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Post by Judy on Aug 30, 2020 10:48:40 GMT
Yesterday Becky posted a video (on the 10th August weekly discussion thread) showing a very long winded grid method for multiplication. Very amusing  What are your views on using the grid method- is it still used a lot in your setting- or is it outlawed? Do you think it has merit? What are the pros and cons? Do children like it/understand it ? |
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Becky
New Member
Posts: 23
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Post by Becky on Aug 31, 2020 10:08:01 GMT
I think it is quite useful to show how multiplication with a two by two digit number has 4 calculations. This then helps them progress to the ladder method and then the formal method which is required for SATs(!). Alot of children are moved to the formal method too quickly without really understanding what they are doing and then make so many mistakes. The grid method helps them to see the process a bit more clearly. A lot of secondaries, I think, still use the grid method. It may take the children longer to complete but they are usuly more successful with it.
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Jenny
Junior Member
Posts: 50
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Post by Jenny on Aug 31, 2020 12:13:59 GMT
I think the grid method makes far more sense when multiplication is first demonstrated using Dienes base ten equipment to calculate area. Then it seems like a move towards the abstract whilst keeping some of the structure from using concrete/pictorial resources. It also reminds students what sort of size you might be expecting each section to be (e.g. I expect multiplying the tens to produce 100 square blocks).
It's harder to use the manipulatives for numbers beyond tens and units or even large tens and units numbers.
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Post by bernadette on Aug 31, 2020 13:30:16 GMT
I quite like the grid method when it is modelled using concrete materials first. I sometimes colour code as well intially as the grid can look quite 'busy'. The children who 'get it' usually love it and do quite well with it too. I have seen it introduced in different years in different schools which is a bit odd. Perhaps some don't teach it until they are about to move to long multiplication whilst others introduce it before short.
It is quite a long method though in a way, with quite a few different steps to remember. For this reason, I have found it can be a tricky method for a dyscalculic child. It requires a lot of good pre-skiils as you need to be adept at addition, goodish times tables, able to multiply two multiple's of 10 together etc. etc. Then there is the issue 'reading your box' , copying all of your answers correctly, emphasis on correctly (!) into columns and then adding them. It's a lot of steps and can take a while!
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Post by clairemartin on Sept 2, 2020 10:37:30 GMT
About 3 years ago I was working with a group of first year teacher training students and we were looking at progression in multiplication. It was interesting that very few of the students had ever seen the formal written method for long multiplication-when I asked how they would calculate 2-digit x 2-digit, they all said grid method. There is a lesson video on NCETM where the teacher helps the children to connect the grid method (with which they are already familiar) to the formal method www.ncetm.org.uk/classroom-resources/lv-multiplication/ |
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Post by Steve on Sept 2, 2020 13:35:44 GMT
I think that the Grid method for a 2-digit x 2-digit multiplication can be modelled as an area with four sub-areas to give visual support to understanding that these are partial products. This visual image also allows learners to develop a link between a number example, such as (20 + 2)(13 + 5) and an algebra example, (x + a )(y + b). Calling it the the 'Grid Method' reduces a cognitive procedure to a formulaic procedure. The area model is used to make the maths developmental
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