other multiplication helpers are interactive flashcards, printable and interactive worksheets, and (my personal favorite) PDF Worksheet Generator. To access the PDF Worksheet Generator, click Worksheets, and look near the bottom of the page in the left-hand column.

Dositey: Multiplication

5 stars

Dositey is my pick of the day for fun multiplication games and interactive lessons. Best click is Multiplication with Regrouping, which takes you step-by-step through two-digit problems such as 36x4 and 67x 3. Dositey also has a collection of printable worksheets for both single-digit and two-digit multiplication. From any of the worksheet pages, click on New Problem Set for a fresh set of exercises.

Natural Math: Multiplication: An Adventure in Number Sense

4 stars

Join in on the conversation between a student ("There are too many multiplication facts to memorize.") and a mentor ("If you want to know the multiplication table from 1 to 10, you may want to memorize 13 facts, at most. There are very easy tricks that will let you get the rest of the facts as fast as if you remembered them.") You'll learn which thirteen facts you need to memorize, and how to recall the rest of the multiplication table using fast mental arithmetic and number sense.

Quia: Multiplication

5 stars

These multiplication drills are among the most popular quizzes at Quia. Covering multiplication facts for numbers one through twelve, there are matching games (match the multiplication problem to its answer), flashcards (both Java and non-Java versions) and Concentration games. To make the Concentration games easier, you can adjust the size of the game board (click Settings.)

SuperKids: Multiplication Worksheet Maker

5 stars

Kids love them, teachers crave them and parents just gotta have them. What are they? Worksheets! With SuperKids Worksheet Maker you can generate a practically infinite variety of customized multiplication worksheets with answer sheets. Start by choosing Basic (for positive whole numbers) or Advanced (for "calculations using positive and negative numbers, and two-digit decimal values.") Then select your minimum and maximum numbers, and the number of problems per page. There is also an option to feature a specific number in all the problems. Answer keys are accessible from the generated worksheet pages.