A couple of boys in our Special Day Class are considered mildly mentally retarded.
They are working on the basic concept of multiplication: 2 X !, 2 X 3, 2 X 28. I am trying to build them up from here.
They seem to find the multiple steps in a problem to be a challenging aspect. If I do 21 X 12, there are many steps to the problem.
We are using some of the lessons from the beginning of Marilyn Burns’ book “Multiplication Grade 3”.
John G.
Oakland Public Schools
Re: Basic concepts of multiplication
In my experience, most people who are fully capable of learning to do 21 x 12 on paper don’t really do it grasping the “meaning” of it. I tend to treat the “concept” teaching and teh “Process” teaching as separate animals on the grounds that you can’t focus on two things at once.
I’ve found that making the process as kinesthetic as possible *really* helps. Have you ever noticed that people who can’t add two fractions (even of the same denominator) *can* turn a mixed number into an improper fraction? THeir fingers know where to go? Touch Math is highly successful at teaching the processes — with some deserved controversy as to whether it impedes the concept development. I would check it out for your kiddos, though, especially since it sounds like you are working on that concept development. Or, you could probably find the essense of what they’re about and similar activities with some intensive Googling :)
I really like Marilyn Burns’ books, but find there’s a *lot* of language involved that for many of my students would not sink in well. (I think it would be excellent for the scads of strong verbal learners who struggle with math).
Do they understand what multiplying is? Have they done this in a concrete way? If they don’t understand this at a concrete level they won’t ever get it. BTW, they should get this from 1-10 before introducing 28, say. Can they skip count— 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. ?
As for two step problems, be sure they understand one step ones very well and aren’t just memorizing patterns. (If they SEE the patterns that’s another thing!)
—des