Need Help Motivating Your Students to Learn Their Multiplication Facts??

I was hoping to do this post last week, but of course time got away from me..  I am excited to do this post because this is a topic that I am very passionate about and something that I believe is important for students to learn at this grade level!!

I teach 4th grade and many of my students come into 4th grade not knowing their multiplication facts, because of the Math Standards in 4th grade, this causes many of my students to struggle with long division and multiplication.  It is my goal every year that all of my students memorize their multiplication facts and know them like the back of their hand, by the end of the year.  I am going to explain below two ways that I motivate my students to learn their multiplication facts!

#1 Weekly Multiplication Timed Tests

About the 3rd or 4th week into school I begin weekly multiplication timed tests.  I give these timed tests 2 days a week (normally towards the beginning and end of the week).  My tests have 20 multiplication questions.  I allow my students to get 2 or less wrong to move on to the next multiplication test.  If they do not pass, they take the same test the next time.  If they pass, they receive an ice cream scoop for that fact. There are many different versions of the Multiplication Facts Ice Cream Rewards on TPT, but I use the freebie from Michelle Harper called Multiplication Facts Freezer Frenzy (click the name and it will take you to the link on TPT).  Then about half way through the year (usually in December), I give my students an ice cream party to celebrate.  Depending on which facts they have mastered, depends on how much ice cream and toppings they will get at the party.  Below is a picture and freebie of a poster of what ice cream/toppings students get at the party depending on which facts they mastered. There is also a freebie for the note that I send home to parents about donations for the ice cream party.

Click here to download this poster for FREE!!

Click here to download a FREE note home  for volunteers/donations for the party!

After the party, any student's who have not mastered all of their multiplication facts continue to work on them.  I normally give students who have mastered their facts a break until January when they start memorizing their division facts.  I will be doing another post in the next couple of weeks to explain how I use division facts the 2nd half of the year to help my students learn their division facts!

This is a sample of my multiplication timed tests that are sold in my TPT store.  Click here to see them in my store!

NOTE: I know everyone's opinion on if these tests should be graded is different, but I do take them for a grade.  Instead of taking both test grades each week, I only put the highest timed test grade in the gradebook.  This way if a student bombs the first test, they still have time to study and get a higher grade on the test later in the week.

#2 Fluency Math Center

Since not all students will practice and memorize their facts at home, I feel that it is important to give them time in the classroom to practice these facts.  I do not want to take away too much instructional time, but still realize how important it is that my students know their facts.  So, I have created a Math Fluency center where my students practice these facts 2-3 times a week.  Since this is a center that I use all year, I wanted to make sure there were many options for my students for practicing these facts.  I'm trying to avoid having my student's get bored from the center this way.  Below I am going to list the different activities I have at my Math Fluency Center.  You can introduce all the activities at the beginning of the year or add activities throughout the year to bring excitement and interest to this center throughout the year!

1.) Multiplication Flash Cards

 I allow my students to do flashcards on their own or with a partner.  Many of my students love this activity because it gives them a chance to work with another student in their center.  I buy my flashcards from the dollar tree.  This way I can stock up on a lot of flashcards and I don't feel like I am spending a lot of money on them!

2.) Multiplication Apps

I am lucky to work at a school be that has 1:1 technology for each student.  This means that half of the technology in my classroom is Ipads.  Of course, my students LOVE using the ipads and anything on the Ipad is a game to them.  I have downloaded many different Ipad multiplication fact games/ flashcards for free for my students.  I put all of these in a math fluency folder.  Here are the names of some free ipad games/flashcards that you can download if you have Ipads in your classroom:

-Math Cards!! (These are online flashcards for all operations)

-Fast Facts Math (Great way for students to practice facts)

-Times Table Quiz (Multiplication Trainer)

-Multiplication for Kids (This one has a wizard in it and many of my students loved that!)

-Math Flash Cards

-Math Monsters (A lot of my students really loved this app too!)

The only thing about the free versions is that some of them only let students get to a certain level or use it for a certain amount of time before it stops them, but you are able to purchase the rest of the app if your student's really like it!  There are many more free and inexpensive multiplication apps too if you look in the app store!

3.) Math Wrap Ups

I purchased a couple of these for my classroom a couple years ago and my students love them! It is a great way for students to practice their facts on their own and self check to see if they got the answers correct.  These can be purchased at most teaching resource stores but I have also posted a link below the picture of where you could purchase them on Amazon.  You might be able to shop around and get them cheaper though!

http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Wrap-Ups-WU-K103-Wrap-ups-Multipication/dp/B0007P95JA

4.) Multiplication War

Most students know how to play the game of war, which makes explaining this game pretty easy!  I normally teach this to my students one of the first couple days of school.  This is a game that they can play at home with their parents too because all they need is a deck of cards!

