Dear Parents,
This week students will begin memorizing their multiplication
facts for homework. A timed assessment will be given several times each week to
evaluate their fluency of multiplication facts. Students will begin with the
zeros and ones facts and upon mastery will move on to the twos, threes, fours,
and so on. If a student struggles with a particular times table, the child will
remain at that level and continue to practice those facts until he/she is
successful. I am hoping that in using
this multi-leveled approach, students can work at their own pace to reach
success.
Please
help your child practice his/her multiplication facts nightly. When
you are doing drills to memorize, explain to your child that the goal is to
memorize the facts (to recall from memory) and not to get the answers by
counting or some other method. Just like your child probably has memorized your
address and phone number, now he/she is going to memorize multiplication facts.
You can easily see if the student is trying to count because producing the
answer takes much more time. You should expect the answers from the child
immediately when you are drilling. If he/she doesn't know the answer readily,
then tell him/her the right answer. Usually short drill sessions are best.
You can drill for 5-8
minutes a night, depending on the child. Flashcards are a wonderful resource
and can be purchased rather inexpensively at local dollar stores. In addition,
there are many websites and apps that offer drills, games, strategies, and
activities to help students learn their facts. Students have also made their own set of
flashcards at school that they can bring back and forth each day.
Some great websites include:
Best Regards,
Ed Tighe
Grade 3 Teacher
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