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Using Repeated Addition: What is it?
Repeated addition is a multiplication and division strategy, in which students are using additive thinking to arrive at a solution.
Overview
Repeated addition is adding the same number again and again to get the answer. It is an entry-level strategy and will naturally occur when students are first presented with multiplication or division problems.
Repeated addition relies on equal groups.
Example: In 3x4, the first factor 3, tells how many times to add the second factor,4. 3x4=4+4+4
Supporting Students Using Repeated Addition
Repeated addition can be supported with equal group/unknown product problem types that can be modeled by students.
Examples:
Joey has 3 packages of gum with 7 in each package. How many pieces does he have?
Emily has 4 lengths of ribbon that are each 6 inches long. How much ribbon does Emily have in total?
Repeated addition can also be supported with models. When using these models, a student may be thinking that two 4s is 8, plus one more is 12.
3x4 can be shown as:
Conversely, to solve 12/4, a student may repeatedly add by 4 to solve how many 4s are in the number 12. 4+4+4=12
Number Sense and Numeration, Grades 4 to 6 – Volume 3 notes that there is more than one approach to using repeated addition.
“A baker makes 48 cookies at a time. If the baker makes 6 batches of cookies a day, how many cookies does the baker make?”
As students develop understanding around multiplication, and as their knowledge of basic facts increases, they begin to use multiplicative rather than additive strategies to solve multiplication problems. Educators are encouraged to make the explicit connection between repeated addition and multiplication. For example, if students explain that they added 4 three times (4+4+4), modelling that this thinking is the same as multiplication, four groups of 3 (4 x 3).
Where to Next?
Once students are confident with repeated addition and are ready to shift toward multiplicative thinking, they can be encouraged to use familiar facts or to decompose a factor.
Building Fact Fluency
Building Fact Fluency
Multiplication is the inverse operation and can be used to support division. Ensuring students are confident and have solid understanding of familiar facts, particularly x2, x5, and x10 will be beneficial for divisional thinking. Building arrays with square tiles will help students connect to the visual representation of an open array.
Array Work
Array Work
Learning to create an array will help students see multiplication principles come to life. An array is simply an arrangement of rows and columns formed into a rectangle. Because it is a rectangle, there are always equal groups. For more information, please refer to the array resource located on the Portal.
Looking to learn more? Check out the recorded session!
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