Fluency Strategy 1: Break Apart to Multiply

This strategy is really just another term for the distributive property of multiplication. It is great to use when one factor is an easy one to multiply and you can adjust the other to make it easier. 

Example:

45 x 6 = 45 x 2 x 3

45 x 2= 90

90 x 3 = 120

Fluency Strategy 2: Doubling and Halving

This strategy is amazing when one or both numbers are even and easily turned into a 1 digit number. The idea is a multplication equation stays the same when you double one factor and half the other.

Example: 12 x 4 (half 12, double 4 ) = 6 x 8

Example with a bigger number:

150 x 24 = 300 x 12 = 600 x 6 = 3,600