Not THAT but THIS... HOW TO ACHIEVE Authentic Fluency with Numbers

by Janey Ross

Stop the Mad Math Minute... Maths fact 'teaching' is often ineffective: lots of worksheets, drills, and rote memorisation. This kind of instruction doesn’t serve learners well. Let's address this FACT FRENZY by examining current research about how to effectively build learners maths fact knowledge.

 

Boost your learners MATHS LEARNING with RETRIEVAL PRACTICE: We can strengthen our ability to recall long-term memories by retrieving them.  The more you search for a memory, the easier it becomes to find it. This simple concept – the retrieval effect’ – should become the bedrock of our teaching for long term learning. Why? Because it supports learners memory retention.  One of the fundamental principles of teaching is to support students’ memory retention.   A strategy in which calling information to mind subsequently enhances and boosts learning is called "RETRIEVAL PRACTICE". 

You can read all about retreival practice HERE: Boost Number Fluency with Retrieval Practice 

But it's right here that  I'm sharing a plethora of  RETRIEVAL PRACTICE ideas (that don't involve a quiz!) for FREE. Purposeful, playful mathematical experiences can provide valuable opportunities for retrieval practice. 

Here are different ways that you can maximise Retrieval Practice to help maths facts stick... 

Purposeful, playful practice

I try to present retrieval as a game of ​“hide and seek”, with the knowledge being really well hidden in learners brains. The aim of the retrieval is to seek out the sneaky knowledge that was really good at hiding. By framing retrieval in this way, we can gain the benefits of the retrieval process without prompting the anxiety that frequent ​“testing” might inspire.
 
Similarly, games like ​“What number am I?” can create a low stakes environment. Working in pairs removes the summative assessment feeling that may contribute to test anxiety, while also allowing grown ups to assess their learners understanding of the properties of numbers.
 
Have a go at these... 
Click on each link to download a range of retreival tasks for FREE!!!  (YES!  that's right, for absolutely nothing!)  I hope you and your learners enjoy using these  and that their understanding and number fluency is enhanced as a result.
  
 
 

 

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