Multiplication and Division

Over the past few weeks have been busy looking closely at multiplication and division strategies, using concrete materials. For multiplication the students have been making equal groups and calculating what the total would be. For division they have been sharing objects equally into groups and finding out how many in each group. 
They have discovered that multiplication is the same as repeated addition, and division is the same as repeated subtraction. These are extremely important steps towards developing a complete understanding of multiplication and division prior to the introduction of the x sign, or 'times tables'.