Year 4 · Column methods and times tables
Short multiplication
Multiply two-digit and three-digit numbers by a one-digit number using formal written layout
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Multiply two-digit and three-digit numbers by a one-digit number using formal written layout
Key learning points
- • Start with partitioning
- • The written layout
- • Three digits
- • Checking and using it
This lesson at a glance
- 20 minutes
- 19 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- No marked quiz yet
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 19
Watch first
Short multiplication
A catchy song that helps you learn your 8 times table fast.
Do it for real
The practicals below use what the film shows, with a full method you can follow at home.
In a nutshell
Multiply two-digit and three-digit numbers by a one-digit number using formal written layout
What you already know
Part 2 of 19
Before we start
What you already know
You know your tables to 12 × 12 and how to carry in column addition.
Key words
Part 3 of 19
Key words
Words you'll need today
- product
- The answer when you multiply.
- carry
- The tens you move into the next column.
- partition
- Splitting a number into parts to multiply each one.
Learning cycle
Part 4 of 19
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 — Two digits
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 19
Learn
Start with partitioning
To work out 34 × 6, split 34 into 30 and 4. Then 30 × 6 = 180 and 4 × 6 = 24, so the answer is 180 + 24 = 204. Doing it this way first means the written method later makes sense instead of feeling like magic.
Explore the idea
Part 6 of 19
Learn
The written layout
Write 34 with 6 underneath the 4. Multiply the ones first: 4 × 6 = 24, so write 4 and carry 2 into the tens. Then 3 × 6 = 18, add the carried 2 to get 20, and write 20 in front. The answer is 204 — the same as partitioning gave.
Quick check
Part 7 of 19
Quick check
23 × 4 =
Quick check
Part 8 of 19
Quick check
In 47 × 6, what do you carry after 7 × 6?
Reset break
Part 9 of 19
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 10 of 19
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 — Three digits and problems
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 11 of 19
Learn
Three digits
247 × 3: ones first, 7 × 3 = 21, write 1 carry 2. Tens: 4 × 3 = 12, plus the carried 2 makes 14, write 4 carry 1. Hundreds: 2 × 3 = 6, plus 1 makes 7. Answer 741. Always work right to left and write the carry small under the next column.
Explore the idea
Part 12 of 19
Learn
Checking and using it
Estimate first: 247 × 3 is about 250 × 3 = 750, so 741 looks right. Word problems often hide multiplication: 8 boxes of 125 pencils is 125 × 8 = 1,000 pencils. If the numbers are close to a round number, doubling or estimating checks your answer fast.
Quick check
Part 13 of 19
Quick check
136 × 3 =
Quick check
Part 14 of 19
Quick check
6 boxes of 125 pens is...
Common mix-ups
Part 15 of 19
Common mix-ups
Things people often get wrong
- Starting from the left instead of the ones column.
- Forgetting to add the carried digit into the next multiplication.
- Multiplying the carried digit instead of adding it.
Challenge round
Part 16 of 19
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 17 of 19
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
____ the ones first: 4 × 6 = 24, so write 4 and carry 2 into the tens.
If the ____ are close to a round number, doubling or estimating checks your answer fast.
Mastery quiz
Part 18 of 19
No quiz for this one
This lesson has no marked quiz attached yet.
Lesson round-up
Part 19 of 19
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
Not played
Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
The cost of a school trip
A school is planning a trip to a wildlife park. The coach costs £480 however many people go. Entry costs £9.50 for each pupil and each adult goes free. The school says every pupil must pay the same amount, and the trip must not lose money.
If 60 pupils go, the coach works out at £8 each, so the total for each pupil is £17.50. If only 40 pupils go, the coach works out at £12 each, so the price rises to £21.50. The teacher explains that the coach is a fixed cost and the entry is a cost per person — which is why the price per pupil changes when the number changes.
The school decides to charge £20 and to use anything left over for a second trip later in the year.
Written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Work out the total cost of the trip if 50 pupils go.
- Show why the price per pupil falls when more pupils go, using numbers.
- At £20 each, how many pupils must go before the trip makes money? Show your working.
Working out
Working outDo the practice questions on paper, showing every step — not just the answer. Mark them yourself and circle anything you got wrong.
10–15 questions
Worked example, explained
WritingCopy one question out and write underneath, in words, why each step works.
1 question, 4–5 sentences
Problem in words
Working outWrite your own real-life problem that uses today's method, then solve it.
1 problem + solution
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover