Multiplying Two Two-digit Numbers

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Sketch the Grid in Your Copy
5 Class Challenge
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

Key point

Illustration for Getting Started Here is a multiplication we have never tackled before: 23 × 14. Both numbers have two digits. Roughly how big do you think the answer will be? More than 100? More than 300? Give me your best estimate before we work anything out.

Teacher Notes

Take three hands-up estimates, not open call-outs. Do not correct them yet — this is a rough-size hook, and the estimates become a check at the end. If a pupil says "just do 2 × 1 and 3 × 4", note it aloud without judging; the four-box model will show why that misses most of the answer.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

Each interactive shows a rectangle already split into four boxes, one for each pair of parts. Notice the four answers in the boxes. We will line them up by place value before adding. Keep an eye on which box turns out biggest.

Teacher Notes

Reveal one at a time, pausing so the class stays with each before the next appears.

23 x 14: point at each box and name the partials, 20x10 is 200, 20x4 is 80, 3x10 is 30, 3x4 is 12. Stress 200 is hundreds and 12 is only units, so they sit in different columns. Line up and add: 200 + 80 + 30 + 12 = 322. Keep naming the place-value columns as you add so the class sees the alignment.

35 x 27: same four-box shape, bigger digits. 35 into 30 and 5, 27 into 20 and 7. Hold the reveal, ask which box is biggest, take two hands, then reveal the 30x20 corner as 600. Total is 945.

56 x 48: the key one. 50x40 is 2,000, 50x8 is 400, 6x40 is 240, 6x8 is 48, giving 2,688. Every box is large, so it is easy to slip and add in the wrong column. Say the columns aloud as you total to show the alignment is what makes or breaks it.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~11 mins

Worked example

We work through this one together: 42 × 36. One pupil comes to the board and drags the partitions so 42 splits into 40 and 2, and 36 into 30 and 6. Everyone else watches the four boxes appear and calls out each partial with the class before we check it: first 40×30, then 40×6, then 2×30, and finally 2×6.

42 × 36 together

Teacher Notes

This round is for talking it through together — one pupil drives the partitions at the board while the class watches and calls each partial aloud.

Take the four boxes in order: 40×30 = 1,200, 40×6 = 240, 2×30 = 60, 2×6 = 12. Have a different pupil call out each partial. Watch for the pupil who multiplies 40×30 as 120 (forgetting one of the zeros) — revoice as "four tens times three tens is twelve hundreds". Total to 1,512 and compare it against the column-shorthand panel so the class sees the two methods agree.

+15 XP

4 - Sketch the Grid in Your Copy ~3 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

Illustration for Sketch the Grid in Your Copy In your maths copy, sketch the 2×2 area-model grid for 23 × 14 (our first product). Break it into four boxes: 20×10, 20×4, 3×10, 3×4. Write each sub-product inside its box, then total them at the bottom.

20 × 10
20 × 4
3 × 10
3 × 4

Teacher Notes

Walk the room glancing at whether the four boxes are labelled with the right tens and units, and whether the totals line up. No individual marking — this is whole-class copybook practice, not assessment.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Key point

We work through these products together, in order: 28 × 23, then 47 × 35. If time allows, we push on to the stretch pair: 64 × 19, then 87 × 96. Each one adds a wrinkle: bigger tens, then a bigger units digit, then numbers close to a round hundred. Partition both factors, find the four boxes, and check the total.

Two-digit by two-digit products

Teacher Notes

These are the practice questions — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

In 8 minutes, plan to complete 28×23 and 47×35 for certain; 64×19 and 87×96 are stretch items only if the pace allows. Watch for the units×tens box being multiplied as units×units (e.g. 3×2 instead of 3×20 in 28×23). If you reach 87 × 96, the four partials are all large (7,200 + 630 + 480 + 42), so slow the class down for the column alignment — this is where a stray zero costs the whole answer.

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 2 · Operations and Computational Fluency Number

Lesson 24 · Multiplying Two Two-digit Numbers

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Teacher Class Feed

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

3 - Try It Together ~11 mins

42 × 36 together

4 - Sketch the Grid in Your Copy ~3 mins

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Two-digit by two-digit products

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