How to Practise Multiplication With Number Lines

If you are teaching beginning multiplication concepts to your students, chances are you’ve taught them about arrays, equal groups, skip counting and repeated addition. Another common multiplication strategy is to use a number line to represent multiplication problems. So how is this done, exactly?

To represent a multiplication problem on a number line, guide your students to think of a problem, such as 6 x 4, as ‘6 hops of 4.’ This will help them know how many jumps to make on the number line. Starting at 0, students can then model the equal-sized jumps until they reach the product of 24. It is important to point out to your students that the number lines can be scaled, meaning they all may not increase by 1. Some number lines may be scaled by 2, 3, 5 or 10.

Add This Digital Activity to Your Collection of Maths Games for Year 3!

Are you looking for a self-checking activity to help your students understand the relationship between number lines and multiplication? If so, you have come to the right place! Teach Starter has developed an exciting interactive mystery reveal game to help your students determine multiplication facts represented by a number line model. 

As your students complete this activity, they will answer 20 questions that test their understanding of number line multiplication. They will also get practise using a variety of scaled number lines to represent problems. The great thing about this activity is that students will get instant feedback on whether or not they answered each question correctly.

How to Get Your Interactive Multiplication Practice Problems

If you are ready for your students to dive into this engaging activity, head on over to the green download button! Here, you will be able to download the interactive Google Slides or PowerPoint file. If selecting the Google Slides option, please note that you will first be prompted to make a copy of the resource to your personal drive before accessing it.

When assigning this activity to your students, guide them to open the file in ‘Presentation’ mode. Students will then answer each of the questions and click on the correct answer. If the student is right, they will progress to the next question. If they are wrong, they will be sent back to try again. 

As students complete each of the problems, a piece of the puzzle grid will disappear, eventually revealing a hidden picture underneath.

This resource was created by Cassandra Friesen, a Teach Starter Collaborator. 

More Number Line Multiplication Resources for Your Classroom!

If you are looking for some additional activities to help your students understand multiplication, check out some of our favourites below!

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Multiplication on a Number Line Task Cards

Extend student understanding of multiplication and number lines with this set of 24 task cards.

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Number Line Multiplication – Worksheet Pack

Guide your students to solve number line multiplication problems with this worksheet pack.