No More Math Fact Frenzy (NOT THIS, BUT THAT)

No More Math Fact Frenzy (NOT THIS, BUT THAT)

<p><strong>"Pencils ready? On your mark...get set...begin!"</strong></p> <p>Remember flipping over a page full of unrelated fact problems and scrambling to answer as many as possible in a minute? Remember trying to memorize math facts by rote? Many of our children are still asked to learn this way-even though research shows this approach can harm student learning more than help.</p> <p><strong>Explore an effective, research-based approach to math fact instruction.</strong></p> <p><em>No More Math Fact Frenzy</em> examines this research and concludes that our approaches to math fact instruction are often ineffective. We <em>want</em> our students to know their math facts. We <em>know</em> they're better mathematicians when they're comfortable with them. Yet the ways we ask students to learn them in many classrooms remain unproductive.</p> <p>To address this, the authors outline three phases for helping students master their math facts.</p> <ol> <li>Building foundational concepts and strategies</li> <li>Learning more efficient reasoning strategies</li> <li>Meaningful, ongoing practice leading to full fact fluency</li> </ol> <p>Then they share recommendations for all three phrases: activities and games that build number sense, strategies that lead to flexible thinking, and ways to create and sustain a classroom culture of fluency. This kind of teaching helps students learn their math facts more successfully-and with less stress and anxiety.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>"When we emphasize foundation concepts and reasoning strategies as the path towards building authentic fluency, students can develop their number sense, articulate their thinking, and understand the reasoning of others."</strong></p> <p><strong>-Linda Ruiz Davenport, Connie S. Henry, Douglas H. Clements, and Julie Sarama</strong></p>