Math Fact Day

Getting the girls to memorize math facts is important to me.  So one day last week we set aside all of our normal work and just had a Math Facts Day.  (Actually, it was more like a math fact morning because the afternoon was filled with a visit from our ES.)

Each girl had a list like the following so they knew what their options were.  Primus focused on multiplication, and Secundus did addition and subtraction.  Each activity was only done for 5 minutes at a time.  I wanted to keep them moving quickly from task to task so they would have fun and not get bored.

Wraps is referring to these math wrap-ups.  It's basically a classic matching game where you draw a line from a number in one column to a number in the second column.  But you "draw" it by wrapping a string around a key shape.  And when you're all done, you turn over the key and see if you got all the answers right based on if the string is covering all the raised bumps.

The triangle game is called Minute Math Electronic Flash Card.  It's tricky to get used to, but it's really good to help you understand the connection between addition and subtraction.

Machine means this Subtraction Machine.  When you push the little buttons, they pop up and tell you the answer to the problem.  I don't know if playing with this actually helps them remember the facts or not, but they sure think it's fun to click all the buttons. 

Xtra Math is a great free website.  It helps the kids master the math facts at their own pace and tracks their progress.

The Computer Games were definitely the favorite from the list.  These three websites have some fun ones.

Flashcards.  Boring, old flashcards. :)  I made my own with index cards.

I gave the girls a blank Hundreds Chart to fill in.   They had to work on it, though, by counting by 2s, and then counting by 3s, and then counting by 5s, and so on until it was all filled up.  While not math-fact-specific, skip counting is a great skill to work on.

Speed Tests were something I remember really enjoying in school. In the back of their math books I found a page of fact review and I timed them to see how fast they could complete a section of it.  Did not work.  The timer did not motivate them at all.

This website has a good explanation of how to use an Addition Grid.  I handed the girls a blank 11X11 grid and had them make their own.


Our Math Fact Day was a hit! We'll definitely be doing it again next week.