Multiplication and division – Year 4 maths lesson
Lesson 12 of 31 in the Year 4 maths course
UK version. UK school years, UK spelling and pounds (£). · US Math Department
A complete 45-minute lesson for Year 4 (ages 8–9) that runs on this page – at school or at home. Every answer is marked straight away, with a worked explanation.
- Time
- 45 minutes + 20 min homework
- Year
- Year 4 (ages 8–9)
- You need
- Paper, a pencil and this page
- Marked
- Instantly, with explanations
For parents: how to use this lesson
You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, one tidy step at a time. Every answer is marked straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to mark anything.
- Read what your child will learn and the big ideas together.
- Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
- Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
- Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “How does an array show both 3 × 4 and 4 × 3?”
- Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.
Watch out for
- Groups that are not equal. Check every group has the same number before you multiply.
- Thinking 12 ÷ 3 is the same as 3 ÷ 12. Act it out: 12 sweets shared by 3 people.
Tip for home: Count things in equal groups: legs on chairs, wheels on cars, eggs in a box.
What your child will learn
We are learning to understand multiplying as equal groups and dividing as sharing or grouping.
Success looks like
- I can make equal groups.
- I can write a multiplication and a division for an array.
- I can solve sharing and grouping problems.
Key words
- equal groups
- groups with the same number in each
- array
- objects in rows and columns
- multiply
- find the total of equal groups
- divide
- share equally or group
What to have ready
- Paper and a pencil
- This page on a computer, tablet or phone
- For the hands-on part: Make equal groups with pasta or counters, then line them into an array. Share 12 things between 3 plates. No counters? Draw dots in rows to make arrays.
The big ideas (for the adult)
Multiplying means adding equal groups: 4 groups of 3 is 3 + 3 + 3 + 3, written 4 × 3 = 12.
An array shows rows and columns. 3 rows of 5 and 5 rows of 3 have the same total, so 3 × 5 = 5 × 3.
Dividing is sharing into equal groups or finding how many groups fit: 12 ÷ 3 = 4. It undoes multiplying.
The lesson, step by step
| Part | Time | How it is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Starter: quick recall | 5 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Teaching input | 10 min | Not assessed, self-checked |
| Worked examples and guided practice | 9 min | Not assessed, marked by Classfern |
| Independent practice | 15 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Plenary and exit ticket | 6 min | Marked by Classfern, self-checked |
Starter, "your turn", practice and exit ticket are marked by Classfern. Worked examples and teaching are not assessed. The hands-on task and the reflection are self-assessed. Explanations in talk are judged by the parent and not recorded.
The lesson
It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – progress is kept only in this browser.
Homework and practice at home
20 minutes: 10 practice questions, 3 multiple-choice questions and 2 to remember from earlier work, then a short reflection. New questions every time, all marked instantly.
More practice
More Year 4 maths lessons
- Place value: the value of each digit
- Rounding to the nearest 10, 100 or 1,000
- One more, one less, ten more and ten less
- Number lines
- Comparing, ordering and writing numbers
- Roman numerals
- Column addition
- Column subtraction
- Times tables
- Short multiplication
- Multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1,000
- Solving word problems
- Equivalent fractions
- Adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator
- Fractions of amounts
- Decimals: tenths, hundredths and thousandths
- Tenths and hundredths
- Rounding decimals
- Fractions, decimals and percentages
- Area of rectangles
- Perimeter
- Converting units of time
- Money: totals and change
- The 24-hour clock
- Types of angles and measuring angles
- Properties of 2-D shapes
- Lines of symmetry
- Coordinates
- Bar charts, pictograms and tables
- Line graphs
Curriculum
National Curriculum for England, Year 4: “use place value, known and derived facts to multiply and divide mentally, including: multiplying by 0 and 1; dividing by 1; multiplying together 3 numbers”
National Curriculum for England, Year 4: “solve problems involving multiplying and adding, including using the distributive law to multiply two-digit numbers by 1 digit, integer scaling problems and harder correspondence problems such as n objects are connected to m objects”
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Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.