Multiplication with Touchpoints
Math
Learning Multiplication with Touchpoints
Hello, welcome to multiplication with touchpoints this is Ms. Petri
All the students in our classroom have this touchpoint strip on their home folder
You will notice that each dot, each number excuse me has dots that obviously correspond to that number
So, the number three has 1, 2, and 3 dots The number 5 has one, two, three, four, five dots Once we get to the six it looks a little different here Each dot has a circle that means that you touch that point twice. So, you go one, two, three, four, five six.
So, for example with the nine were we have these dots of circles going down the stem. We touch each of those twice and then inside the bubble here we got just single dots we touch each of those once. So, it looks like this, one, two, three four, five six, seven eight nine.
We use this touchpoint in our classroom for addition and subtraction. So, if your student is in our classroom since the beginning of the year then this student will be very familiar with this already. And now it's just a matter of applying these touchpoints towards the multiplication.
Here's how it works. If I have a problem such as 3 times 6, first, I just need to think myself, well, do I know how to count by threes easier or is it easier for me to count by sixes?
To start for most students at the beginning of the year, it's probably easier for them to count by their threes. So that means they are going to draw their touchpoints on the number that is difficult to count by. So, they would draw their touchpoints on the six, like this and they would count by threes while touching those points So, it looks like this, three six, nine twelve, fifteen eighteen. So, three times six would be eighteen
Let's try one more If I have a problem 4 times 5, it is easier for students to count by fives generally than fours, so most student would probably choose their touchpoints on the four because you want to put your touchpoints on a tricky number. The one that you don't feel comfortable counting by. So, I put those touchpoints on my four and then I skip count by five while touching those points, four, five, ten fifteen twenty. So, four times five would be twenty
Other students who have difficulties, for example, with copying these touchpoints from their strip onto this number and doing it with accuracy, might find it easier to just to go to the strip to help solve the problem.
So for example, with the problem 5 times 6, they would think to themselves, well I know how to count by fives, I don't know yet how to count by sixes. So, they would go to the six on their touchpoint strip and would simply touch right here and count by fives, four five ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty.
Ideally, as the students become very familiar with where these touchpoints are they wouldn't even have to go on to the strip. They could simply just wave their pencil above these points to count on the number like this it would be just five ten, fifteen twenty, twenty-five, thirty and they could just touch those points on their page not even having to refer to the touchpoint strip. And most students by the end of the year will be able to do that.
And you might be wondering what would I do. How is my student going to use touchpoints to solve a problem like 6 times 7, where most students don't know how to count by their sixes and sevens? And the answer is, is that we have skip counting songs that we sing throughout the year and the kids love these songs and generally they?ll be able to memorize all of these songs.
You might be wondering what about memorizing facts. Isn't that important? Yes absolutely. That is what we are looking towards. Our end goal is always fluency with multiplication with these facts which means memorizing our facts.
The great thing about touchpoints is that it's an intermediate steps. So, for students who struggle with memorization, we found that when they learn how to use touchpoints now, they get to fourth grade and fifth grade, if they don't have their facts memorized, they are really going to struggle when they are doing multi-digit multiplication and big long division problems. That's really going to be difficult when you don't have those facts memorized.
So, the number three has 1, 2, and 3 dots The number 5 has one, two, three, four, five dots Once we get to the six it looks a little different here Each dot has a circle that means that you touch that point twice. So, you go one, two, three, four, five six.
So, for example with the nine were we have these dots of circles going down the stem. We touch each of those twice and then inside the bubble here we got just single dots we touch each of those once. So, it looks like this, one, two, three four, five six, seven eight nine.
We use this touchpoint in our classroom for addition and subtraction. So, if your student is in our classroom since the beginning of the year then this student will be very familiar with this already. And now it's just a matter of applying these touchpoints towards the multiplication.
Here's how it works. If I have a problem such as 3 times 6, first, I just need to think myself, well, do I know how to count by threes easier or is it easier for me to count by sixes?
To start for most students at the beginning of the year, it's probably easier for them to count by their threes. So that means they are going to draw their touchpoints on the number that is difficult to count by. So, they would draw their touchpoints on the six, like this and they would count by threes while touching those points So, it looks like this, three six, nine twelve, fifteen eighteen. So, three times six would be eighteen
Let's try one more If I have a problem 4 times 5, it is easier for students to count by fives generally than fours, so most student would probably choose their touchpoints on the four because you want to put your touchpoints on a tricky number. The one that you don't feel comfortable counting by. So, I put those touchpoints on my four and then I skip count by five while touching those points, four, five, ten fifteen twenty. So, four times five would be twenty
Other students who have difficulties, for example, with copying these touchpoints from their strip onto this number and doing it with accuracy, might find it easier to just to go to the strip to help solve the problem.
So for example, with the problem 5 times 6, they would think to themselves, well I know how to count by fives, I don't know yet how to count by sixes. So, they would go to the six on their touchpoint strip and would simply touch right here and count by fives, four five ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty.
Ideally, as the students become very familiar with where these touchpoints are they wouldn't even have to go on to the strip. They could simply just wave their pencil above these points to count on the number like this it would be just five ten, fifteen twenty, twenty-five, thirty and they could just touch those points on their page not even having to refer to the touchpoint strip. And most students by the end of the year will be able to do that.
And you might be wondering what would I do. How is my student going to use touchpoints to solve a problem like 6 times 7, where most students don't know how to count by their sixes and sevens? And the answer is, is that we have skip counting songs that we sing throughout the year and the kids love these songs and generally they?ll be able to memorize all of these songs.
You might be wondering what about memorizing facts. Isn't that important? Yes absolutely. That is what we are looking towards. Our end goal is always fluency with multiplication with these facts which means memorizing our facts.
The great thing about touchpoints is that it's an intermediate steps. So, for students who struggle with memorization, we found that when they learn how to use touchpoints now, they get to fourth grade and fifth grade, if they don't have their facts memorized, they are really going to struggle when they are doing multi-digit multiplication and big long division problems. That's really going to be difficult when you don't have those facts memorized.
So, at least the touchpoints and those skip counting songs offers an intermediate strategy to help them do those big problems without having to use multiplication chart while we are still continuing to work towards memorization with our flashcards and on online games and whatever strategies help for each student to continue to memorize their facts.
Alright, this has been multiplication using touchpoints. Take care.
Alright, this has been multiplication using touchpoints. Take care.