tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55490184808663201922024-01-11T06:59:33.240-08:00Math Facts Fluency BlogA research based discussion on teaching basic math fact fluency.Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-35738514733850129032019-08-19T15:07:00.000-07:002019-08-19T15:07:49.603-07:00Let’s get your students fluent in their math facts as fast as possible! / Starting a new year.<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="90vpm" data-offset-key="4lssc-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span data-offset-key="4lssc-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Math Facts Pro is an intelligent tutor designed for maximum individualized growth, while minimizing the time spent. Students can be rewarded / held accountable for practice at home, and you can easily see where they could use some personalized instruction, without any grading or paperwork! Create a free trial account today. After 30 days, the cost is $1/student/year, or you can continue on the Lite side for free (not using an account, and without the effectiveness of data storage or the Mars Defense video game). </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="73l12-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Current users starting a new school year can use our new Bulk Changes > Delete Students feature to delete all the students in their class, and then the Add Student feature to add your new students. If your account has multiple classes, you will need to go into each class to delete its students and then add the new ones. You can still delete a whole class and its students, using the Class level Delete option.</span><br />
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Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-48764218657863983902018-09-20T17:01:00.000-07:002018-09-20T17:01:07.472-07:00What if they knew their facts?<div style="background-color: white; color: #626262; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px;">
Teaching math is a lot easier (and more fun) when students are fluent in their facts. But moving math facts from knowledge to fluency takes assessing their current level of fluency, a lot of good practice, a way to hold students accountable for that practice, and a way to monitor progress so you can encourage successes and intervene when students plateau. And it is better by far to do this both individually, and automatically. (And without any paperwork on your part - you do have a life:)</div>
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It’s our pleasure to announce the launch of Math Facts Pro 2.0! Flash and Puffin are no longer needed, and our program can be accessed directly in your favorite browser, no app required, even on iPads, other tablets, or phones.</div>
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The entire code has been rewritten, including a lot of new features requested by teachers, like keyboard entry, teacher access to individual student reports, complete practice history, and of course our game, Mars Defense. Accounts that expired a while ago have been reactivated for 10 days. Try it for free!</div>
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<span style="color: #626262; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://mathfactspro.com/">Visit Math Facts Pro</a> </span></span></div>
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Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-62812837670758792182018-02-03T13:47:00.000-08:002018-02-03T13:57:06.316-08:00Mars Defense - Our New Focused Math Fact Video Game is now Launched!<div style="background-color: white; color: #626262; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px;">
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Logged-in students can play our new game after completing a regular fact session for the day. We created Mars Defense to make practicing math facts more fun and more focused, because the best thing we can do to help students is motivate them to practice more. Early testing is showing that all these things are happening! <strong>Students who play Mars Defense are less distracted, answering more facts per minute, and are practicing 60% more facts!</strong> The original app with the jokes now becomes more of an assessment piece, and Mars Defense uses that information for smart, efficient, and fun practice. We strongly suggest that you not assign more than 50 facts/session in your teacher dashboard, and instead encourage the students to play Mars Defense every day. The practice will be just as effective, but it will be a lot more fun. (And they will most likely practice more, too.) The more students practice, the more they learn the facts they need to work on, so they do well in the game. Then the assessment measures the improvement and moves them on to the next harder facts in the game. High scores tables for the class, the school, and the world provide extra motivation. </div>
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Once students have completed a regular session for the day, they can log in from anywhere, do 1 fact, click results, and then go to Mars Defense. <strong>Practice history in the Teacher’s Dashboard now reflects the total number of facts from both the assessment and Mars Defense.</strong> However, the results grid does not reflect Mars Defense practice because the facts are small and move around, so it wouldn’t be a fair test. Also, there are often multiple facts on the screen, so it is impossible to determine which fact was answered wrong (or right). </div>
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One of the problems with math fact teachers (and math fact game designers) is that we forget what it was like to not know our facts, when we had to work on learning them as a student. To help with this, <strong>we created a teacher version</strong>, which will practice multiplication up to 16 x 16. <strong>It’s a fun way to become a student again and see things through their eyes. </strong> Note: this version is not tied into the assessment (jokes) app, so it is not as smart – it doesn’t really know what you know, and it won’t grow with you, but we think you’ll still like it. Teachers received an email with a link on February 1. Soon we will have a link on your teacher dashboard. Of course, you can always create your own fake student and play the regular version.</div>
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Mars defense does work in Puffin Academy, but the lag is quite noticeable. The new game is the first step in improving Math Facts Pro and getting it out of Flash. (Then we will work great on mobile devices.) Once we are out of Flash, we will be adding more games!<br />
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Also, we have finished making the transition to a faster server on Amazon, so the Meltdown bug fix should no longer be an issue.<br />
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Thank you for using Math Facts Pro. Stay tuned for updates!</div>
Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-34346760115340979992018-01-18T09:48:00.000-08:002018-01-18T09:48:27.720-08:00ConstructionYou may have noticed some problems with our server recently. All should be working now, except for email. Amazon pushed a fix for a security issue in Intel chips, which led to slower performance, and our server started overloading. We are in the process of moving to a faster server, which is a plus, but there may be some hiccups, as this wasn't planned. The really good news is that our new math fact focused video game is out! More on that later. Students who are logged-in and who complete a session can play using the new button on their results page. Thank you for your patience.<br />
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Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-55614034014936003202017-08-30T09:27:00.000-07:002017-08-30T09:27:41.697-07:00Improvement & Bug fixMath Facts Pro was originally designed with the <b>x10 and x12 tables being separate</b>, and the same for division. This was why when a student practiced the x10's table, and then switched to the x12's they were essentially starting over, from the database's point of view. This week we combined the 10's and 12's, so when the student moves from the 10's to the 12's, their data is already there, and only the 11's and 12's are new. This will make for a <b>more efficient experience</b>. Unfortunately, we found out this morning that we had a bug. When students played the 12's, it only showed up on your teacher page if you changed views to the 10's. This is now fixed. However, 12's facts that were done from yesterday through around 10:45 central U.S. time today will still require you to view the 10's in the history. We are sorry for the difficulty. If you still have trouble, your student's browsers will need to have their cache cleared to load the new version of the program.Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-73728143979200995052017-08-16T18:22:00.001-07:002017-08-16T18:22:54.359-07:00Better Reporting!We are very excited to be rolling out some new reporting changes today! When students get to their results page, they will now see how many facts they have answered correctly for that operator since the account was started. We wanted a way to encourage students who are working hard.<br />
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Also, when teachers log in to their accounts, they will see a new summary of their students' practice and progress: (Remember that this summary page is printable with the green button at the top.)<br />
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We have changed the <b>practice history</b> so that you can see how many facts the student practiced correctly today, yesterday, this week, and last week. The green backgrounds are based on practicing 1 session/day, and 5 sessions/week. So if today is Thursday, these students would have a green background for today and yesterday if they had done 30 facts each day, and for this week if they had done 120 facts so far, and for last week if they had done 150 facts then. Our calendar is based on the school week, and we lump the weekend into Friday, so Friday - Sunday are considered one day. Facts practiced on Sunday are credited to the previous week, and on Monday, the "yesterday" block represents Friday - Sunday.<br />
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To fit this into the available space, we had to stop displaying a differential in school and homework practice. If you really miss that feature, please let us know, either via your suggestions form or the contact form. When we are no longer in Flash we could bring it back if it really was helpful. Then we will also be able to provide more specific data for the whole year, in a printable form.<br />
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The mini-results grid now has colors! <b><span style="background-color: black; color: lime;">Green</span></b> facts are fluent (defined as: 1-3 tries, perfect; 4-10 tries, only 1 mistake/too slow allowed, 10+ tries, only 1 mistake/too slow allowed out of the last 10 tries) Remember that the cut-off speed is customized for each student based on their fastest facts because some students are faster than others. <span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;"><b>Yellow</b></span> facts aren't fast enough (on the last 9/10), and <b><span style="background-color: black; color: red;">Red</span></b> facts aren't correct enough on the last 9/10. We have also improved the tool tip. By mousing over the grid you can now see the detailed information on each fact. While this student's accuracy and speed on 2 x 1 are too low, you can see that the last 6 of 7 attempts were fluent. If they continue to be accurate and fast enough for the next 3 attempts, the fact will be counted as fluent. Remember that new facts will start out with a low accuracy, slow speed, and improve over time. However, it is fluent responses on 9 out of the last 10 attempts that determines fluency.<br />
Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-38176181540587037652017-08-16T18:22:00.000-07:002017-08-16T18:22:43.640-07:00Getting Ready for the New YearWelcome back! We hope you had a great summer. As you think about your new students and wonder where they are with their math fact fluency, we can help you. Even if you haven't set up an account on Math Facts Pro, you can still use the <b>free</b> side (Lite Version). Have students <b>do 100 facts</b> on the operator of your choice, and then have them <b>print</b> off the detailed report at the end. Doing 100 math facts will give you a good snapshot of their math fact fluency. The program will have a good idea of what their speed is and will be able to figure out on which facts students are using their fingers, or counting. For more accurate results, create a free trial account, and have them practice as often as you can. The program stores everything in the database, and the more info it has, the more accurate it is. It will also be more efficient, because it doesn't have to relearn the student each time.<br />
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You can use Math Facts Pro for weekly assessments to see how students are progressing, or you can use it as daily/weekly practice. It's very smart, efficient, and effective.<br />
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If you have a paid account (1$/student/year), I would suggest you <b>delete your classes</b> from last year, which will delete all the data, and then add in your new classes and students. Try to get the first 100 facts done soon, and then you will be able to log-in and see what they know, what they don't know, and what they aren't quite fast enough on yet. And they can start work on getting the rust out of their brains.<br />
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If you have a school account, we can now upload your students for you from a spreadsheet for only 10¢ each. See the schools and P.O. page for more information.</div>
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Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-3901525046904647932017-06-19T15:33:00.000-07:002017-07-20T15:39:36.019-07:00Full speed ahead with upgrades!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am excited to announce that Alex and I will now be working
full time to improve Math Facts Pro!
