It drives me crazy EVERY YEAR.
Fifth graders come to me without knowing their multiplication facts.
How in the world can I teach multiplying 359 x 97 or 2 3/5 x 1 1/3 if they don't know their times tables? It baffles this fifth grade math teacher.
Many choose to point fingers of blame at the teachers of grades younger than 5th, but I don't. Why? Because I know the teachers of the younger grades in my school system and they are AWESOME. I know they are teaching this skill.
Should we blame the parents? Perhaps. But will it do any good? Shouldn't we just focus on what WE can do about it?
Here's what I have chosen to do about it. Please let me know how you have tackled this within your own classroom!
1. My school has an "enrichment period" built into our school day. My 5th grade team all work on multiplication facts during this enrichment time. In the first semester, we work each week on a different fact. The students complete assignments focused on that fact and then are expected to come up to the teacher and quote that fact (for example if it is the 4s week, they quote from 4 x 1 to 4 x 12). They have 3 seconds to say the answer. If they cannot say the answer in that time, they write the facts and try again later.
2. In the second semester, we move to "missing factors" and division. Many students can tell you what 7 x 8 is, but if you ask them what is 56 divided by 8, they are completely lost! Do you feel that also? Focusing on the missing factor assignments and division facts in second semester is designed to help that as well. For quoting, the students randomly pull 5 cards from the fact for the week and they have to say the answer within 2 seconds of seeing the card.
Have we seen growth doing this? Yes.
Does it take my whole team working together, believing math facts are important for 5th grade success? Yes.
Are there students still struggling? Yes. If there was a plan that reached absolutely everyone, then all schools would be doing it.
So what can you do?
Is there a way that your schedule could be tweaked to include an "enrichment period" that focuses on math facts? It doesn't have to be as long as the rest of your classes, just 20-30 minutes of devotion to that skill can do WONDERS. Maybe the 20 minutes after lunch could be considered Math Facts Period or the 20 minutes after PE? There are often ways to put this into the schedule if we're willing to think outside the box!
