Math Fact Fluency What Teachers Need to Know

Components of Fluency in a Mathematics Setting  Research states that “computational fluency is composed of three very important skills: flexibility, accuracy, and efficiency.”  NCTM, 2000, says that “students exhibit computational fluency when they demonstrate flexibility in the computational methods they choose, understand and explain these methods, and produce accurate answers efficiently”

What are the Big Ideas??  Addition and Subtraction  Addition and Subtraction are an inverse process  Numbers are flexible. They can be decomposed to more easily perform calculations.  Working with 10’s simplifies the computations  Connections should be made between the models using math talks  Multiplication and Division  Multiplication and Division are an inverse process  Numbers are flexible.  Multiplication facts are connected. Knowing one set of facts (2, 5, 10 considered anchor facts) can help students understand related sets of facts.  Connections should be made between the models using math talks. Teachers MUST KNOW the standards and what is required for fluency at each grade level.

How Do We Teach Kids to be Fluent?  Current research demonstrates that students should learn fluency with understanding (Cohen, McLaughlin, & Talbert, 1993; Hiebert, 1986, as cited in Brendefur, Carney, Hughes, & Strother, 2013).  To do this teachers need to:  give students opportunities to develop productive relationships  apply their knowledge  reflect about their experiences  articulate what they know  and make their learning their own  This will allow students to flexibly use procedures and understand the relationship of the procedures within the structure of the topic. It also allows students to use concepts flexibly, and extend their knowledge to new situations.

How Do We Teach Kids to be Fluent? (continued)  Enactive Models  Using hands on materials to solve problems  Example – having students use unit blocks to build arrays  Iconic Models  Using pictures and drawings to solve problems  Example – having students draw an area model on grid paper  Symbolic Models  Using numbers to solve a problem  Example – having students create a ratio table to show a pattern

Explore the Standards Activity  1. With a partner put the standards cards in order from Kindergarten to 5 th grade. (All the standards on an individual card are from the same grade level)..  2. Write on the line K, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 depending on what grade level you believe that standard is for. (For example, if you think it is a 3 rd grade standard, write a 3. All the standards on that card will be the same number.)  3. Highlight any time you see the words strategies, models, or drawings.  4. Underline any time you see the words standard algorithm.  5. Discussion

Flexibility, Accuracy, and Efficiency Discuss how these 2 different methods fulfill the components of fluency? 1. Flexibility – M/S- A/T- 2. Accuracy M/S- A/T- 3. Efficiency M/S- A/T- Models and Strategies VS Beginning with Algorithms and Timed Tests