Start the Fifth Grade Math Year With Number/Facts Review

As I sat with a young child today, I recognized that her difficulty with facts was getting in the way of her math development. As Willingham discusses in his book, Why Don't Students Like School, it's important to practice basic information so that it's well situated in long term memory, as information in long term memory is easier and more reliable when it comes to retrieval, than information in short term memory.

With that in mind the more that we can help students to learn information in ways that add the meaning, concept, and skill to the long term memory, the better we will foster a strong foundation of math learning. So as I think about that, I am wondering how I will solidify and review fact knowledge at the start of the fifth grade year. I will couple that information with a number of fifth grade standards to, and use the following learning events:

• Review of numbers 0-10
• Review of factors and multiples related to number 0-100
• Review of the arrays and area model of multiplication
• Practicing facts using order of operations, algebraic thinking, coordinate grids, problem solving, introduction and use of online programs, and project/enrichment work.
• Facts concept, skill, and knowledge assessments

This is a great way to start the fifth grade. There are many wonderful ways to teach and review this information. Ways that I'll refer to when I update this post in the days ahead.