Math Fact Fluency: 60+ Games And Assessment Tools To Support Learning And Retention, Jan/2019

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

1. The five fundamentals of fact fluency, which provide a research-based framework for effective instruction in the basic facts.
2. Strategies students can use to find facts that are not yet committed to memory.
3. More than 40 easy-to-make, easy-to-use games that provide engaging fact practice.
4. More than 20 assessment tools that provide useful data on fact fluency and mastery.
5. Suggestions and strategies for collaborating with families to help their children master the basic math facts.

Math Fact Fluency is an indispensable guide for any educator who needs to teach basic facts. This approach to facts instruction, grounded in years of research, will transform students’ learning of basic facts and help them become more confident, adept, and successful at math.

About the Authors:

Jennifer M. Bay-Williams, PhD, is a mathematics teacher educator at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. She has written many articles and books related to K-12 mathematics education, including Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally and the related series, Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics. Bay-Williams is a national leader in mathematics education, having served as a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Board of Directors, secretary and president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), lead writer for the Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics(AMTE, 2017), and a member of the TODOS: Mathematics for ALL Board of Directors. Bay-Williams taught elementary, middle, and high school students in Missouri and in Peru. She currently works in elementary classrooms in the Louisville area.

Gina Kling is fortunate to serve the mathematics education community in a variety of ways. Since 2011, she has worked as a curriculum developer for the elementary mathematics curriculum Everyday Mathematics (based at the University of Chicago) with a focus on grades K-3. Recently she served as the grade 1 lead author for the Everyday Mathematics 4 State Editions, the author of the Everyday Mathematics 4 Quick Looks Activity Book, and one of the authors of Everyday Mathematics for Parents: What You Need to Know to Help Your Child Succeed. Kling has taught elementary mathematics content and methods courses for the past 15 years at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and is currently completing a doctoral degree in K-12 mathematics education at Western Michigan University.