Teaching multiplication and division of integers can be quite tough, but it is an essential skill that every student needs to learn. Multiplication and division are two of the most important mathematical operations that students will encounter, and mastery of these skills is critical for success in math.
As an educator, it’s important to use a range of activities to help students learn multiplication and division of integers easily. Here are some tried and tested activities that can help teach students how to multiply and divide integers effectively.
1. Model Building
Model building is a hands-on activity that makes multiplication and division of integers accessible to students. Provide students with a set of colored cubes or blocks representing positive and negative integers. Ask them to build a model to demonstrate a multiplication or division problem. For instance, students can use blocks to represent −2 and 3, respectively, and count how many total blocks are in the model. The total number of blocks in the model will give the answer for the multiplication problem. Similarly, divide the total number of blocks into how many groups needed to make the model to get the answer for the division problem.
2. Number Line
Using a number line is an excellent tool that helps students visualize multiplication and division of integers. Select a couple of integers and ask the students to mark them on the number line. Next, create a problem by asking the students to multiply or divide those numbers. Ask them to skip count along the number line to get the solution. For example, suppose you ask the students to divide −8 by 2. They could start at −8 and count in steps of two until they reach zero on the number line. The number zero is the answer.
3. Real-Life Scenarios
It is helpful for students always to see how math relates to real-life scenarios. One way to do this is to provide students with real-life problems and scenarios where they can apply multiplication and division of integers. For example, you can create problems like “You have $-24 in your bank account, and you want to buy two 5-dollar items. How much overdrawn will you be?” Solving real-life scenarios that call for multiplication and division makes problem-solving fun and meaningful to them.
4. Collaborative Competition
Divide the class into teams, and provide each team with a set of integers and a set of multiplication and division problems. The objective of the game is to be the first team to solve the problems correctly and earn points. This game helps the students to collaborate, explain their reasoning, and solve problems collaboratively while having fun.
In conclusion, mastery of multiplication and division of integers is essential in developing strong mathematical foundations. By incorporating fun and engaging activities like model building, the number line, real-life scenarios, and collaborative competition into your teaching routine, you can help students truly understand and learn these complex concepts. These activities foster collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills that will be valuable throughout their lifetime.
