The Educator's Playbook for Multiplication and Division Interventions (Grades 3-5)
The Multiplication & Division Playbook is a comprehensive resource designed to support teachers in helping students in grades 3-5 develop a strong conceptual understanding and procedural flexibility in multiplication and division. This tool provides actionable strategies, techniques, and scaffolds tailored to meet the diverse needs of learners who struggle with these foundational math concepts. It includes methods such as visual modeling, problem-type classification, and the use of concrete and semi-concrete representations, making it an essential guide for planning targeted instruction and interventions.
How MTSS or RTI Teams Can Use the Playbook
MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) and RTI (Response to Intervention) teams can utilize this playbook as a key planning tool to design effective, data-driven interventions for struggling students. Here's how teams can leverage it:
Diagnosing Student Needs:
- The playbook’s "If...Then" structure helps identify specific conceptual or procedural gaps.
- Teams can pinpoint whether students need support in understanding problem types, building fluency, or applying strategies to solve multi-step problems.
Planning Targeted Interventions:
- Teams can use the suggested small group strategies, such as frontloading concepts or using tiered problem sets (mild, medium, spicy), to differentiate instruction based on students’ readiness levels.
- Techniques like using concrete manipulatives and visual aids ensure interventions are accessible to all learners.
Progress Monitoring:
- The playbook emphasizes success criteria and reflective practices, allowing teams to track student progress and adjust strategies as needed.
- Exit tickets and guided practice ideas provide a means to assess understanding before independent practice.
Collaboration and Professional Development:
- The resource supports teacher collaboration by providing a shared framework for identifying and addressing student challenges.
- RTI teams can use the strategies during collaborative planning sessions or as part of professional development workshops focused on improving math outcomes.
Scaffolding and Gradual Release:
- The emphasis on scaffolding ensures that barriers to understanding are addressed through incremental teaching and guided practice.
- Strategies such as numberless problems, reciprocal teaching, and modeling align with best practices in Tier 1 and Tier 2 intervention settings.
The playbook is designed to spur thinking and help teachers, MTSS, or RTI teams ensure interventions are both systematic and tailored to student needs. The ideas included are evidence-based and can be applied to any math curriculum program. Click here to download the playbook