Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Subtracting from Teen Numbers

When you are getting ready to begin Goal 8 Subtraction, you may be wondering how you can help your students move beyond counting back or counting up to solve these problems using strategies based on properties of operations. I've made a Subtracting from Teen Numbers screencast that shares four different strategies that do just this. The screencast also includes a number talk approach that will provide students with time and tools to generate some or many of these strategies using logic and visuals. These four strategies will also be very relevant to Goal 9 subtraction.

You may also find you want to try this approach with Goal 5 subtraction. Relating subtraction to addition and Take from Ten may be particularly helpful for Goal 5.

I hope you and your students enjoy!




Wednesday, August 17, 2016

At your request ... Daily Activity Progressions

Many teachers have told me that they really want to focus on basic facts fluency for 5 to 10 minutes each day, but they have difficulty finding the time to plan those activities. So I've put together a set of sample  activities for each of the goals for addition/subtraction and also for multiplication/division. 

The activities for each goal are numbered sequentially, working first on concept building with mostly concrete activities, then shifting to strategies and patterns using visual representations, and finally moving in the third column to abstract practice. You'll find the blackline masters referenced in the activities following each progression. 




          



  

I hope you find these resources helpful ... and please post here to share what you learn as you try them out with students! 

Note: If you have attended a workshop in the past year, you probably recorded the password for the online FactsWise resources in your notebook. If you attended an earlier workshop, feel free to contact me at ellipsismath@gmail.com to get the password. If you've not been able to attend a FactsWise workshop, you can purchase the activity progressions at Teachers Pay Teachers: Addition/Subtraction and Multiplication/Division

Also, if you'd like more more information about the entire FactsWise program, you can find the 2016 FactsWise Resource Books at Teachers Pay Teachers: Addition/Subtraction and Multiplication/Division.





Monday, June 6, 2016

3 or 4 in a Row Game Directions - Multiplication/Division

If you've been looking for directions for the 3-in-a-Row games for each Multiplication/Division Goal, I've put together a video that explains them while showing a sample game being played. Following the 3-in-a-Row game, I've also included directions for the two different variations on the 4-in-a-Row games that are cumulative reviews after Goal 5 and Goal 8. I hope you and your students enjoy playing these games during the abstract practice phases of the different goals!



Timed Tests -- NOT the Way to Build Facts Fluency and NOT the Way to Assess Facts Fluency

If you'd like to learn more about FactsWise, you can freely preview a number of the FactsWise mini-lessons and game...