2 Methods Of Teaching Multiplication to Students with Dyslexia
How to Best Teach Multiplication to Students with Dyslexia
Students with Dyslexia and other learning challenges can learn multiplication or times tables. But tthey must be taught in a way that students with learning challenges can understand. Multiplication is often taught and stored verbally and this is a challenge for students with dyslexia. Recent studies are challenging our understanding of how math facts are stored over the long term. Learning is not only about memorizing facts verbally but retrieving those facts through visualization is more effective for long term retrieval. It is also about understanding how these facts connect and apply in different situations. For parents and elementary school teachers, understanding this can make teaching multiplication more effective.
Understanding Multiplication Learning
Multiplication facts, like 4 × 6 = 24, are part of a complex network in the brain. Children in grades 3 and 4 process these facts differently. A recent study tracked how children solved multiplication problems over time, examining the roles of verbal and visual-spatial memory.
The findings? Fourth graders reacted faster to multiplication tasks than third graders. Interestingly, while younger students relied more on verbal memory, older students used visual-spatial skills.
Teaching Tips for Teaching Multiplication for Students with Dyslexia
Grade 3 & 4 Students and Intervention Programs
- Focus on Building the Concept: Students need to understand that multiplication is essentially building a rectangle and that multiplication is related to division and that they are not separate concepts.
- Hands-On Activities: Use the hundred bead abacus and cubes such as unfix cubes to represent multiplication problems.
Integrate Visual Learning: Teaching Students how to visualize the multiplication table is the key to success in recalling those facts.- Increase time for practice: It is essential that students are given enough time to continually retrieve their mental pictures of each set of facts. So much math instruction is “a mile wide and inch deep.” Students should be practicing their math facts daily for at least 2 years, especially through games until they are comfortable with those facts.
Importance of Visualization
Students are often taught math facts verbally, through repetition and memorization. But this is problematic for students with dyslexia because verbal retrieval is often difficult for them. (De Smedt et al., 2010; Dehaene et al., 2003; Geary and Hoard, 2001). Another study, done by (Soltanlou M, Pixner S, Nuerk HC) revealed that by fourth grade, students begin solving problems visually, which involves more complex thinking and connecting numbers to real-life situations. However, if students can not retrieve math facts it is much more difficult to apply those facts to more complex problems.
Implications for Teaching
Teaching students with multisensory visualization methods takes the burden off of the verbal and phonological processes that students with learning struggles have in reading and in math and lets them use the strengths that they have in picturing concepts.
- Intervention: If we teach students to use visual-spatial methods from the beginning it sets the stage for easier retrieval of math facts and builds a base for doing more complicated math in the future.
- Use games to practice fact retrieval– It is essential for students to continually retrieve their visual picture of each table until it fact retrival is acurate and fluent. I am disturbed by many of the intevention teaching material that is marketed with the “drill and kill” method of doing huge piles of worksheets. Worksheets do have their place when used sparingly but games give students the oportunity to practice while also maintaining a positve attitude and high motivation level.
Teach to Students Strengths
Teaching multiplication effectively requires adapting to the evolving cognitive abilities of children. By focusing on verbal learning early through continually skip counting or relying continuously on multiplication charts puts students with learning challenges at a disadvantage. Fluencyand accuracy are necessary for sucess with higher level math. Using multisensory teaching methods and integrating visual-spatial learning, educators and parents can better support children in mastering multiplication.
Increase Student Motivation
As a Certified Academic Language Therapist, I have used various methods to help my students master math facts but using multisensory and visualization methods are superior to any other methods I have taught in the past. I was one of those kids who just couldn’t learn the facts. It took me until sixth grade to finally learn them though rote repetition. I remember crying because I felt so dumb. Thar is why I feel so passionate about helping students learn in a way that is effective to avoid the tears and give our students the chance to focus their mind on actually learning the higher math concepts instead of becoming bogged down in fact retrival.
If you want to help your students succeed then please consider getting my Multisensory Math Pack today! It has lesson plans, videos and step by step materials to help your students learn to visualize. Each pack also has games that can be printed or used digitally with Google Slides so kids can use them on a computer or on an iPad. Also you can always feel free to contact me for help if you need assistance in your teaching. I am here to help!