Here is our short list of major improvements, in this order:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fun games!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.25in;">Better methodology – fact family based, response
assessment, fact test, training, and games for practice.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Moving the student side out of Flash, into HTML
5/Javascript (read: play on iPads directly, and any web-enabled device)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Moving the teacher side out of Flash, adding
better reporting, and making it easier for district & school administrators
and parents to use.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">Thank you for your patience as we work to roll
out these improvements, but know that we will be constantly improving. If you would like to be updated on our progress - when we release games or when we are no longer in Flash, subscribe to this blog in the upper right-hand corner, or follow us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mathfactspro">Facebook</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">Mark Berg</span>Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-35330187631951725632015-01-19T16:15:00.001-08:002015-01-19T17:18:33.982-08:00Math Facts Pro now on iPads with Puffin Academy!New technology allows students to practice their math facts efficiently on iPads, even though <a href="http://mathfactspro.com/" target="_blank">Math Facts Pro</a> uses Adobe Flash! Use the free <a href="http://www.flashbrowser.com/APN/" target="_blank">Puffin Academy Browser</a> app for <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/puffin-academy/id716707933?mt=8" target="_blank">Apple</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cloudmosa.puffinAcademy&hl=en" target="_blank">Android</a>, which runs the Flash on their server, and mirrors it to your screen. Puffin Academy is designed with white listing for schools, so students can only navigate to approved sites. The regular Puffin Browser app does not use white listing, but it is a paid app, so it is unlikely that students would accidentally install it. After installing the app, you will want to change one setting. Puffin has a double tap to zoom feature which misinterprets double entries such as 11 and 22, so you want to turn it off. To do so, click on the menu button (3 little white dots in the upper right corner), settings button, and then turn off "Double click to zoom." Then use Puffin's search field to find Math Facts Pro, and you are good to go! Here are video instructions.<br />
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<br />Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-19605345718040358822014-08-28T11:21:00.000-07:002014-08-28T11:27:42.360-07:00PrayerPlease pray for the people of eastern Ukraine. They are a strong, resourceful, and very capable people, but they are going through a very hard time right now. Some have lost businesses, homes, friends, and even family. Many have died. The news becomes personal when you know and love the people in it. Math Facts Pro's database programmer and his family is leaving Donets'k Saturday because of all the shelling and destruction. I can't imagine what it would be like to live under the threat of take over by another country, or to be in danger for my life, or to have to flee and leave most of my possessions behind. We are very blessed in my country, and we pray for the Ukraine.Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-48312287017427397252014-02-12T15:33:00.000-08:002014-02-12T19:51:22.435-08:00Math Fact Puzzles!Just found some fun math fact puzzles! They were in a good <a href="https://mrsswansonsclass.wikispaces.com/file/view/mathfacts.ppt/358223973/mathfacts.ppt" target="_blank">PowerPoint presentation by Paula Swanson</a>, from Boise, Idaho. She has a good summary of the research, and some great practical applications, which include conceptual learning. It's worth the read, if you are looking for more information/resources. We really hope to implement some research based changes when we convert our program out of Flash, especially allowing teachers to focus on fact families and select the fact order they use in teaching their classes. Meanwhile, here are some Word documents for <a href="http://mathfactspro.com/docs/Math_Fact_Find_by_MathFactsPro.doc" target="_blank">Math Fact Find</a> and <a href="http://mathfactspro.com/docs/Math_Fact_Jumble_by_MathFactsPro.doc" target="_blank">Math Fact Jumble</a> that you can easily adapt to your needs: to different levels, operators, etc. Each file has a addition/subtraction example, and a multiplication/division example, as well as a blank form that can be used to create your own (or for students to create them). Here the <a href="http://mathfactspro.com/docs/Math_Fact_Find_by_MathFactsPro.pdf" target="_blank">Math Fact Find</a> and <a href="http://mathfactspro.com/docs/Math_Fact_Jumble_by_MathFactsPro.pdf" target="_blank">Math Fact Jumble</a> documents in .pdf format. And below you can see what the puzzles look like. Have Fun!<br />
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Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-26218241854068701522013-09-13T14:36:00.000-07:002013-09-13T14:47:02.499-07:00The Key Ingredient in FluencyWe just finished analyzing the data we have at Math Facts Pro to see whether or not we were really making a difference in our effort to help students become fluent. We wrote a <a href="http://mathfactspro.com/docs/MathFactsPro_Response_to_Intervention_Alignment_and_Research.pdf" target="_blank"><b>research paper</b></a> about what we found, and how Math Facts Pro meets the qualifications for Response to Intervention, tiers 1,2, and 3. (I suppose that kind of lets the cat out of the bag.)<br />
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The key ingredient that we found was the amount of practice. The more students practiced, the more they learned. (I know you're really surprised.) Our data consists of students who logged-in to practice on Math Facts Pro. We studied the addition operator, because it actually gets the most use, and we ignored the first 2 weeks of data, to differentiate between facts that students already knew, and facts that became fluent as a result of using Math Facts Pro. To determine effectiveness, we compared the amount of practice to the amount of new learning; specifically, facts that were learned for the first time after the two week period, and that never fell out of fluency. You can see our definition of fluency in the report. What we found was that students who used the site less than 50 facts (5 minutes) per week, averaged 2.2 newly fluent facts per week, while students practicing 250 facts (5 minutes daily) per week, averaged 10.5. Almost 5 times as many! Since we did not control any other variables, we can not prove what caused the difference. I'm sure that some teachers/parents who successfully get their students to practice regularly are also more successful in other aspects of teaching. But I'm convinced the main difference is just how much they practiced, which is what we measured. Math Facts in a Flash™ says that, of all their users, they do not have any grade levels where at least 35% of the students practice just three times a week. With Math Facts Pro, the average student can learn from 10 - 20 new facts each week. If you assign the practice as homework, you can even log-in in the morning and see who did it, how much they did, and hold them accountable for their learning. Just 5 - 10 minutes a day. Here's a look at our results:<br />
