The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs: Math Lesson

Math Facts can be tricky for some students to master, especially when they are not motivated to put in the practice required to master them. I have developed a fun, motivating way to get your students to WANT to practice their math facts. It is called Kicking It Math.

I have used key elements of brain research as I developed the program:

* Did you know that students can hold only 2-3 new pieces of information in their working memory at one time? That is why each new practice session only includes 2 to 3 new facts and their opposites. Instead of having students focus on threes or fives, they learn just a few new facts at a time.

*Learners learn 90% of what they SAY and DO (Bloom, 1987). This program incorporates both oral and written practice.

* Students can remember things more easily when they connect new information with something they already know (Woolfolk, 1998). All new practice sheets include previously learned facts along with the new facts. This isn't simply learning their 1s, then their 2s, etc. because that doesn't work.

* In this program, some of the harder facts (such as 9X6 are taught in the middle rather than the end so the student really has more time to work on it).

* Another way to increase student memory is through verbal rehearsal. When a student practices (at home or at school with a partner) and makes a mistake, they repeat the correct problem and answer three times to cement it in their brain. They are presented the same problem three tries later to work through it again.

* Memory increases when dopamine is involved - basically if it is fun, kids will remember more!