Skills Covered

How to Use This Pack

Five pages on fact families, with factors from 2 to 10. Page 1 has six fact triangles with the product at the top and the factors at the bottom: students write the two multiplication facts and the two division facts. Page 2 shows an array of dots for each family, such as 3 rows of 5, to write two × facts and two ÷ facts; the last array is square, 7 rows of 7, and its family has only two facts. Page 3 turns division into a missing factor: 42 ÷ 6 = 7 because 7 × 6 = 42, then two times rows (1 × 6 to 10 × 6, and the 9s) to find a number in and read the quotient from. Page 4 has 24 equations with the missing number in every place, such as 7 × □ = 56, □ ÷ 4 = 9 and 28 = □ × 4. On page 5 students cross out the fact that does not belong in a family and write the one that is missing, then write the rest of a family from one fact. Each page starts with a worked example.

In the Classroom

Make fact triangle cards: cover one corner with a thumb and ask a partner for the hidden number, then for the fact that finds it. Build a 3 by 5 array with counters and turn it a quarter turn: the facts stay in the same family. Before page 4, read 28 = □ × 4 aloud as "28 is how many fours?" so students see the equal sign works both ways.

At Home

Pick a fact, such as 6 × 8 = 48, and ask for the other three facts in its family at dinner or in the car. Then ask a division question with the same numbers, like how many 8s make 48, and let your child find it by thinking of the multiplication.

Tips for Success

• A fact family uses the same three numbers in every fact
• The product is the biggest number; it comes first in each division fact
• To divide, ask what times the divisor makes the dividend
• A square number like 49 has only two facts: 7 × 7 = 49 and 49 ÷ 7 = 7
• The missing number can be anywhere, even before the equal sign