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<a href="http://mathfactspro.com/docs/MathFactsPro_Response_to_Intervention_Alignment_and_Research.pdf" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpec3dTRPIdHsY-utu7tJmCG70CXc-T8DNNwnP1RdFr1BALYjiWEu6w4EIl8EhgMyzZsl4m0x89rseEhUjTdFgSWqDrX97Wiwl6xEOBqjVXhxRAYqVgw6_fRlbzSLV5P-h7mcvOpHXRZo/s400/stats+chart+for+blog.png" width="400" /></a><br />
So you learn math facts the same way you get to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice. My advice is to practice smartly, with an effective, efficient program. You don't have to spend a lot of money, just $1/student/year.Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-88877514256962218322013-09-12T06:23:00.000-07:002013-09-12T12:46:37.874-07:00Math Facts Pro: Now on Amazon Web Services!After many trials and tribulations, we have migrated Math Facts Pro to the cloud with Amazon! We are really excited about the new server stability. Thanks for your patience - we hope you'll find it to be worth it. If you are still having issues, please let us know through the contact or help forms.<br />
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Mark Berg</div>
Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-45048371718504344182013-09-03T12:53:00.000-07:002013-09-03T12:53:34.854-07:00Math Facts Pro server issuesOur current server does not seem to be stable any longer. If you have had problems logging in, or with students using the site, this is likely the problem. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. If the site seems to hang up, you will likely have the most success by closing the current browser tab and starting fresh in a new one.<br />
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To remedy the problem, we are moving the site to an Amazon hosted server. This will take a few days, but we hope to have the move completed by September 9, 2013. If you try the site very early in the morning this Thursday or Friday (US Central time) and get nothing, it will probably be because the site has moved and the Internet is in the process of updating the new server address. (max 6 hours) The good news is that this should solve the problem. If Amazon isn't running, nobody's running:) Again, we are sorry for the trouble, and we thank you for your support.Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-58411178476709749122013-07-08T15:37:00.000-07:002013-07-08T15:37:24.414-07:00Common Core StandardsMath Facts Pro targets the Common Core Standards dealing with fluency. Specifically:<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/1/OA/C/6"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #8a2003;">CCSS.Math.Content.1.OA.C.6</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #3b3b3a;"> Add and
subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within
10.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/2/OA/B/2"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #8a2003;">CCSS.Math.Content.2.OA.B.2</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #3b3b3a;"> Fluently
add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies.</span></span><sup><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #3b3b3a;">2</span></sup><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #3b3b3a;"> By end of
Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/3/OA/C/7"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #8a2003;">CCSS.Math.Content.3.OA.C.7</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #3b3b3a;"> Fluently
multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship
between multiplication and division (e.g., knowing that 8 × 5 = 40, one knows
40 ÷ 5 = 8) or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from
memory all products of two one-digit numbers.</span></span></span></div>
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Of course, fluency with the basic math facts is as
important to higher math as phonics is to reading. Students above 3rd grade who are not fluent
tend to fall further and further behind, something we are working very hard to
prevent. One of the benefits of <a href="http://mathfactspro.com/" target="_blank">Math Facts Pro</a> is that you can quickly learn for each student which facts they are/are not fluent in, and then target practice to fix the problem.</div>
Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-55365365953775746582013-04-12T15:37:00.000-07:002013-04-12T15:37:35.912-07:00Good Software vs. Pencil/Paper Timed Math Facts Tests<br />
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Knowing which facts your students are fluent in is critical if you are going to help them achieve fluency in the facts. The question is, "What's the best way to ascertain fluency?" Here's my take on the advantages of good software over pencil/paper timed math facts tests. You expected that, right:)</div>
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1) <u>Automatic (instant) grading</u>, need I say more.</div>
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2) Good software will tell you if the student is
<u>fluent</u>. On a pencil/paper test, all you know is that, on average, they
were fast enough. They may be really fast on the easy ones, and have to
count on their fingers on the hardest ones, but they can still beat the
time. Good software checks fluency for each fact on its own. And this fluency
is a different speed for each student. We've all had students who could
count on their fingers faster than other students could automatically recall
the answer. So good software will have a way to determine how fast each student is; faster for some, slower for
others. That way, fast students can’t count, and slow students aren't frustrated.</div>
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3) <u>Instant feedback</u> – it took me a
long time to figure out why it actually takes longer to do 100 facts on Math
Facts Pro than it does on pencil paper. The main difference is that the
student gets immediate feedback for every answer. Quick feedback if they
are right, longer exposure to the correct answer if they were wrong.
