Mathsquad's Times Table Program involves students completing times table quizzes within a little warm up book at the beginning of each lesson. The goal of the times table program is to improve the efficiency in which students recall their times tables and related facts. This is incredibly important as a quick look over the Victorian Curriculum reveals that over 50% of Year 7 maths skills depend on this knowledge (75% when looking at skills involving number and algebra).
Why teachers will love the Mathsquad Times Table Program…
- Resources are premade and freely available
- Times Table program is easy to set up and once in place is a routine which is easy to manage
- The efficiency in which multiplication facts are recalled will be maximised
- Teachers have 5 minutes at the start of the lesson to set up the room, whiteboard, distribute resources etc
Why students will love the Mathsquad Times Tables Program…
- An easy to follow routine at the start of each lesson
- They’ll have greater access to the range of skills requiring knowledge of the times tables and related facts.
Accessing the Times Table Booklets
The Times Table Bundle can be downloaded by clicking hyperlinked text or the green button at the top of this page.
FAQ
Q. How is the times table program structured?
A. The times table booklets are set up with the following features
- The times table booklets are titled "Quick Quiz"
- There are two Quick Quiz booklets of 40 sheets each (designed so there are 4 sheets per week for one semester)
- Each sheet contains 60 standard questions (facts relating up "12 times" the target number) and 12 challenge questions (facts relating up "100 times" the target number).
- Each sheet targets a specific times table or collection of times tables
- Every set of four sheets has the same target. For example, Sheets 1 to 4 are on the two times tables and Sheets 5 to 8 are on the three times tables and sheets 9 to 12 are on the two and three times tables
- There is a documentation page at the start of each booklet with space for students to record their time and score to allow them to track improvement over each set of four sheets
Q. What do the sheets within the booklet look like?
A. Click here to view a sample Quick Quiz sheet and click here to view the documentation page. Note that these sheets have been inspired by the work of Will Emeny and his team from Numeracy Ninjas.
Q. My class find the variation in the questions too challenging. Is there a simpler structure that just requires students to recall their tables?
A. Yes. Click here to view a sample sheet. These sheets can be found within the times table bundle within the "Modified sheets - tables only" folder. Please note that it is recommended that you don't have different groups of students working on different versions as maximising the efficiency of this task (including corrections) is very important.
Q. What is the easiest way to implement the times table program?
A. Print one booklet per student, give students 5 minutes to complete the sheet in silence, correct sheets as a class for immediate feedback. Click here for a printable implementation guide unpacking the steps in more detail.
Q. Are there solutions available for the Quick Quiz sheets?
A. Yes, they are found in the Times Table Bundle (see "Accessing the Times Tables Booklets" above)
Q. Would you recommend allowing students to use a calculator?
A. In the past I have allowed students to use a calculator though I make them keep it on the floor and pick it up for each question they want to use it for. It encourages them to use mental strategies where possible and to put effort into trying to remember times tables they don’t know. It also helps them see that just because they have a calculator in their pocket almost always (generally in the form of a smart phone), it is not always the most efficient method for “doing maths” in their daily life.
Q. What would you recommend using for a warm up in Semester 2?
A. Numeracy Ninjas warm up books found here. These booklets assess a wide range of skills and are perfect for Semester 2 once students have covered most, if not all, of the related content.