Post # 34 Fewer Facts At A Time to Develop Fluency Over Time

One of the strategies for inclusion classes and special education settings is to practice math facts as per the suggestions of the What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide for working with students who struggle with math.  Research suggests about ten minutes per day in math fact practice.  This does not mean the dreaded Mad Minute which taxes word retrieval and causes anxiety among those with learning deficits. 

For this course, I suggest focusing on a limited set of facts at an age appropriate level and practicing them to automaticity.  This can include multisensory practice with manipulatives and or representations, games, patterns and matching to algorithms, any activity which reinforces the facts being practiced.  These targeted math facts become the basis for introducing new skills and concepts. 

In much the same way a reading program would use a controlled text leveled to facilitate success and focusing on adding new vocabulary incrementally, a math program that seeks to include all students in lessons on higher level concepts can include all students by using student friendly numbers for new introductions. 

One school with which I consult is trying this approach this year and reports greater self confidence in the middle grade elementary students.  The students do continue to add additional math facts in  ongoing incremental practice, but new skills are taught and immediately practiced with a core set of number facts to which the entire school has dedicated itself to teaching to automaticity.  At specific horizons, the math staff has chosen to focus on core concepts for each grade level as suggested in the Common Core State Standards.  Even the severely learning disabled students are working on grade level concepts.  They are just doing so using specific number facts. 

For example, utilizing the early times tables of two, three, five and nine; students can work through multiplication and division algorithms.  They do not rush at breakneck speed to master all times table facts before using them in applications.  Multiplication facts are targeted toward inclusion students in such a way that they can master chunks at a time and work within their mastered facts.  They go home saying to their siblings and peers, "Oh, I'm working on long division too." 

One of my current students has severe memory and word retrieval issues.  He is mastering numeracy patterns, and specific addition/subtraction facts even as he adds like fractions and the meaning of numerator and denominator.  He can accurately utilize the facts he has mastered to problem solve along with his class.  For the first time his conceptual awareness has surpassed that of his sister who has always been in the lead.  In the same lesson he might review the ordered pairs of ten, place value with regrouping and the seven times table.  He is a constant work in progress but he has made enormous progress since he has begun working in a more conceptual approach.  He is no longer relegated to levels of word retrieval before he can attempt something new.   He comes to his sessions asking to work on fractions.  What math teacher would not like to hear that? 

Addendum:  I am happy to report that the student discussed above took the SSAT and ISEE exams for entrance to independent middle schools.  He scored solidly in the "middle of the pack" as his parents said.  This is quite an accomplishment for a student who struggled as much as he did.  In addition to that, I want to report that my summer math camp for rising middle school students has had a similar result.  I use the strings with wings and teach the seven times table to automaticity. The students fill out portions of the times table chart daily:  the square numbers, the 2, 3, 5, and 9 times tables...and the sevens.  We use the seven times table for all calculations in class, multiplication, division, fraction operations- including simplifying and common denominators.  The students have no difficulty recalling seven as a factor or the products in the seven times table as multiples.  After the first several days, they do not even refer to their bead strings.  Post assessment scores are up as are confidence levels.