Fact Time

Fact Time

Practicing Facts, One Strategy at a Time

A large portion of first grade math is spent practicing addition and subtraction facts to become fluent. Rather than working on all of the facts at once, my students practice their facts by strategy. 

Our fact time is 5 minutes a day. I have made quite a few games students can play independently to practice their facts. At the end of the week, I give students a fact check. If they get most of the questions right in a certain amount of time (3 and a half minutes or less), move on to the next strategy. If they don't pass, they keep practicing the strategy the following week until they do. This is a great way to differentiate fact practice for your class. 

We go through the strategies in the following order:

• + 0
• -0
• Counting On (+1/+2)
• Counting Back (-1/-2)
• Doubles
• Halves
• Near Doubles (+)
• Near Doubles (-)
• Making 10 (+)
• Make 10 (-)
• Mixed Addition
• Mixed Subtraction

Once they work through all of the first grade facts, we will continue onto the 2nd grade facts. I keep all of the games in one crate and the students keep track of their strategy by coloring their fact strategy page. 

One game students can do is called Domino Search. I place dominoes in baggies making sure some of the dominoes use the strategy students are working on. Students then go through the bag and find the dominoes that match the strategy they are working on. When they find a domino, they write the fact on a dry erase board and solve it. It's simple, but the kids LOVE it!

I will be posting games I have made for fact time a few at a time. I don't want to overload you!

How do you practice facts with your students?

 

Valentine's Day Tallies

Valentine's Day Tallies

Valentine's Day is coming up in a week! While it is one of my least favorite holidays, I love all the cute cupcake things I can find this time of year. Our school does a fundraiser each Valentine's Day to raise money for a local charity. We send Valentine notes attached to pencils. Of course I found some cupcake pencils at the Target Dollar Spot that I am sending my students. I also found some cute cupcake erasers that I might give them. I am debating if I should keep them and use them for math tools... decisions, decisions. 

 One thing I don't have to think about are my math plans for Friday (the 13th, ahhh!). I created a tallying activity for my students that aligns with CCSS 1.MD.4. Students find and count Valentine gifts then record them on a tally chart. They then answer some questions using the tally chart they created. My students love creating tally charts and graphs, but they don't always love analyzing the data. They struggle with "how many more/fewer" questions. We practice them often, use math tools, act them out with students, compare tally marks... Guess we will just keep practicing until they are successful! How do you teach this standard to your students?

Here is my math activity for Friday. I hope this freebie helps you with your planning this week! Happy Valentine's Day! Spread some love and positivity!