Crazy Tables: a board game
According to the guide ‘repetition has always been the key’ to learning ‘Times Tables’. I think the manufacturers are on dodgy ground! Good number sense means that it is possible to derive multiplication facts from those that it is easy to remember e.g. the multiples of two and ten. Assuming you can halve as well as double then multiples of five are easy and everything else can be obtained using combinations of these facts. Whilst it may be advantageous to know all multiplication facts, knowing them without any appreciation of the inherent structure e.g. how to figure one out that you’ve forgotten or check that you are indeed correct, seems to me of limited value. Few mathematics teachers forget that Steven Byers said that seven eights were 54 – if only he had had a good checking strategy: doubling 7 three times is unlikely to result in that mistake, or taking double 7 from 70...
If you want practice at recall of multiplication facts then you may be interested in this resource. It consists of a large yellow plastic frame which holds boards which list multiplication calculations. The boards are double sided so you can either show the results of these calculations or not – this depends on the ‘ability of the child’. The calculations are presented in order (see below) and one board covers multiples of 2, 5 and 10, another multiples of 3, 4 and 6 and the 3rd multiples of 7, 8 and 9.
Whichever side of the board children are using large tiles with the ‘answers’ are placed in the spaces. Tiles are provided in both green and red so that children can compete with one another on the same board. I suspect that if tiles are lost it may make using the resource somewhat frustrating. It is also suggested that children compete ‘against the clock’, although if they can understand the instructions for using the timer given in the guide they’re doing better than me.
I understand from the manufacturer that some schools have found the resource useful in helping children memorise their ‘times tables’. Personally, I feel that a game with purpose such as Number Quest (now Nubble) is more valuable in developing children’s skills with number.
Sue Pope, Mathematics Education Lecturer, St. Martin’s College, Lancaster
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