Basic number sense is so important at any grade level. The more I talk to other teachers, the more I hear about kids not having any number sense. It seems that many have troubles memorizing basic facts, or have very inefficient strategies for solving those they don’t know.
I use the “All the …. facts you ever need to know” sheets from Trevor Calkins in my class. There is some for subtraction, addition, multiplication and division. Once a week, we will complete a sheet. I give the class 6 minutes to complete, regardless of which facts they are working on. I believe that if they are unable to finish in 6 minutes, the strategies they are using simply aren’t efficient. Everyone starts with addition and after completing the sheet with no errors twice they can move on to subtraction and so forth. I make them get the entire sheet correct twice in a row to ensure consistency. I also stress to the class that it’s okay if you don’t get it all. Next time, your goal is to do the same or one better.
Here’s some great ideas for teaching number sense I found on Pinterest:
There are so many ways to enforce number sense in the classroom. Do you have any great strategies? I’d love to hear about them!
