Fun Math Fact Fluency

February 26, 2022

Do you have Math Games & Activities in your centers? Well, you should!

We’re going back to my 1st year of teaching when I was handed a math fact fluency program that was supposed to be “fun”. The kids hated it and moaned every day when we got out our folders. I knew building a solid foundation in math facts was important, but I didn’t like this program. I turned to our math curriculum and it was worse! Neither one had any explicit teaching, finding patterns or making connections. And they definitely weren’t engaging or motivating. Just drill and kill. Ugggggh.

Then I heard of an online fact fluency program. Aha, this would solve my problems! Wrong. We only had computers twice a week every other 6 week period, and I was always having tech issues on my students laptops. Plus I think we are spending waaaay too much time in front of screens and not enough time interacting with peers. Think of all the time that students are not learning social and emotional skills or having time to play (which is one of the ways that kids learn best!)

Math Games, Math Activities & More!

So my journey into creating my own resources begun. I was thinking, .”How can I engage and motivate my kids to learn their math facts while also being able to practice them with their peers in a productive way?”. I looked on TPT, but alas, more drill and kill. So…. I decided to create my own addition math fact fluency program called Balloon Math!

Balloon Math has all the things I needed to engage and motivate my kids! It covers Making 10, Doubles, Doubles +1 and Addition Facts +0 through +10 (Sums up to 20) It is set up to:

1. Teach 2. Practice & Play 3. Motivate & 4. Assess. I’ll break down each 13 sets down below:

TEACH using Teaching Posters and Addition Charts for Anchor Charts.
1. A Teaching Poster with different strategies to work on the set of facts.
2. A highlighted Addition Chart to help kids see patterns and make connections
PRACTICE & PLAY with Math Games, Math Activities, Flashcards & Worksheets
1. A set of Clip Cards that have Pictures & Ten frames to help scaffold the learning.
2. A fun Board Game (there are a variety of familiar board games used in the program)
3. A Card Game that works on commutative property (again, a variety of familiar card games in the program)
4. Half Size Practice Worksheets
5. Flash Cards that works on commutative property
6. A note home with a practice sheet so that students can practice with their families.
MOTIVATE with Balloons, Certificates, & Passing Posters for the Class and Individuals
1. Individual Passing Coloring Pages. Students have their own coloring page. Each balloon has a set of math facts. When they pass the set, they get to color the page. I even let my kids choose a real balloon when they pass! I just get balloon donations or buy them from the dollar store. When my students pass all their facts, they get a punch balloon. Don’t want to give out real balloons?…
2. Balloon Printables. If you don’t want to give out real balloons, I have included balloon templates that have each set on them. Attach a curly ribbon, pencil, straw or whatever you have lying around that works!
3. Math Fact certificates for each set!
4. Class Passing Posters! Celebrate and Encourage each other to pass each set by letting the kids write their name on each poster that they pass! Hang them up and celebrate each other!
ASSESS
1. Full Size printable worksheets. I printed mine double-sided and put them in reusable page protector sheets so that my kids could use dry-erase markers.

What did my Math Fact Time Look Like in my Classroom?

We had 1 hour & 20 minutes block for math time after recess. I hate wasting transition time from recess, so my math fact time was as they were coming in from recess. I had these awesome blue bins for each set of math facts with a label on the front. Inside each bin was that set’s clip cards, card game, board game, flash cards and worksheets. Sounds like a mess? No! I kept my clip cards and card games in those cool photo boxes that have label on the front. The card games had the instructions taped to the back of the cover and the clip cards had clips in them. The flashcards were on a binder ring. Each student wrote their name on both sides of their worksheet since it was printed double-sided. The worksheets were in reusable page protectors so that the students could use dry-erase markers on them.

+10 math game plus ten and 3 digit number

+10 math game plus ten and 2 digit number

+10 math game plus ten and 1 digit number

So, like I was saying, the kids would practice their math facts as they were transitioning in from recess. They would go to their bin and grab the materials that they wanted to use to practice their math facts. If it was a game, they had to play with the other kids on the same set. During this time I would pull an intervention group and work on number sense (see more on this below**). To see if kids had passed their set of facts, I would set my timer for 3 seconds per problem (90 seconds) 1-2 times each week during math fact time. Only the kids who filled out an entire page would bring me their sheet. Kids passed at their own pace, not as an entire class. At the end of class, during our math reflection time, we would celebrate those who passed by letting them sign the class poster & choose a real balloon from my bin! I would send home the next set’s home-note, flashcard sheet & board game for them to practice their families!

plus zero plus 1 math card games for centers

On days where students had passed a set of math facts the day before, I would have my intervention group working on partner or individual work while I taught and gave the new materials to the student’s who had passed. I kept the anchor charts and addition charts taped to the blue boxes so that the students could easily use them as anchor charts. I also had the new materials ready to go in a file folder box, so that I could simply grab the new materials without having to do any new prep! Yay for systems in place!

** I didn’t originally have an intervention group during math fact time. Everyone always started on the +0 & +1 set. After some time, I noticed a pattern. My students who didn’t have a solid foundation in number sense were falling behind. They weren’t making the connections and seeing the patterns like my other students. They were still using manipulatives or their fingers to try and solve the facts. Heck, some still didn’t understand the concept of +0 and +1. I needed to pump the breaks and fill the gaps. So, during Math Fact Practice time, I pulled a group of kiddos back to work on composing and decomposing numbers. See my number sense post here.

My kids loved this routine! It gave them choice, time to play and build social skills with their peers and learn! As kids would pass sets, they would often go back to games when their workbook was done for the day as a fast finisher activity!

Let me know if you have any questions!

-Courtney

Hi, I'm Courtney!

I help teachers and homeschooling parents engage their little learners!

Learn more about me and how I can help you here

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