UPDATED 3 Oct 2009 – Added tab to drill 0-9
If you want to drill your kids on their multiplication tables and you feel that repetition and testing is the best way to do it, then this Excel sheet may be what you are looking for.
There are programs available that will quiz kids on the computer, but most teachers that my children have encountered test by giving a written test that is usually timed. Sixty seconds is the usual time. If you think it is a long time, you fill one of these sheets out and see how much time out of the 60 seconds you have left! So, I decided to quiz my kids like they are tested. Once I started quizzing my children in this manner, they did a lot better on their tests at school.
Test description: Each row contains no repeat problems. Any given page will focus on one number multiplied by ten numbers in random order. If you give your child 60 seconds to complete the page it is not possible ( in my experience ) to scan the page and answer all the problems in any other way than simply going row by row as opposed to answering all the 3 times 0, then three times 1, then three times 2, etc. This forces rote memorization of the problems.
Under the hood ( for excel geeks only ) : This sheet was a puzzler till I discovered a technique to present 10 numbers in random order. To do this, I start with the 10 numbers, randomly pick one and remove this number from the list of possible numbers. The next cell to the right has one less number to select from and so on. The numbers are stored in a string and removed one at a time. To be honest, I have been writing Excel spreadsheets for 20 years and I am more excited about this sheet than any other one I have written. If there is an easier way to do this, shock the heck out of me and let me know!
Sample Output. Above is an example of what the test generator will produce. It contains 10 rows of 10 problems. One operand is constant ( 3 in this case) There are no repeats in any given line across. This is the exact format that my children were expected to complete in 60 seconds in their school. Until I started using this printed page to quiz them at home, they consistently were unable to complete the page in the prescribed time.
Instructions
If you would like to use this quiz maker for your children, please download the spreadsheet by clicking the link below to purchase and save to your computer in a location that is convenient. Open in Excel. If no numbers appear in the test then you need to install the Analysis ToolPack. This is a standard feature of Excel that is sometimes not installed when you setup Excel on your computer. If this is the case start Excel and press F1 or use the help feature and enter Analysis Toolpack. Excel will tell you how to install the toolpack. It takes only a few seconds, but you might need to have the installation disk handy.
If you don’t want to try the Excel spreadsheet but want to see some example worksheets, you can download a PDF file of a complete set of tests, either from a set that goes up to 10 times 10 or 12 times 12. You can print the entire 10 or 12 page set, or just the page that is associated with the number your child is testing for.
This is the spreadsheet that can create as many tests as you have kids and paper!
These below are PDF Files suitable for printing, but will not regenerate new quizzes. You might want these if you don’t have Excel or just want a better look at what the output of the spreadsheet is like.
I hope this helps your kids like it has mine – Paul
Mark, I created a new worksheet per your request. It is now available from the download link as above. There is a tab to test multiplication 0-9. Took 1 minute to alter. Thanks for the suggestion.
Changing the order of the operands in each problem is not as easy. If I can think of a way to do this without a huge re-write, I will. Otherwise it will stand as it does. By the way, our school district drills exactly like my sheets.
Paul
Obviously the format didn’t work in my last note…
To clarify, our school doesn’t test x10, but they do test x0 for each of the numbers through 9.
Also, they like to make sure they can quickly answer the problem regardless of the order…9×3 vs. 3 x9. Does that make any sense? Is there a way to adapt the worksheets for those needs?
Thanks so much!
McShell
Hi Paul,
Your worksheets are awesome! Can you modify them so that they test 0-9 x 0-9? Also, is there a way to mix up the factor being tested to be on the top or the bottom.
0 9 3 7 4 9 6 2 8 5 9 9 4 9 6 x9 x1 x9 x9 x9 x9 x9 x9 x9 x9 x2 x3 x9 x5 x9
_____________________________________________________
etc.
Kathy, I just downloaded my file and ran it in Excel 2007. It opened and ran without fail. Without knowing what kind of trouble you are having it is not possible to offer any suggestions. My suggestion would be to delete the spreadsheet and download a new copy. Possibly your previously working copy has been altered inadvertently. There are a lot of preferences that can be set with various copies of Excel. Possibly your copy has a setting that is set in a way that it is incompatible with the program. Sorry I don’t have any other suggestions or answers for you, other than since it worked before, it should work again.
Paul
Hey Paul!
Thank you for creating this file!
In the past, I have been able to create a sheet of mixed multiplication problems from 1-12 using your spreadsheet, but I am having trouble doing so now. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kahty