Stage 6: Expanded Short Multiplication
It is important that children maintain a secure method for multiplication into Year 5 – most children will move on to using short multiplication with the expanded format as an interim stage.
The next step is to represent the method of recording in a column format, but showing the working. This method should be presented to the children alongside the grid method, and similarities between the two methods should be highlighted.
Children should describe what they do by referring to the actual values of the digits in the columns. For example, the first step in 38 × 7 is ‘thirty multiplied by seven’, not ‘three times seven’, although the relationship 3 × 7 should be stressed.
