Like many educators, I have searched to find a manipulative that would help teach my students multiplication. After a great deal of trial an error, I realized a guide for step-counting the multiplication facts for the 1’s, 2’s. 3’s, 4’s, 6’s, 7’s, 8’s, and 9’s could be contained within only two sets of numbers: I determined that each of these number sets could be arranged in a three by three grid and rotated to derive eight of the numerical patterns of multiplication.
I have used this manipula