3rd Grade Multiplication

[dcoker]

I’ve noticed that so called “Common Core Aligned” resources have 3rd grade students multiplying single-digit by double-digit (non-decade) numbers and double-digit by double-digit numbers. When I’ve questioned it, the publishers explained that the only standards asking 3rd grade students to work with single digit numbers are 3.OA.1 and 3.OA.7. Would you be willing to clarify how far teachers need to go with third grade multiplication?

Thanks so much!

[Bill McCallum]

My guess is that these publishers have not read the glossary to the standards. The Grade 3 standards call for fluency with multiplication within 100 (3.OA.7), knowing single digit multiplication facts from memory (3.OA.7), and multiplying single digit numbers by 2-digit multiples of 10 (3.NBT.3). Multiplication within 100 is defined in the glossary to mean “Multiplication or division of two whole numbers with whole number answers, and with product or dividend in the range 0–100.”

So that excludes all two-digit by two-digit multiplications except 10 x 10. And it excludes the more difficult single-digit by two-digit multiplications.

[Nic]

Given that 3rd graders are expected to use the distributive property in 3.MD.7 to solve problems involving area wouldn’t multiplication within 100 also include 2-digit by 1-digit problems such as 15 x 5, 14 x 3 etc. where students use the distributive property to solve? e.g. 15 x 5 = (10 x 5) + (5 x 5)
= 50 + 25 = 75

[Anonymous]

If I understand your question, Bill answered it in his reply to dcoker above. Multiplication within 100 is defined in the glossary of the standards (p.86) to mean “Multiplication or division of two whole numbers with whole number answers, and with product or dividend in the range 0–100.”

So yes, your examples of 15 x 5 and 14 x 3 are definitely appropriate. Something like 7 x 19 would not be.

[Author]

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