I recently spoke to the mother of a 1st grade student who told her mom that she was bad at math because everyone in the class could answer so much more quickly than her. Heartbreaking. Six years old and already feeling that she is a failure at math. It got me thinking...
The standards, whether the CCSSM or the TEKS in Texas, definitively state that students should develop fluency with calculations, and that means automaticity with basic facts. Knowing math facts is similar to knowing sight words–it frees up the mind to...
Fact fluency is an absolutely essential component for young, developing mathematicians. Thankfully, however, math educators are following research and moving away from rote memorization and timed tests. A strategy-based approach to teaching math facts is far more...
The debate rages over whether or not students should “memorize” their facts. We should really be discussing automaticity or fluency, not memorization. Our instructional practices should also stress understanding of the concepts behind math facts, rather...
Subitizing–funny sounding word, but a very important skill for developing number sense. Basically, we subitize when we instantly recognize a small group of objects as a number. For example, if I hold up five fingers and you instantly know it’s five without...
I’ve been working with my Firsties on the following TEK: 1.2(A) recognize instantly the quantity of structured arrangements Although it is not mentioned in the TEK, the mathematical word for this skill is subitizing. The dot patterns on dice and dominoes are...
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