The other day I received a text from a school district I serve. It read, “On a scale of 1-10, how important is math fact fluency?” My answer: 11 In a follow-up text, they asked for my thoughts on fluency instruction, fluency practice, and whether there are any online apps to support the development of […]
As a math coach one of the things I hear the most from upper elementary and middle school teachers is “What do I do with my students who don’t know their multiplication facts?” I hear this from third grade teachers fourth grade teachers fifth grade teachers all the way up to whatever grade level I […]
Hey folks…I recently came across this article about learning multiplication facts. Here is my summary of it with some addition thought sat the end… A 2022 study from the Netherlands compared two methods of practicing multiplication facts: reciting equations displayed on a whiteboard and singing songs practicing with flash cards. Teachers used the same scripted […]
Why do we have timed tests? asks Adam Grant (University of Pennsylvania) in this New York Times article. Because many educators believe that speed is a sign of students’ aptitude and mastery. In fact, says Grant, completing a test more quickly isn’t an accurate measure of knowledge or intelligence; it assesses the much narrower skill […]
This is the second part of a series of posts showing how to visually represent the four operations of whole numbers using the CHIP MODEL. The view the first part in which we show how to model addition and subtraction, go here. Just as the chip model is a particularly effective way in visually […]
I recently visited a 3rd grade class to share with the teacher ideas for teaching multiplication facts. She was particularly frustrated that her students were struggling with the larger facts – the sixes, sevens, eights, and nines. It was clear that while students had experience connecting multiplication with the idea of equal groups, students did […]