(And, if allowed, we throw in a joke every 20 – 30 facts, too, depending on the
grade level.)</div>
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4) Good software will <u>never show the student the wrong
answer</u>, which is especially important for visual learners. (It's also not multiple choice, which tests recognition, not fluency. I'll get off my soap box now.)</div>
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5) If a student gets an answer <u>wrong</u>, good software will <u>come back to it</u> again. If they repeatedly get it wrong, it will try to teach it. The test is actually a
learning tool.</div>
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6) The data is based on <u>all attempts
the student has ever made</u>, not just the one attempt on the last test. Mastery is defined by educational psychologist as a certain number of correct rehearsals with no mistakes. With pencil/paper, you just get one shot. Maybe your handwriting was sloppy because you were going so fast.</div>
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7) Less frustration. Good software <u>adjusts the difficulty of the questions</u>, so each student spends more time on the facts they need to be working on.
High students get harder questions - they will get frustrated having to do all the 1's, 2's, 3's. Low students get easier ones. Not too
easy, just easy enough not to discourage them and keep them going. What is the point of asking them the 8's and 9's if you know they don't know them? Differentiated instruction and assessment.</div>
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8) <u>Random</u>. The student never
has any idea which problem will be next, so they can’t memorize the answers.</div>
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9) <u>Instant tracking</u>. When they
get to the results page, the student not only sees how many facts they are
fluent in, they can see how they've been improving (how far they've come).</div>
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10) Good software like Math Facts Pro (did you see that coming?) is <u>constantly
improving</u><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> For example, next
week (the week of April 8, 2013), we are hoping to launch the beta versions of Math
Fact Scramble (which will help students move from fact strategies to fluency),
and Contig (which will help students mentally manipulate the facts). It
will still be awhile, though, before they are tied into the database, but at
least the students will have a new, fun way to improve their fluency.</div>
Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-10488693950358919102012-10-10T14:05:00.000-07:002017-06-19T16:00:07.891-07:00Math Fact Fluency vs. Math ProficiencyI came across a <a href="http://vega.org.uk/video/programme/301" target="_blank">video about Emma J King</a>. Emma is a physicist (physicists do a lot of complicated math) who is somewhat dyslexic and struggles with arithmetic (basic math). She is not fluent with her math facts! Complex math is made up of a lot of formulas with a lot of variables. Her brain seems to be wired for complex math, but disadvantaged when recalling math facts and seeing some of the relationships between simple numbers. The two skill sets are quite different.<br />
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I've heard, but been unable to verify, that Albert Einstein had a similar issue. If you've taught very long at all, you've had students who didn't get math very well at all, who knew their facts well, and other students who did well with more complicated math, but did not know the facts.<br />
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So <a href="http://educationrealist.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/math-fluency" target="_blank">educationrealist</a>, who teaches a high school math support class, wonders if we are spending too much time teaching for math fact fluency. (I'm thinking this is because her students mainly fall in those two groups.) Maybe math fact fluency is not critical to math proficiency?<br />
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We need to remember that we are talking about a minority of math students. Also, that fluency frees up <a href="http://mathfactsfluencyblog.mathfactspro.com/search/label/working%20memory" target="_blank">working memory</a>, which is good for all students. Perhaps the real question is how much time should be spent to achieve math fact fluency, versus other math proficiencies. Obviously, as little as possible! All the more reason for efficient and effective practice. Students who struggle with math fact fluency will benefit the most from <a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/cmi-teaching-ld/alerts/14/uploaded_files/original_Alert5.pdf?1301001560" target="_blank">mnemonic devices</a>, or mental "hooks" that will help them remember. The data we are getting here at Math Facts Pro shows that learning increases steadily with practice up to about 400 correct facts/week. So if students practice 50 facts in class, and 50 at home, at least 4 times a week, they are learning the most effectively. The same frequency also happens to be the best at preventing forgetting. However, these are averages. We do not have enough data yet to say what is optimal for those struggle to learn the facts, or those for whom it is easy. My hunch would be to have the struggler practice in smaller amounts, more frequently, and have those who excel practice less, as long as they are getting what they need.<br />
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Obviously, there isn't going to be a concrete answer to how much practice is too much. (our data shows tha the more you practice, the more you learn, it just isn't as efficient) But remembering that each child is has different natural abilities, that math fact fluency is very helpful, but students can be successful without it, can help give teachers, parents, and students perspective, and compassion. Watch the video on Emma, it's pretty cool. And stay smart with math facts fluency practice. Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-28998769303950388482012-09-07T10:38:00.000-07:002012-09-07T10:41:13.379-07:00The Best Way to Practice Math FactsI can think of three parts to memorizing math facts:<br />
