Target 6: Long Multiplication

The Target 6 book could also have been named ‘Written Multiplication’. Although your students will come across some very large multiplications in this workbook, which require careful written strategies, there are also many shorter multiplications that require only a bit of writing and can be solved in seconds.

The book begins with ‘Fast Methods’: teaching children how to quickly multiply numbers by 5 and 50, then 20 and 25, then 9 and 99 and finally 11.

The traditional column method is explained next, although I strongly encourage students to use other strategies whenever neither number in the calculation is a single-digit number.

These strategies include the Grid Method, the Double/Half Method (which is connected to the ‘Russian Peasant’ Method), the Factor Pair Method and the Lattice.

If your students struggle with the traditional column multiplication method (the method almost all of us use at school) then I urge you to take them slowly through the Target 6 workbook. My own students are now highly confident with long multiplications thanks to these alternatives - particularly the Lattice.

Their teachers have also been very impressed by this progress so you can be sure that good schools will encourage the use of these strategies in the classroom.

Each Target Practice workbook is divided into ten challenges, with target scores and time limits. The Target Extra section at the back of each book contains several repeat challenges, enabling your students to hit that target score should they miss out the first time.

This is a colourful 115-page PDF download, with explanation pages for each concept, and quick links to each chapter and the answer pages.

Not only that, this Target Practice workbook contains links to 74 minutes of teaching video, created by Catapult (only available to those who purchase the workbook).

Target 6’s ten steps are as follows:

Target 6a: Fast Methods: x5, x50

Target 6b: Fast Methods: x20, x25

Target 6c: Fast Methods: x9, x99

Target 6d: Fast Methods: x11

Target 6e: Column Method

Target 6f: Grid Method

Target 6g: Russian Peasant Method

Target 6h: Factor Pair Method

Target 6i: Lattice Method

Target 6j: Putting it all Together

Launch their potential.

Trevor Veale

Target Practice author

Owner and full-time tutor at Catapult

Primary school teacher for nine years