· Grade 3 lesson · 2 min read
Lesson: Tricks for the 9 Times Table (Grade 3)
Your 10 fingers already know the 9 times table!
The finger trick: 9 × 4
- Hold up all 10 fingers.
- Count fingers from the left: 1, 2, 3, 4. Put the 4th finger down.
- Fingers on the left of it: 3. That's 3 tens.
- Fingers on the right of it: 6. That's 6 ones.
- 3 tens and 6 ones = 36.
It works for every fact from 9 × 1 to 9 × 10. For 9 × 7, put down finger 7: you get 6 and 3, so 63.
The pattern trick
Look at the answers. Can you see two patterns?
| 9 × 1 = 9 | 9 × 6 = 54 |
| 9 × 2 = 18 | 9 × 7 = 63 |
| 9 × 3 = 27 | 9 × 8 = 72 |
| 9 × 4 = 36 | 9 × 9 = 81 |
| 9 × 5 = 45 | 9 × 10 = 90 |
Pattern 1: the first digit is one less than the number you multiply by. For 9 × 7, it's 6.
Pattern 2: the two digits always add up to 9. 6 + 3 = 9, so 9 × 7 = 63.
These patterns start at 9 × 2. The first fact is the easy one: 9 × 1 = 9.
Why does it work?
9 is just 1 less than 10. So 9 × 7 is the same as 10 × 7, take away 7.
70 − 7 = 63
Practice
Use the Multiplication Table of 9 worksheets. When they're easy, mix all the tables with Multiplication Facts.