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1) First, get the fact into memory, so that it can be recalled.<br />
2) Second, develop fluency, or automaticity, so that it can be recalled without thinking.<br />
3) Third, practice recalling the fact frequently enough to maintain automatic recall.<br />
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1) For many students, just practicing with the fact for a little while is all it takes to get it into memory. However, if they keep forgetting, if they struggle to learn it, or if you just want to make the learning process more interesting, you can try something else. Tricks can work pretty well. For example, multiplying a number times 2 is the same as the double of the number in addition, 7 x 2 = 7 + 7; or solving 7 x 8 by counting, 56 = 7 x 8 (5,6,7,8). Tricks work well for the 9's. <a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/cmi-teaching-ld/alerts/14/uploaded_files/original_Alert5.pdf?1301001560" target="_blank">Mnemonic devices</a>, or stories, have proven to be the best for students with learning disabilities, but they work for everyone. For example, "You have to be 16 to drive a 4 x 4, because 4 x 4 = 16", or, picture a football coach feeding his 7 linemen 7 cans of beans each, so they can beat the '49ers. A word of caution: we can only learn 1 or 2 things at a time, so when you finish with the 2's, for example, go ahead and introduce the three's, make sure that they understand that the reciprocals are the same (commutative property), or that 2 x 3 = 3 x 2. If they do, practice with those facts in with the facts they already know. If all is OK, add the first new fact, 3 x 3. If you are using flashcards, have a pile of flashcards they can already answer automatically. Take one card from the known stack and add the new card. Go through the stack a few times. If they consistently get the new card correct, add a second card from the known stack. If they consistently get the new fact correct, add another, and so on, until you have at least 11 total cards in the hand you are working with. You are slowly making it more difficult for them to remember (distributed practice), which helps them remember it better. Don't add 3 x 4 until they can go with at least ten facts in between attempts, and still get it correct. If they can still remember today's two new facts tomorrow, add another 1 or 2. Just remember that frustration comes when the student is required to learn more new facts, when the old ones still are not known.<br />
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2) The only way to get from there to automatic recall is repeated practice. The trail to the answer in the brain has to be well traveled so that it can be recalled instantly, bypassing working memory. Make two stacks of cards; one for automatic recall, and one for facts they had to work on. (It starts to get tricky deciding which is which.) Then work on distributed practice, like in 1). <br />
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3) To maintain what they have learned, students need to regularly practice facts, or they forget them, like over summer. (The only certainty of learning is forgetting.) Depending on your curriculum, they may be getting enough practice already, or they may still need a little extra. You really want that practice to focus on the facts that are least well known. (slowest response times)<br />
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Learning math facts does not work well when every student has to progress at the same speed. It really calls for individualized instruction, which is where computers can help, a lot. Good software individualizes to each student. It knows which answers were automatic, and which ones required extra thought, or fingers. It knows which facts have the slowest responses, and it gives those extra practice. The cheapest such software? <a href="http://mathfactspro.com/" target="_blank">Math Facts Pro!</a> (I bet you didn't see that coming:)Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-67460117980366885852012-08-23T15:44:00.000-07:002012-08-23T15:45:43.512-07:00How to eliminate finger counting?<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Replace it
with automaticity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
know a teacher who told me that when she started teaching math, she was still
counting on her fingers. It was hard to
believe, but she told me that she was very, very fast, and she really didn’t
have to move her fingers, just apply a slight pressure to whatever they were
touching. What caused her to stop finger
counting? As she was teaching, she
became so familiar with the facts that she attained automatic recall – she no
longer needed to count.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">That
is the approach that I think works the best.
So how to achieve fluency, when a student is relying on their
fingers? Math fact practice should:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">1)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Only
include 1 or 2 facts where their response is not automatic. Obviously, if they still have to count, they aren't automatic, but if they pause to think about the answer, it still </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">isn't</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> automatic. (they may need to practice with
a lot of 0’s)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">2)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Distinguish
between facts they counted on, and facts they had memorized.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">If
you are practicing with your student, you can see if they are finger counting.
