Multiplication Bead Board and Charts

Presentation

1
Place card 4 in the slot: 'We are working with the table of four.'
2
Problem 4 × 3: place the red disc above the number 3.
3
Place four beads down the first column, counting. Move the disc along the top and place four beads down the second column, then the third.
4
Count all the beads: 12. Say 'Four taken three times is twelve' and write 4 × 3 = 12.
5
The child continues the table of 4: 4 × 1 up to 4 × 10, adding one column each time and recording.
6
Compare the results with the short 4 chain tickets: 4, 8, 12, 16.
7
The child checks each recorded fact against the control chart.

Extensions, easiest to hardest

Work through the tables of 2, 5, and 10 first, then the others.
Answer fact slips from memory and check with the chart.
Show that 3 × 4 and 4 × 3 give the same product on the board.

Control of error

The multiplication control chart; the short bead chain tickets for the same number also show each product.

Ready to move on when the child…

Completes and records a full table independently
Recalls the tables of 2, 5, and 10

Guide note

For older five-year-olds who already know their addition facts. The Unit Division Board and division charts are taught in the 6–9 classroom; offer them here only to a child who has fully memorized multiplication facts.