To be a strong mathematician, it’s important to have fact fluency. I teach my students that fact fluency is the foundation to being able to solve more complex problems. My third graders are focused on learning their multiplication and division facts in order for them to become stronger mathematicians. In my classroom, we call this Fact Power. Students persevere until they have their Fact Power and know their facts “As Quick As A Snap.”
As their teacher, it is my job to find fun, engaging, and interactive ways to promote their Fact Power.
Method 1: Use every last minute to learn those facts!
I’ve found that fact power can be a skill taught in small increments of time, so TRANSITIONS are a perfect way to practice fact fluency! To transition students from their desks to line up for a special, I take out multiplication flash cards and when students answer a question correctly they can line up. (Even if I don’t have flashcard handy, I rattle off multiplication problems- this can also be a great way to differentiate the complexity of the fact to match your students’ skill levels) Then students in line listen to the facts, and make sure that their classmates are answering their facts correctly.
Students in my class also are assigned a number. I have 21 students in my class, so students are assigned a number from 1-21 in alphabetical order. Then, to transition students from grammar to reading, I dismiss students based on multiples: “If you are a multiple of 3, you may get your reading materials or if you are a multiple of 5 you may get your books out.” This helps with vocabulary and multiplication!
Method 2: Survey Which Facts They Already Know!
Throughout the year, Students will take a multiplication survey with a partner to figure out which facts they know. It’s simple: each student has a multiplication table printed out. Then partners test one another to see which facts they know. Students highlight any facts that they don’t know on the multiplication table. This helps for students to see which facts they have Fact Power of, and which facts they need to continue to practice. This also helps students from feeling too overwhelmed, because they tend to know more facts than they thought, and they now know which facts to target.
Method 3: Make Students Responsible for Their Facts Through Self Assessments!
In the past, I’ve had my students complete the traditional Fact Fluency Quizzes, where each student must pass a level by completing a certain amount of multiplication tables in a certain amount of time, to move onto a more difficult level. Practicing fact fluency this way requires many copies of each level, organization for students to remember which level they are on, and whole group instructional time to administer the quizzes.
I’ve started to try something new, which I have found has better results. Instead of a paper based quiz, I have students complete a fact fluency quiz online using Google Forms. Students can complete this as an individual activity during a Math Center or during their “Overtime Work.” (See Mathematicians of The Future Blog Post to learn more about overtime work.) To access the Fact Fluency Quiz, I have students independently scan the QR code and then answer the multiplication problems that appear. If students answer a question incorrectly, an explanation of the correct answer appears. This helps students to self-assess their learning and to independently learn their facts. Students can also retake the assessment as many times as necessary until they have mastered all of the facts. The interactive medium of the quiz also helps engagement and motivation to learn facts.
Are your students learning their Multiplication Fact Fluency? Try out these Google Form Fact Fluency Products to increase engagement, motivation, and to promote self-assessment with immediate feedback!
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