Times tables learning mission

The times tables learning mission turns the usual order upside down. Nothing gets worked out on the first page: there are five hard sums – 6 × 7, 7 × 8, 8 × 9, 6 × 8 and 7 × 9 – and next to them a scale from “not sure at all” to “very sure”. All we ask about is the feeling.

Next comes the personal times tables map: What do I know straight away? What do I know after a quick think? What takes me a long time? The following page has all the times tables from 1 × 1 to 10 × 10, and every single sum gets sorted. At the end, a child can see in black and white where they stand.

Then come the hero tricks, and that is what it is really about. A hero trick is an anchor: a sum you already know for sure, from which you work your way to the hard one. 6 × 7 via 5 × 7 = 35 plus another 7. 9 × 7 via 10 × 7 = 70 minus 7. 4 × 7 via 2 × 7 = 14, doubled. The more anchors a child is sure of, the less they have to learn by heart: everything else is one step away from an anchor. And whatever has been reached from an anchor often enough eventually becomes an anchor itself.

Towards the end come the same five sums as at the start, and the same scale. Alongside them comes a question you won’t find on any worksheet: did the answer come straight away – yes or no? And if not: which hero trick helped?