Times Table Rock Stars!
Useful downloads: logging in guide
When it comes to times tables, speed AND accuracy are important – the more facts your child remembers, the easier it is for them to do harder calculations.
Times Table Rock Stars is a fun and challenging programme designed to help students master the times tables! To be a Times Table Rock Star you need to answer any multiplication fact up to 12×12 in less than 3 seconds!
The goal is for all participating rockers to be Times Table Rock Stars after 20 weeks!
Message to Parents
World famous rock musicians are the best at what they do because they've spent hours practising guitar chords, writing music or playing on the drums. It's just the same with times tables – all Times Table Rock Stars need to practise and practise and practise.
It's absolutely essential that your child does a little bit of times table practice every night. In my experience, short bursts of practise on a daily basis are more effective than spending hours once a week.
And this is where you come in. For your child to be fully motivated and for them to get the best out of the practice, they need your help. Without your praise and your reminders, without you sitting down next to them or checking their work, practising times tables will not feel important to your child.
In this handbook I have set out a plan for you to follow. It's the same plan every night but the times tables change each week. My recommendation is that you are there to help them every evening for half hour during the first two weeks. This will help to establish a routine. After that, I recommend that you help your child get started for the first 10 minutes and then check on them at the end.
Over the course of the next few weeks and months your child WILL get faster and more accurate with the times tbales. All your hard work and theirs WILL make them a Times Table Rock Star!
These are the times tables we will be focussing on each week:
It’s helpful to understand that the quicker your child can answer a times tables question, the higher their Rock Status. Use this list as a guide to help your child work out their Rock Status:
Each evening, your child should follow this plan in the order presented below:
1. Read the times tables out loud (3 minutes) – On the next page you will find all the times tables written out from the 3s up to the 12s. Together with your child, read the times tables that we are focusing on that week. For example, if it’s week 3 of the Autumn half-term then concentrate on the 5 times table. Do it a second time round but this time your child should be trying to say them without reading them from the page. It is more important that they say them correctly than say them quickly at this stage.
2. Scatter tables (up to 5 minutes) – you will find Scatter Tables at the end of this document. To use them, you call out a question from the times table you are focusing on and your child has to point to the answer on the page. For example, if you are concentrating on the 5 times table, then find the Scatter Table for the 5s and call out questions like, “9 times 5” (your child points to 45), “6 times 5” (your child points to 30) or “5 times 12” (your child points to 60). Your child should be trying to get them correct each time and not worrying about the speed.
3. Write tables on a piece of paper (up to 5 minutes) – Your child should write down the times tables being focused on that week. Any piece of paper will do.
4. Play online (up to 10 minutes) – Your child needs to have a login for ttrockstars.com from their teacher. Then they should play for a short while until they are successfully answering the questions quickly. Let your child’s teacher know if you have difficulty accessing the internet or difficulty getting on to ttrockstars.com. You can also use the contact details on the website to ask for assistance.
Total: approximately 25 minutes
Reading the Tables
Read the times tables together with your child. Focus on the times tables that we are studying in school this week (see page 2).