Building Math Fluency At Home

Melissa Niedert

What is math fluency?Math fact fluency is the ability to recall the answers to basic math facts automatically and without hesitation.

Why is fluency important?Automaticity in math facts is fundamental to success in many areas of higher mathematics. Without the ability to retrieve facts directly or automatically, students are likely to have trouble in later grades with mathematics

What are the fluency standards for my child’s

grade level?•Kindergarten- add/subtract within 5• First Grade- Add/subtract within 10• Second grade- Add subtract within 20

Add subtract within 100 (pencil and paper)• Third Grade- Multiply/divide within 100• Fourth Grade- Add/subtract within 1,000,000• Fifth Grade- Multi-digit multiplication

Fast and Accurate

Fluent in the Standards means “fast and accurate.” It might also help to think of fluency as meaning the same thing as when we say that somebody is fluent in a foreign language: when you’re fluent, you flow. Fluent isn’t halting, stumbling, or reversing oneself. Assessing fluency requires attending to issues of time.

What can parents do at home?

• Fluency facts throughout the day• Fluency games online

• Fluency apps• Flash cards•Games

•Use household objects as manipulatives•Point out math in the real world

Fluency Facts Through the Day

•Eating breakfast/dinner•Car rides•Before changing the channel on the tv•During night time routines

Fluency websites• You can google addition/subtraction games or multiplication division

games and many will come up• Suggestions• http://www.multiplication.com/(has addition, subtraction,

multiplication and division)• https://www.pearsonrealize.com/#/ (School math site- your child’s

teacher must assign fluency practice on there)• http://www.mathplayground.com/ (has addition, subtraction,

multiplication and division)• http://www.abcya.com/• http://www.factmonster.com/math/flashcards.html (Math

flashcards)

Fluency Apps

More app suggestions can be found at

•http://www.techforteachers.net/apps---math-practice.html

Flash CardsStudents can make their own flashcards using index cards.

You can purchase flash card sets at a dollar store

You can use interactive flash cards (Site mentioned on website page)http://www.factmonster.com/math/flashcards.html

GamesSaluteMaterials: 3 players, a deck of cards ace through 9

Directions: Place the player cards face down in the middle. One player is the brain and the other two are saluters. The saluters pick up a card and put it on their forehead without looking at it. The brain adds or multiplies the numbers and give the sum or product. The two saluters determine what the number is on their heads. The saluter that says their cards value first and correctly wins that round and keeps the cards. The roles rotate and the game is played over and over. When time is up, the player with the most cards wins.

Math Toss

Take out a ball or soft object. Say a math fact and toss the ball to your child. If your child answers correctly before catching the ball they get a point. If the ball gets to them first, you get a point (You may want to wait a second before throwing or throw with a little arc)

Multiplication high 5s

Choose an addition or multiplication table for the week. Write the equation on the fingers with the sum or product in the middle. Kids high 5 as they go up the stairs and read the number sentence.

Create your own concentration game

• Have your child create concentration cards. One should have the equation and one should have the answer. Turn them all upside down and take turns turning two cards over and seeing if they match.

This is an example that can be used for kindergarten and first grade as well.

Print out free kakuro puzzle. Here is a second grade version with the answers on the bottom. Each square section has to equal the sum of the numbers in gray.

Here is a multiplication puzzle

You can find more and print them out at

http://akidsheart.com/math/prints/kakurop/index.html

Make manipulatives at home

Help students use math tools

Ten Frame Number Grid Hundreds Chart

Number Line

Multiplication Chart

Printable Math Tools OnlineThis site has a lot of printable math tools that you can use at home. Even thought it is based on first grade, many can be used to help children’s fluency in all grades

Math tools printables

This site has many different math manipulatives for all gradesPrintable math manipulatives

Math in the Real WorldShow your child that math is all around them! • Shopping at the store• Signs in windows and on roads• Magazines and adds• Channels on the TV• Barcodes on books

Math is ALL around us

Video• Paul Chompsky

- Vice President of Research and development Explore Learning Talks about how many basic math facts are needed for a simple fraction addition problem

3 + 5 8 6

Pearson Math WebsiteThe Pearson math website is a great place for your child to work on the concepts he/she is learning in class.

You should have received your child’s username and password from the classroom teacher.

https://www.pearsonrealize.com/#/

Try to use google chrome or firefox