teaching addition & subtraction facts

There are several things you can check out.Math Facts the Fun Way provides absurd visualizations that often allow LD kids to learn addition and multiplication facts quite quickly. Check out the website at http://www.citycreek.com. Children who have been unable to learn math facts any other way often respond well to this approach. Eventually the children develop their own mental short-cuts and can drop the visual imagery.If you go to the “LD in Depth” section of this website (see header options) and click on “math”, you will find an excellent article on Developing Fluency with Number Facts (or something like that). It provides a lot of insight into the multiple steps involved in memorizing math facts, and may give you ideas on how to work through them with your students.We have just started using Quarter Mile Math, a software program that provides math drill in a friendly way. Students race against their own best times. Website is http://www.thequartermile.com/ (The software keeps track of multiple students, so you don’t need a copy for each student. Only one student can play at a time per copy, though.)I think that a one-two punch of Math Facts the Fun Way, followed by Quarter Mile Math practice daily, would be likely to work well.Mary: I have a few students 12 to 16 years old that struggle with basic
: math facts: 6-3, 5-2, etcetera. They understand the process of
: addition and subtraction well enough to do 2 and 3 digit addition
: and subtraction…but they have to use their fingers or use
: “hash marks” on the paper in order to add and subtract,
: thusly: 5 /////: +3 /// So they write these marks and then add up the marks. They can
: perform this with remarkable speed, but I wonder if there is a
: better way.: I allow them to use a calculator to check answers.: Thanks.

: I have a few students 12 to 16 years old that struggle with basic
: math facts: 6-3, 5-2, etcetera. They understand the process of
: addition and subtraction well enough to do 2 and 3 digit addition
: and subtraction…but they have to use their fingers or use
: “hash marks” on the paper in order to add and subtract,
: thusly: 5 /////: +3 /// So they write these marks and then add up the marks. They can
: perform this with remarkable speed, but I wonder if there is a
: better way.: I allow them to use a calculator to check answers.: Thanks.Avoid finger-counting — since you’re using one finger as a pointer, it gets inaccurate. Hash marks are OK, if inefficient.I had success learning in my own childhood, and teaching others, with oral recitation. Recite sum and answer together for it to be any use — if the child just lists off the answers, it’s just slow counting. Recite “one plus one is two, one plus two is three, one plus three is four … three plus one is four, three plus two is five, … nine plus seven is sixteen, nine plus eight is seventeen, nine plus nine is eighteen” Of course you don’t do the whole thing at once; one row of ten at a time, then building up to doing more. Recite in a slow steady rhythm, possibly keeping time with a hand beat. No fancy tunes or gimmicks; the point is to keep focused on the math facts, not find other distractors. Repeat practice a couple of times daily for several weeks for overlearning. When the math question comes up, stop the student before he makes the hash marks and say to a beat “three plus two is ___” and usually the student will say “five” before even realizing what he is doing (This is pure Pavlovian response training. It’s *supposed* to be automatized. That’s the goal, to not have to reinvent the wheel each day in math.). If the student still can’t pull the sum from memory, have him whisper it to himself. If it still won’t come, start at the beginning of the row with three plus zero, three plus one, three plus two — got it. This takes some time and dedication to the repetition and overlearning, but it is extremely effective for almost all students. Students generally find it amusing to chant in rhythm.

You might take a look at this. We have taught this method to students like yours very successfully. Frequently they are able to add faster than I can- especially with lengthy problems. There are commercial material available but I can’t find the site right now.Robin

I have used Touch Points for several years with my remedial students. It has worked great for those students who were still using their fingers in 5th grade. The second grade teacher at my school incorporates it into her program now to show all the students as an alternative method to add and subtract. I think it works great!Lori

Touchpoints is great! I find my LD students who have learned touch points are much more accurate in their responses. I do know that touchpoints ahs a multiplication program however I do not have experience with it. Our school district introduced touchpoints to first grade students and found that they really caught on quickly.