It always cracks me up when a student says “I know my multiplication facts, but I don’t know how to divide.”
Many students struggle with the concept of fact families as they relate to multiplication and division. However, developing fluency with basic division facts is a key foundational skill to learning long division.
How do you develop this fluency without pulling your hair out? My philosophy is to make what is normally boring practice as fun as possible. (To put the FUN into the FUNdamentals, you might say).
Most days we play some game as a warm up or to wrap up that day’s lesson, usually no more than 10 minutes. Below is a Kahoot game I made for division facts. It is free to play but if you have a premium Kahoot account, check out their new games modes (Color Kingdom, Treasure Trove, and Submarine Squad) which are more team based and very fun!
Gimkit games are also a class favorite. Again, the game is free to play but if you have a premium account, check out all of the different game modes to keep things fresh for your students. My personal favorites are Fishtopia and Super Rich Mode.
Our students do daily practice with XtraMath. This is a free program that gives students adapted practice with their math facts. Is it flashy? No. Is it effective? In my experience, yes! Kids find it surprisingly motivating to “race the teacher” and to earn medals and certificates. I like that students can normally finish their daily practice in 5 minutes or less.
Finally, if you want your students to do some fun daily fact practice, try these Boom decks below. My students have been loving them. They love to reveal the funny pictures and jokes. Buying them as a bundle is even a better deal, because you get new decks as they are added.