(unless they are like my friend</span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">) But you will just have to use your own judgment
on how long a pause can be and still count as automatic. (Good luck with that.) Make a pile of flashcards that they are automatic
on, and add in the smallest fact that they aren’t. If they are successful with it, add another,
but don’t add a third until you are confident that they have the first one
automatic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">When
it comes to computer programs, however, the software needs to treat each
student independently. Like you, I’ve
had speedy students who can count on their fingers faster than slower students
can automatically recall the answer from memory. The program needs to know the difference. 3 Seconds seems to be the industry standard,
but that’s sort of like No Child Left Beyond 3 Seconds. Not everybody is the same.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Likewise,
it needs to treat each fact independently, not on an average. If they are really fast on 38 facts but
really slow on 2 facts, they can still get 40 facts correct in 2 minutes and
average 3 seconds per fact, but have two facts that they are not fluent
in. (Of course, they may be able to
finger count in 3 seconds, but I digress.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Software
that does this? <a href="http://teacher.scholastic.com/math-fact-fluency/fastt-math-next-generation/contact?free-info=1" target="_blank">Fastt Math $9,000+</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="https://www.reflexmath.com/secure/buynow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Reflex Math, $35/student</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://mathfactspro.com/#/full-version-tour">Math Facts Pro $1/student</a> (no bias here:)</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-10499975981657092342012-08-01T16:58:00.000-07:002012-08-23T15:46:41.195-07:00How to Help Students Who Can't Remember the Facts<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In my <a href="http://mathfactsfluencyblog.mathfactspro.com/2012/08/why-cant-some-students-remember-facts.html">last post</a>, I talked about why some students just can't seem to remember the facts. Here are some suggestions to help them:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Use</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">stories</b><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">that will make the facts more
memorable. There are several books out there that do this. The ones
I know of are Memorize in Minutes, the Times Tables, Times Tables the Fun Way,
Addition the Fun Way, Times Tales (also comes on DVD). Shorter is
better. An example might be, “You have to be 16 to drive a 4 x 4, because
4 x 4 = 16.” A lot of these also use</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/cmi-teaching-ld/alerts/14/uploaded_files/original_Alert5.pdf?1301001560" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">mnemonics</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, which are one of the most effective techniques
for students in special education. For example, “The door was put in
the tree by the two elves.” (4 x 3 = 12) In this case the numbers are
represented by similar sounding words, and the book will show an imaginative
picture of the story.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Use</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">music</b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.
There are a lot of CD’s and some DVD’s that do this. One that comes to
mind is Schoolhouse Rock. I haven’t been fond of music, because most of
the music is basically skip counting to a tune. So if a student forgets a
fact, they have to sing through the whole song to get to the fact they need,
which is often a larger fact, and thus near the end of the verse. It
doesn’t lend itself to automaticity, or instant recall, very well.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Use</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">tricks</b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.
This is especially easy with the 9’s. There are books for this too, such
as Teach Your Child the Multiplication Tables: Fast, Fun & Easy with
Dazzling Patterns, Grids & Tricks!</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A lot of this info can also be found online. Of course, if
your student makes up the method themselves, they will remember it best, but it
takes a</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><u style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">lot</u><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">longer, so you really can’t use a lot
of class time for it. It is a good way to help them learn to memorize any
information on their own, however.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">These techniques will help with being able to recall the facts
correctly. But we want fluency, or automaticity, the ability to recall</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><u style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">without</u><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">thinking, which is a step
further. Fluency takes practice, practice, practice. Just like
getting to Carnegie Hall. In reality though, it is perfect practice that
develops fluency and gets you to Carnegie Hall; bad practice won’t get you
anywhere. In most cases, this calls for the help of someone older than
the student, or a computer. Currently, Math Facts Pro does a great job of perfect practice. Soon, we will roll out an innovative way to make facts more memorable. Stay Tuned!</span></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-57013087364309391742012-08-01T15:48:00.000-07:002012-08-23T15:46:20.100-07:00Why Can't Some Students Remember the Facts?<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There are usually a few
students in each class who really struggle to remember the facts. The facts they work on and learn today, they
forget tomorrow. How do we help them?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Selective Memory?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Their memory problems seem to
be selective, don’t they? They can tell
you all about their favorite TV show or sport, their family and their
friends. Why is that?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">1)
The things they can remember, like the TV show
or their family, are not </span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">abstract</b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">. While a math fact is, unless you use pictures
or objects, and counting. Abstract
things don’t make very many connections in the brain.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">2)
Math facts, in
and of themselves, are </span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">boring</b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">. Our brain is programmed to forget boring
things, otherwise, it would become overloaded.
