MULTIPLITOONS
It is not just the song.
It is how you sing it.
A multisensory approach that connects multiplication facts to music, movement, and meaning.
What Multiplitoons is
Multiplitoons is my multisensory approach to multiplication facts. It is quick, effective, and fun, but it is not just singing songs. How students sing them is what makes the facts stick: careful scaffolding, coordinated movement, and immediate application work together.
In my classroom, students who learn the facts this way rarely make multiplication errors. I have watched math anxiety fade and students grow confident.
What it is
An accessible way for students to learn their multiplication facts easily and quickly.
What it isn’t
A replacement for conceptual learning, flexible thinking, or finding patterns in numbers. That work must still happen, or the songs are not effective.
Who it’s for
Every student, and it matters most for students with disabilities.
IN A STUDENT’S WORDS
Does it work long-term?
Brita learned the 8s song on the first day of fourth grade. Now in seventh grade, she still uses the songs every day to keep her facts quick during timed multiplication practice.
Brita shares how she still uses Multiplitoons in seventh grade.
Before you begin
Concrete
Moving blocks or counters into equal groups.
Pictorial
Circling dots, drawing grids, or making jumps on a number line.
Abstract
Writing equations such as
3 × 4 = 12.
3 × 4 = 12
MULTIPLITOONS WARNING LABEL
Songs support recall after students understand what multiplication means. Give students plenty of time to explore the properties of multiplication with manipulatives first, moving through each stage:
I recommend introducing Multiplitoons toward the end of grade three or the beginning of grade four.
Why start with the 8s?
The 8s song sticks the quickest, and the multiples of 8 are the most flexible of the harder facts to learn. They also share many multiples with the 2s and the 4s, which makes them a strong anchor for the songs that follow.
See it, hear it, move it
Students learn every song three ways at once.
Visual
Students see the multiples on a hundred chart, on the board, and in their notebooks.
Auditory
Students hear the song, sing it together, and eventually sing it solo.
Kinesthetic
Students raise one finger, lift one heel, or take one step for each multiple.
The first week with the 8s
Here is how I introduce the first song during the first week of school.
Day 1: Notice, wonder, and listen
Students say and circle the multiples of 5, 10, and 2 on a hundred chart and discuss the patterns. Few can say the multiples of 8, so they time me saying them instead, and I promise they will be ready to challenge me by the end of the week. We circle the multiples of 8, share what we notice and wonder, and write the song’s numbers in our notebooks. Students listen to the song twice, then stand and sing.
Day 2: Let go of the list
We revisit the meaning of multiples with an 8-pack of something and talk about even and odd numbers. While the class sings, I erase the numbers from the board two at a time. Then we add movements: one finger for each multiple, and later one heel lift for each multiple. When students sing until three fingers are up, they discover that 8 × 3 = 24. We end with a short conversation about how the brain learns through more than one sense.
Day 3: Put the song to work
After a quick place value review, I write 44 on the board and ask how we could find 8 × 44 without counting to 44. Then I share my own thinking: 4 × 8 = 32, and 40 × 8 = 320, so 8 × 44 = 352. Students prove their answers with a drawing or a model. This is exposure, not mastery, so there is no pressure. We finish with volunteer solos.
Day 4: Prove it and move
Students circle the multiples of 8 again and play Fact or Fiction. Are all multiples of 8 also multiples of 2? Are all multiples of 2 also multiples of 8? Then they take one step for each multiple as they sing, practice with a partner, and a few volunteers sing solos. Homework is to sing the 8s until a family member is annoyed.
Day 5: Patterns, a parade, and goats
We explore how 7 × 8, 70 × 8, and 700 × 8 are related on a place value chart, singing to seven fingers every time. Instead of “just add a zero,” we talk about each digit moving one place to the left. Then the class marches and sings outside the classroom. Back inside, students solve a silly equal-groups story using as many strategies as they can, and I introduce area models.
SEE AN EXAMPLE · EQUAL GROUPS
Joe has 66 goats on each school bus. He has 8 school buses. How many goats does Joe have in all?
One way to solve it: 60 × 8 = 480 and 6 × 8 = 48, so 480 + 48 = 528 goats. Use a student’s name, and quick-draw the buses so everyone can see the equal groups.
WEEKS 2 TO 9
After the first week
Each new song or chant connects to whatever the curriculum is covering at the time, and the daily work takes only a few minutes. Timing is approximate.
New that week
Already learned
Patterns instead of a song
Week 2
THE 8S AT WORK
DAILY SINGING
No new song. The 8s are woven into place value work, area models, and equal-groups stories.
Weeks 3-4
NEW SONG · THE 4S
DAILY SINGING
The 4s song. Students find common multiples of 2, 4, and 8 and explore number strings such as 2 × 2, 4 × 4, and 8 × 8. Every time we sing the 4s, we sing the 8s too.
Week 5
NEW CHANT · THE 3S
DAILY SINGING
The 3s chant. A chant instead of a song keeps it distinct from the 4s and 8s.
Week 6
STORY WEEK
DAILY SINGING
Multiplicative comparison stories built on the multiples students know. Students write the questions themselves.
Week 7
NEW SONG · THE 6S
DAILY SINGING
The 6s song, with fact families that introduce division.
Week 8
PATTERN WEEK · THE 9S
DAILY SINGING
No song for the 9s. Students discover patterns that help them multiply by 9 quickly.
Week 9
NEW SONG · THE 7S
DAILY SINGING
The 7s song.
Singing takes about two minutes at the start of every math class. Student song leaders start us off with every song learned so far.
Keeping it low-pressure
Never assume students know something, and never treat forgetting as a problem
Every review is a chance to reteach.
Keep challenges playful
Students time the teacher, and volunteers take on the trickiest movements.
Notebooks stay open
Looking at the numbers while singing is still multisensory learning, so there is no shame in it.
Give everyone a way to shine
Solos and movements let students who are confident in music or movement lead, even when math feels harder. Keep solos to three or four a day so each one feels like an accomplishment.
Why movement matters
Each movement ties one multiple to one count: a finger, a heel lift, or a step. Students can see how many groups they have as they sing.
I also talk with students about how the brain processes information from more than one sense at a time. Understanding why the movements help makes students more committed to them.
SOURCE
Quak, M., London, R. E., & Talsma, D. (2015). A multisensory perspective of working memory. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 197. This review summarizes laboratory research on how the senses work together in working memory. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00197
MATH PRACTICES IN ACTION
Singing alone is not evidence of a mathematical practice.
Noticing patterns on the hundred chart and comparing related facts such as 7 × 8 and 70 × 8 make structure visible.
Fact or Fiction asks students to prove or disprove a claim.
Equal-groups stories and area models connect the facts to models.
Learn Multiplitoons in a workshop
Multiplitoons is part of my Math, Music, Multiplitoons workshop for grades 3 to 5 educators. We sing, move, and connect fact recall to understanding, with routines that work alongside your required curriculum.
FOR EDUCATORS