3rd Grade Multiplication Rule Tables Worksheet: Input, Working, Output

A rule table turns the times tables into a small machine. A number goes in, a rule acts on it, and a new number comes out at the other end of the table. This 3rd grade multiplication rule tables worksheet has four tables to fill, labeled b to e, with the rules × 12, × 3, × 9 and × 10. Each table has a column for input and output, plus a middle column to show working. Table a is a worked example with the rule × 7. A boy rides a bike by the title, and a girl in a cape flies at the bottom. A second page gives the answer key.

Read the rule first

The rule sits at the top of each table. Before writing anything, your child reads it aloud: "times 9." Then every input in the table gets the same treatment, from the first row down to the very last one.

The middle column matters. Writing 3 × 9 before 27 shows the thinking, and a slip is easy to find later when you check the page together. The worked example does exactly this, from 0 × 7 = 0 to 11 × 7 = 77.

At the table: zeros and odd orders

Three tables start with 0, and 0 times any rule gives 0. Table e lists its inputs out of order. It ends with 3 after 10, so a child who follows the pattern of the column writes 110 instead of 30.

Page one also prints an empty copy of the example, and it can stay blank. The × 12 table goes past the third grade facts, but its outputs stay under 100. Count by 12 from zero when a fact is not known yet, and the outputs of the table appear one after another.

After the page: guess my rule

Turn it into a game. You say an input and an output, like 4 and 20. Your child guesses the rule: times 5. Swap roles after each round.

This reverse thinking builds the times table from both sides. To finish, check each output with the answer key on page two.