Math Fact Fluency: 60+ Games and Assessment Tools to Support Learning and Retention

by Jennifer M. Bay-Williams, Gina Kling

This approach to teaching basic math facts, grounded in years of research, will transform students' learning of basic facts and help them become more confident, adept, and successful at math. Mastering the basic facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division is an essential goal for all students. Most educators also agree that success at higher levels of math hinges on this fundamental skill. But what's the best way to get there? Are flash cards, drills, and timed tests the answer? If so, then why do students go into the upper elementary grades (and beyond) still counting on their fingers or experiencing math anxiety? What does research say about teaching basic math facts so they will stick? In Math Fact Fluency, experts Jennifer Bay-Williams and Gina Kling provide the answers to these questions—and so much more. This book offers everything a teacher needs to teach, assess, and communicate with parents about basic math fact instruction, including

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Professional Development

190 pages, Paperback

Published January 14, 2019

Reviews

[Gracie Hopkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing tool to use to help defend and support authentic math fluency practice in my classroom!

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-have resource for teachers in K-4. The book lays out the strategies and order for teaching students their addition and multiplication facts, the rationale for this order, 60 games to use with students, ideas for communicating with parents about the fact families, and various observation tools for gathering data on student progress. The book starts with explaining the 5 fundamentals of Fact Fluency: 1) mastery must focus on fluency, 2) fluency develops in 3 phases, 3) foundational facts must precede derived facts, 4) timed tests do not assess fluency, and 5) students need substantial and enjoyable practice.

[Robin Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out with mindless boring memorization and in with teaching kids math strategies for higher thinking skills and independence! Full of games for parents and teachers to introduce fun learning! Quick easy reference to add a game or three to reinforce lessons already being taught in school. My 1st graders loved the the addition and subtraction games. It would be great resource for higher grades too. Thank you for writing this practical book Jennifer!

[Abby Mallett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The content of this book is fantastic. It clearly walks you through the reasoning behind this approach to fact fluency and gives plenty of ideas for how to help student become fluent, how to assess fluency, and how to communicate about fluency with families. I wish they had provided editable templates in an online supplement. It will take a lot of time to create the games and assessment tools from scratch. Teachers need things to be easy to implement or they just won’t have the time to do it.

[Chris Heim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the breakdown of facts into “foundational” sets that must be learned first, and “derived facts” that should be taught next using strategies. The focus on game-based fact fluency, providing of assessment tools, and the section on the importance of communication with families also made this a very useful read.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this from the lens of teaching fully online, and most of the games are more geared towards in person partners or groups. I would love to see an update for online learning where students don’t have access to counters, bingo boards, etc and where students have to play alone!

[Michell Karnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book for teaching math fluency. A clear cut progression of fact sets to teach and lots of games to assist with learning.

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I attended an on-line learning session over this book. It is such a good resource that I bought my own copy.

[Mary Beth Revesz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can you tell I am working a lot on my district's math instruction? LOL

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as part of a book study and I appreciated how the authors broke down the sequence of learning facts. The games are a great resource and I am sure I'll refer back to them many times.

[Marlana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for preK-grade 4 teachers.

[Alysha Ryder-Madanat · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to have multiple fluency games in your classroom, this is the book to get!

[Suhayman]

I'm really interested in Math so I want to learn math . If I know Math fact fluency I will use effectively.

[Barb Hegreberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful teacher tool !