Math Fluency

Math fluency is a super important part of teaching math.  We of course want students to also explain HOW and WHY during math time.  BUT fluently adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing is also very important! It helps take away extra thinking while you model too!  If you're modeling how to solve a 3-digit regrouping problem, and you have students that struggle with fluency...they will get caught up in the computation and miss the HOW and WHY.

So... here are some fluency routines, games, and activities that I have used in my classroom and that my students love! :)

1. Mad Minute - This is a 1 minute timed fluency worksheet that my students complete EVERY DAY.  They LOVE it!  Each student gets a page protector and inside they place the fluency facts that they are working on.    Monday-Thursday, they practice with a dry-erase marker. And on Fridays, they take it out of the page protector and complete the fluency sheet with pencils.  In my class, students have 1 minute to get 20 correct.  If they mastered the facts, they move on to the next one.  I organize the worksheets in files (see picture), so that I can quickly check students and hand them a new worksheet (eventually I train a few students to pass them out).
FYI: to set this up in the beginning of the year, they complete one at a time with pencil until they don't pass.  Once they get "stuck" on one, I hand them a page protector, and that's when they start practice.  This allows me to quickly differentiate and meet students where they are at!  Some students may be working on multiplying by 4, while others are multiplying by 9.

2. Speed Fun - For this game, I usually do boys vs. girls or  have table groups challenge each other.  Each team lines up. The person in the front solves one problem (we use post-its and they just stick them on), then hands the marker to the person behind them and goes to the back of the line. The first
line that finishes first with 100% accuracy wins and congratulates the other team.  You can also make this a center and have "mini speed fun" games where students compete against each other.
My example is from when I taught 1st grade, just change to multiplication and division for upper elem! :)

3. Addition or Multiplication War - Students work in partners with a deck of cards. They split the deck in half, and at the same time they each throw down 1 card.  The first one to find the sum (for lower elem) or product (for upper elem) of the 2 cards gets to keep them both.  I practice this in the beginning of the year a lot, and then add it to math stations/centers. It's one of the easiest stations EVER, because students can use the cards as pictures to help them solve the problem. For example if they have 3 x 7, they can count the diamonds (or whatever symbol that is on the card) on the 7 card three times if they need help to solve. I also model and set the expectation that they need to check each other. The person with the most cards wins.  :)
*you can do this with dice and cards...both of which you might as well stock up on! :)

4. Flash Cards -  You can play memory games, matching games, racing games, quiz-quiz-trade and so much more with flash cards! Make the investment and buy some! :)
*Students can also make flash cards that go with their mad minute during math stations!! :)  Just give them index cards and an example so they have the right answers! It's an easy station and they can take them home to practice!