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Fact Fluency Project

This document discusses using math games to build students' fact fluency. It provides examples of two games, "What is One More?" for kindergarteners to practice the concept of one more, and "Plus 1" for kindergarteners to practice addition facts. Both games actively engage students in meaningful practice without pressure. They allow students to develop strategies and computation skills at their own pace while the teacher can assess understanding. The document recommends these types of games to help students build flexibility, efficiency, accuracy and appropriate strategy use to develop computational fluency.

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104 views

Fact Fluency Project

This document discusses using math games to build students' fact fluency. It provides examples of two games, "What is One More?" for kindergarteners to practice the concept of one more, and "Plus 1" for kindergarteners to practice addition facts. Both games actively engage students in meaningful practice without pressure. They allow students to develop strategies and computation skills at their own pace while the teacher can assess understanding. The document recommends these types of games to help students build flexibility, efficiency, accuracy and appropriate strategy use to develop computational fluency.

Uploaded by

api-450232271
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fact Fluency

Grier Bethea
First things first

Fact fluency is a complex term that encompasses:

appropriate
flexibility efficiency accuracy
strategy use

There are many effective strategies that teachers can use to build
and assess fact fluency. The focus of this presentation will be on the
use of math games to support students in developing fact fluency.
Math Games

• Math games are exceptional tools to use in the classroom.


They:
• actively engage students in meaningful practice with
number.
• provide students with the opportunity to practice
computing, which builds their computational fluency.
• encourage students to think about and use appropriate
strategies, which deepens their understanding of number.
• allow students to become familiar with the number system
and benchmark numbers, which helps them build a
deeper understanding of number operations.
• provide opportunities for parents to engage in
mathematics with their children.
Games build computational fluency by:

Helping students understand


Providing meaningful
the relationships between
practice
number

Computational
Fluency
This type of practice helps students
become flexible, efficient, accurate and
use appropriate strategies, which, as
we know, build computational fluency.
Introducing Math Games
Model the game Teacher vs. Class

• Teacher explains the • The class could work


rules of the game and together against the
works with students to teacher while the
think through teacher models her
strategies. mathematical thinking
aloud.
During:

• Write down equations and thinking processes

After:

Accountability • Reflect
for learning • Orally or verbally
• Ask students
• about the skill they worked on
• strategies they used
• what they might do different or the same
next time
• how it could be more challenging.
What to avoid

• Games based only on the memorization of facts


• When winning is based on the speed of
memorization, the benefits of the game are
compromised.
• May cause students who are not as quick to
compute to dislike math
• The goal is for students to simultaneously
develop efficiency, accuracy, flexibility and
useful strategies.
What is One More?

• Grade: Kindergarten
• Focus: Developing the concept of “one more”
• Standard: K.NS.4: Understand the relationship
between number and quantity. Connect counting to
cardinality by demonstrating an understanding that:
c. each successive number name refers to a quantity
that is one more and each previous number name
refers to a quantity that is one less.
• Overview: Played with a partner. Each player rolls a
die and places a counter on the number that is one
more than the number they rolled. The first to get 4
in a row wins.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yk8WJMDXHVqhaqgEpIURSPFrTQUOAWxW/view
Video link- What is
one more?
https://youtu.be/9w2k0m2UUZY
Reflection

Overall, this math fluency game is effective in helping students develop the concept of
“one more”. Students really enjoyed rolling the die and they anticipated the numbers
they would need to roll to get four in a row on their boards. The game board is simple
but provides students with a meaningful visual which supports their strategy
development. They were able to use their own specific strategies of where to place
their counters in order to arrange them to win. The game did not rush students into
solving the problem, instead, everyone had the opportunity to solve their own problem
and think about counter placement. It could also be easily modified to be more
challenging, for example, by thinking about “what is two more.” As the facilitator of this
game, I was able to easily assess progress and understand their thinking. This is a game
that I plan to use in my own practice and would also recommend it to a colleague.
Plus “1”
• Grade: Kindergarten
• Focus: Understanding that “one more” is an addition
equation
• Standard: K.NS.4: Understand the relationship
between number and quantity. Connect counting to
cardinality by demonstrating an understanding that:
c. each successive number name refers to a quantity
that is one more and each previous number name
refers to a quantity that is one less.
• Overview: Players take turns rolling a die. Each turn,
the player adds one to the number on the die and
covers the number on his gameboard. When the sum
is already covered, the player loses a turn. The first
player to cover the entire board is the winner
https://sites.google.com/dpi.nc.gov/k-12-mathematics/resources/k-5-mathematics/k-5-games
Video link- Plus 1
https://youtu.be/aOc-s92vrB4
Reflection

The ”Plus 1” fact fluency game is useful to use as students are beginning to develop
their knowledge of number relationships. The simple structure appeals to the ages of
the students and provides helpful visuals of number. As students worked through the
game, they were able to engage in meaningful practice with plus 1 addition. Each
student was individually challenged without the pressure of time. I observed that the
students became quicker with their computation as the game progressed and as their
excitement rose. As students were playing, I was able to easily assess progress by
asking students simple questions. Like the “What is one more?” game, this game could
also be easily adapted as students become more experienced with addition facts.
Overall, I would recommend this game to colleagues in the future because it supports
the meaningful development of fact fluency.

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