Hey, ya’ll! I’m very happy to be apart of a fun blog hop on one of my favorite topics – teaching math facts. It’s hosted by the very sweet Joy Hall of Joy of Teaching. Be sure to scroll all the way down (and why wouldn’t you anyway?? :P), so you can hop on over to the next awesome tip for learning math facts.
So let me share with you five fun ways that I have my students work and improve their math fact fluency.
1) Poke Cards
I create and use these guys all year long. Here is an example of how it works with my FREE Multiplication Beach Ball Poke Cards.
You print them out, cut and laminate them, and then hole-punch the plus signs.
Then taking a light-colored marker, you circle the correct answer on the back.
Students then take a coffee stirrer, a pencil tip, a cupcake pick, or in this case a cocktail umbrella (ok, I would not suggest the latter, but it’s all I had in the house and it makes for cute pics :P), and pick the right answer to the fact.
I LOVE the poke cards! I've made poke card flashcards with all of the facts on one card, but this is so much neater (and easier to understand!). What a great self-checking way for kids to practice their math facts! Thanks so much for the freebie, too! 🙂
Joy Hall
Joy of Teaching
I absolutely LOVE the idea of using cocktail umbrellas with the poke cards! I'm sure there are plenty of other things that would work, but who doesn't love those little umbrellas? I'm up for any little trick that will motivate the kids to want to use the activity! Thanks for the great ideas on fact fluency!
Sally from Elementary Matters
I absolutely love your ice cream motivator! I love the fact that you can pop it up quickly on the SmartBoard, instead of having it up on the wall at all times. Thanks for sharing your ideas!!
Kate
EduKate and Inspire
I really like the bottle cap idea. It is good to hear that your students are engaged practicing math facts. This is a good alternative to worksheets.
Greg
Mr Elementary Math Blog
I am going to share this with my friend who teaches 4th and 5th grade math and then start collecting bottle caps for her as I am sure it will be on her list. Thanks for the fun and practical ideas.