Background knowledge, or schema, is an essential component of reading comprehension, including, but not limited to, sight words and worddecoding strategies. Math is no different.
Math facts, and the strategies students need to retrieve them, are essential for problem-solving success. Without schema, math facts will remain isolated and unconnected. Too often, math facts are memorized and not understood; understood but not automatic; fast but not accurate; or some combination of all of the above. In response to state standard expectations, district and state assessments, and a teacher’s knowledge that these facts are essential, teachers often resort to teaching the way they were instructed in math—by teaching their students to memorize facts and repeat them under pressure using anxiety-ridden timed tests.
Our goal in writing this book is to change the way we teach students the necessary mathematical underpinnings called math facts. We hope that we can provide you with the information and tools you’ll need to feel empowered enough to call a time-out on timed tests and ultimately say, “Time’s up!” on using them all together.
We will provide you with methods for teaching math facts that will lead your students to fluency. This fluency will not be in isolation, but rather in conjunction with the bigger picture of mathematical thinking and problem-solving. Instead of relying solely on memorization, students will learn how to use strategies to develop understanding. This understanding will lead to accuracy. Purposeful and meaningful practice, with an attention to precision, will then lead to increased automaticity and speed.