You can easily identify a $20 bill, but how well can you describe the
details of it? You don’t need to remember
such information, so your brain never puts it in long term memory. If we decide we have to put it into long term
memory, our brain will create a minimum amount of connections to it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">3)
The information is
</span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">rarely used successfully</b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> by this
student, so the road to get to it is small.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">To increase our ability to
recall information, we need to increase the number of connections (make it
relevant, interesting, fun, emotional) and increase the size of the connections
(successful repetitive recall). How to do that is the trick. We'll give you some suggestions in the <a href="http://mathfactsfluencyblog.mathfactspro.com/2012/08/how-to-help-students-who-cant-remember.html">next post</a>.</span></div>
Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-22390031177618423732011-12-30T12:09:00.000-08:002012-03-13T07:06:37.764-07:00Working Memory and Automaticity<p class="MsoNormal">Working memory and automaticity (automatic recall of facts):</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=";font-family:";font-size:7pt;" > </span></span></span>Working memory limits mathematical performance.<span style=""> </span>Gifted children tend to benefit from a superior working memory, while children with mathematical learning disabilities suffer from a deficient working memory.<span style=""> <a href="http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/report/final-report.pdf">(National Mathematics Advisory Panel (</a></span><a href="http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/report/final-report.pdf">NMAP) Final Report, 2008)</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=";font-family:";font-size:7pt;" > </span></span></span>Students with math facts anxiety typically have difficulty with working memory, and then use the limited working memory for worrying when doing math.<span style=""> (</span>Ashcraft & Kirk, 2001.)</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=";font-family:";font-size:7pt;" > </span></span></span>While working memory increases with age, it can be increased at any age, mainly by developing fast, automatic recall of facts or procedures from long-term memory.<span style=""> </span>(Schneider & Shiffrin, 1977, Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977)<span style=""> This</span> can help any student, but is especially beneficial for those with mathematics learning disabilities or math anxiety.</p>Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-27457741742943171402010-12-28T12:02:00.000-08:002012-03-13T07:06:01.416-07:00Math Fact Automatic Recall Benefits<p class="MsoNormal">When recall of the math facts is not automatic, it slows down learning in most cases, and stops it completely in some.<span style=""> </span>It also results in extra work and frustration for the teacher.<span style=""> </span>I believe that computers are a perfect match for math fact memorization instruction.<span style=""> </span>They are consistent, entertaining, and methodical.<span style=""> </span>I’m starting a research based list of benefits that come from early math fact automaticity.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=";font-family:";font-size:7pt;" > </span></span></span>It helps achieve a strong start, which is especially critical for the disadvantaged.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=";font-family:";font-size:7pt;" > </span></span></span>It allows for more understanding of the current lesson because working memory is not tied up in calculating basic facts.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=";font-family:";font-size:7pt;" > </span></span></span>“…<span style="">if basic skills are not well learned and understood, the natural progression to complex topics is impeded.”<span style=""> </span></span><a href="http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/report/final-report.pdf">(National Mathematics Advisary Panel (NMAP) Final Report)</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=";font-family:";font-size:7pt;" > </span></span></span>Fast access to number combinations supports efficient problem solving.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/report/final-report.pdf">(NMAP Final Report)</a></p>Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-67748044253258827942009-12-15T11:52:00.000-08:002012-03-13T07:05:18.934-07:00Why make more math facts software?<p class="MsoNormal">Why work to develop the ultimate math facts software?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Because:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal; mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>“Studies of children in the United States, comparisons of these children with children from other nations with higher mathematics achievement, and even cross-generational changes within the United States indicate that many contemporary U.S. children do not reach the point of fast and efficient solving of single-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with whole numbers, much less fluent execution of more complex algorithms as early as children in many other countries. Surprisingly, many never gain such proficiency.” <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> (</span><span><a href="http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/report/final-report.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">National Mathematics Advisory Panel, (NMAP) Final Report, 2008)</span></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal; mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";" >Many U.S. college students have to use backup strageies because they haven’t memorized all of the addition and subtraction facts, unlike East Asian college students.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(Campbell & Xue, 2001; Geary, 1996; Geary & Wiley, 1991; Geary, Frensch, et al., 1993)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal; mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>Only 15% of 4<sup>th</sup> through 7<sup>th</sup> graders solved division problems from memory.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>7<sup>th</sup> Graders were still using multiplication facts and skip counting to solve most problems.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Automaticity of division facts does not seem to increase with age like the other three operators.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(Ilg & Ames, 1951; Robinson, Arbuthnott, et al., 2006)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal; mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>Chinese students are superior to U.S. students on math facts.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Kindergarteners outperform U.S. students by 300% and Chinese 5<sup>th</sup> graders are better by 160%.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>(<span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Stevenson, Lee, Chen, Lummis, et al., 1990)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal; mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";" >“The implication is that many, perhaps most, U.S. children have not achieved fluency with simple multiplication and division.” <a href="http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/report/learning-processes.pdf">(NMAP Learning Processes Task Group Report, 2008)</a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal; mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";" >A study of 130 Australian elementary students only found 3 who had developed automaticity with all 100 addition facts, one each in 4<sup>th</sup>, 5<sup>th</sup>, and 6<sup>th</sup> grades. <a href="http://www.iier.org.au/qjer/qr5/thesis-abs-5-3.html">(Cumming, 1989)</a></span></p>Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549018480866320192.post-77097375248543313392008-12-11T08:22:00.000-08:002008-12-11T11:51:51.319-08:00Welcome!<p class="MsoNormal">Welcome to the Just the Facts, Math blog!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The purpose of this blog is to collaborate on best practices for teaching and memorizing the basic math facts.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My desire is to make this an open blog, so if you have something off topic you would like to post, just put it in a comment.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have to review the comments before they are posted, so if I think it should be a new topic, I’ll just use it to create one.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>Mark Berghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16360809210212604267noreply@blogger.com0