Do you want your students to be motivated to pass their addition math facts?! Why not trying to motivate them with games, activities, scaffolded practice and more!

What are math facts anyway? Math facts can be addition, subtraction, multiplication and division equations that we use to solve other math equations. Think of all the ways to make 10. For you this should be very quick and is super important when we are doing mental math amongst other problems. Ideally, we want these facts to be recalled within 3 seconds to be fluent. Like anything else we teach our kiddos, they need to be taught explicitly and it helps to build on what they know to make connections. Then there needs to be time to practice before it becomes part of our long term memory.

But DANG flashcards and timed practice seem to be the only math fact practice out there. Let’s face it, it’s not super fun or motivating for kids to learn this way. No matter how much we say, “this will be super helpful when you do harder math”, KIDS REALLY WANT TO HAVE FUN (and so do I).

After doing a few math fact fluency programs, and my kids overall disliking them, I decided to make my own because I wanted the KIDS TO WANT to learn their facts, and I wanted them to have FUN! My program is called BALLOON MATH. Kids are very motivated by fun games and activities that are included in my program!

Here are the components I thought were necessary to explicitly teach and motivate my students including examples of games & activities:

Addition facts for “Friends of 10”, Doubles, Doubles +1, +0, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6, +7, +8, +9 & +10

1. A teaching poster that explicitly teaches strategies and build connections on what students already know. I hang mine on my math fact boxes as an anchor chart for students to refer to if needed.
2. A highlighted addition chart for the kiddos to visually make connections themselves for each set of facts.
3. Pictoral clip cards using ten frames to build both foundational subitizing skills and practice the facts. I also put a dot sticker on the back where the answer should be clipped to make them self-correcting. Bonus, they are working on their fine motor pincer grip skills when they clip!
4. A fun card game to practice their facts. I made sure to include a variety of familiar games to keep the kids excited for each set of facts! I use the games in my math centers and as fast finisher.
5. A cooperative board game to work together as they practice their facts! These are By Far the FAVORITE of my students. I love the board games because I hear the kids helping correct and scaffold each other. They are also working on important social emotional skills as they play and learn together!

But wait…. what about the worksheets and flash cards? Is it all just fun and games?

• Printable practice sheets are also included a part of the program. They are not the main focus, but it is important to see if kids can apply their math facts to paper. I also want to see if they can answer their facts fluently. These can be timed or just to practice on. Personally, I love to save paper so I slip mine into heavy duty sheet protectors for the students to use dry erase markers. I did also include half-size sheets as a paper saving option.
• 2 sets of flash cards. One set is vertical while the other set is horizontal. The “friends of 10” has an extra set using pictoral ten frames. I like to put mine on binder rings to keep them organized.
• A parent letter each time the student moves to a new set of facts. It is half sheet sized with a practice sheet below. I like to make a small packet to send home with the letter, a set of flash cards and the board game.
• A variety of ways to motivate students! There are certificates, a balloon coloring page where individual students color each balloon fact that they pass, class passing posters where each child gets to sign their name on the poster when they pass, and of course…BALLOONS! Now obviously, they don’t come with real balloons, but I have made some paper balloons that you can tape a curly ribbon or fun straw to. In my class, I use real balloons from the dollar store and celebrate we celebrate our classmates who pass for the week before recess. This gets the other kids excited for their friends and motivated to practice more. For my students who pass all of their addition facts, they get a punch balloon.
• A data tracking chart to see how each student was progressing.

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So kids will be motivated to learn their addition math facts, but….

         You might be thinking, it seems like a lot for math facts, but they really are sooo important to learn. Of course, I had systems in place and I explicitly practiced the routines with my students.

I had parent volunteers help me with all of the prep ahead of time to make everything time efficient.

> They printed off all of my printable practice pages and organized those into file folders.

> They printed off the parent packets for each set of facts using the staple function on the copier and organized those into file folders.

> I printed off my games in color from my printer (thank goodness for HP Instant Ink! If you like printing in color, this is the best way to go and I have a code for you below)

> I sent home my laminator and sheets for parents to laminate my games and cut them out so they would last longer. I also send home baggies for the card games.

The kids had an easy routine because I kept their math practice pages, board game, card game and flashcards in a box labeled with the math facts. They would just go to the box and grab their materials.

If you have questions about how I set up and used BALLOON MATH in my own class, just send me an email at engagedlittlelearners.edu@gmail.com I would also love to see pictures from your own classrooms!

Also, I have other resources to build number sense and practice 2^nd grade concepts that you may be interested in.