Some wonderful questions have come my way regarding our new "Time Test Tuesday" Math routine. I thought I would create a blog post to provide some additional insight on to this exciting new adventure in our classroom. The students are absolutely loving it and as we practice our current math facts (doubles up to 9+9) during our daily Morning Meeting it is clear that they have been practicing the "Double Rap" at home given their desire to give not only the correct answer to a double fact but the catch phrase that follows. :D It's cheesy but it works. We will work on other strategies to remember math facts as we introduce new "fact families" in the weeks to come.
Below is some additional information to help with at home practice & to help you better understand our weekly routine.
Nightly Practice
Each Monday, new flashcards will go home. This week was an exception to that rule as we are taking two weeks to focus on Doubles facts. The reason for this is that the Doubles family is one of our hardest fact families so as we ease into the routine we move through this fact family slowly. Beginning next week, fact family flashcards (either addition or subtraction) will go home weekly.
Important to note, students are not required to "master" each fact family each week. I recommend that you practice 5-10 math facts at a time working on those until mastered before moving on to the next. When practicing, create two piles... 1) mastered pile; 2) needs practice pile. Practice the "practice" pile daily and pull in facts from the "mastered" pile frequently to ensure continued mastery occurs. This new routine should only take 2-3 minutes each day. Over the next few weeks you will collect a number of flashcards. Hold onto these and use these flashcards as a resource and practice them as your child experiences readiness through the routine recommended above.
Doubles facts may give your child difficulties - if this is the case practice them over the course of the next couple of weeks, setting aside & saving the other fact families that will go home weekly for later. If over the next few weeks, Doubles facts are still difficult, take a break from them beginning to focus on the other fact families. This will give your child a break from their challenge and give them a chance to experience success with "easier" facts like +0 / -0, +1 / -1 etc.
Beginning next week, I'll add a line to the Monday section of our Cottontail Communicator that highlights which fact family is going home that week. Please note, that while your child will take home a new set of flashcards each week - the pace they set for learning and mastering these facts is what is most important. Again, your child does not have to (nor is expected to) master a new fact family each week. It's possible, but is not required.
Time Test Tuesday
Each Tuesday, your child will take a 3-minute time test that is appropriate for their readiness level. Students will begin to focus on different tests on different fact families based on a variety of reasons (mastery of fact families through past assessments, more practice need with a particular fact family, an absence on a Tuesday, etc.) it is important that students understand the pacing is set by them and no one else. They are often oblivious to the fact that they may be at a different spot than their peers and this is important to keep in place so that students find success (and challenge) at a level appropriate for them.
The following Monday (when we fill our Take Home Folders), students will take home their Time Test. If they "pass" (2, 1, or 0 wrong) they will have a sticker on their page and/ or no or minimal markings and will be able to move on to the next time test the next week. If they score 17 out of 20 or less, then they will repeat that fact family's time test the next day (Tuesday). When sending these home, take a look at their test from the week before to know whether or not they have experienced mastery (18-20 correct problems in 3 minutes) of that fact family or if they need continued work. Our time tests will focus on new fact families with each new test but will also "spiral" back to past fact families to ensure continued mastery. This past Monday, your child took home their first time test. Next Monday, they will take home this week's (the second time test) and so on each Monday from here.
Since we start with Doubles fact (one of the most difficult "families") if your child does not experience mastery in the next few weeks with Doubles, I will make note of this and move on to other fact families to provide them opportunities to move beyond one set of facts. In doing so, we will refocus on Doubles facts at a later time.
In addition to this blog post, please feel free to look to our prior blog post about Math facts as well as yesterday's Seesaw post re: Time Test Tuesday.
I hope this added information helps. As always, let me know if you have additional questions.
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