Here are the directions:

1    1.) One student deals out the cards facedown to the 2 players.  Each player should have the same amount of cards in a pile in front of them.  Players may not look at their cards!

     2.) One student says flip and both students flip over their cards.  Students must then multiply the 2 numbers together and the student who yells out the correct answer first gets to keep the cards.

     3.) Students continue this process until one student has all the cards or students may stop at any given point and whichever student has the most cards is the winner!

I have added a free download of teacher and student directions for FREE here at my TPT store!

Here are just a couple ways that I help motivate my students to learn their multiplication facts!  This year, I am going to try adding in daily multiplication facts practice at home for homework.  I will update my blog later with how that goes. Remember to check back in the next couple weeks for a post about how I use Division Facts in my classroom!

 Comment below if there are any other good multiplication fact motivators that you use to help your students learn their multiplication facts.  I am always looking for new ideas :)

Monday Made It!

 I'm linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics again!  Monday Made It is becoming a great motivator for me to work on my summer projects :) I only have one more month until school starts back up and only 2 more weeks until I am back in North Carolina.  So, I have a lot of projects that I want to begin or finish before that time. 

Last week, I gave you an idea of what I would be using for this project.  I have wanted to find some way to organize my vocabulary cards that I hang up in my room.  Right now, they are all thrown in a folder and I have to sort through to find the ones that I want.  Well, I LOVE binder clips and decided to use them to help me organize my vocabulary.  I have created binder clip labels for each math, reading and writing standard for 4th grade.  This way I can clip together all my vocabulary cards for each standard and put them in my folder that I had created a couple years ago for each standard.  This way, I just have to go to the folder and grab out my vocabulary cards.  This makes posting vocabulary easier and is a great way to help me stay organized!!

The blue labels are all of the 4th grade Reading and Writing standards.

 The red labels are all of the 4th grade Math standards.

I LOVE how these turned out and can't wait to use them in my classroom :)

If you're interested in purchasing these labels, you can buy them here for just $1!  If you're interested in labels for a different grade level or a different design, let me know and I can easily create them and add them to my TPT store.  These binder clip standard labels can be used in so many different ways!  Leave a comment, if you have another idea of how I can use these binder clips to keep my classroom organized :)

That is my only Monday Made It this week because I am working on a BIG vocabulary project.  I am hoping to be done with it in the next week or 2 and can't wait to share it with y'all!!

My First Monday Made It :)

I am linking up for my first Monday Made It with Fourth Grade Frolics!  If you haven’t seen her blog, you MUST go see it!! I have been following her blog for a while now and have used many of her ideas in my classroom!

 

 For this Monday Made it, all of my projects are school related.  I am not working at all this summer and therefore, have a lot more time on my hands than I normally do in the summer.  Most summers, I do not get done half of the school projects that I would like to, but this summer, I am working away on those projects.  I actually feel like I might get them all done and maybe some extra ones too!!

This first project is something that will help my students with learning their multiplication and division facts.  Many of my students come to 4^th grade not knowing their multiplication facts.  With the intensity of multiplication and division in 4^th grade, it is important that they know these facts.  My students practice these facts almost daily and take a one-minute timed test twice a week.  I will be doing a post soon on how my students practice their multiplication/division facts and how I test my students.  For now, check out my multiplication and division tests on at my TPT store.  Both tests are even bundled together for a discounted price!

This is my favorite Monday Made It this week! I had seen something similar to this on Kinder Craze awhile back and had always wanted to create my own for my classroom rules. So, the other day I was at Michael’s and saw these wood pieces for 50% off plus I had a 25% off your order coupon.  So, I purchased 5 of them, bought some paint that matched the colors in my classroom and made rule posters to glue on these boards. Overall, the project cost me under $10.   I absolutely LOVE how they turned out and wish I would have done this sooner.

Here is a picture of the boards after I painted them and before I put the rules on them.  They were so easy to paint and dried really quick!  

Here are the boards after I modge podged the signs that I made on them.

If you like the signs, you can get them for FREE here.  

Last year, was the first year that I had an organized and labeled classroom library.  I decided that I wanted to upgrade my library labels this year to match my classroom colors and theme better.  So, I have created new CHEVRON chalkboard library labels.  I cannot wait until I am able to get back into my classroom in August and put these on all of my book bins.  I will do a post on my classroom library once I am able to put these new labels on my bins.  For now, you may view these labels in my TPT store. 

That's it for my first Monday Made It!! I am excited to work on some projects for next week's Monday's Made It.  I am beginning my first project tomorrow :)  The next project includes binder clips, math and ELA standards.  Check back next week to see this organizational project!

Here I go...

Well, here I go!  This is my first post and honestly, don't know what to say.  I have thought about creating a teaching blog for the past couple of years and finally decided to do it.   I had a personal blog for awhile but journaling is not my thing and I stopped updating it after awhile.  I'm determined not to let that happen with this blog though!

  I'll start by giving you a little introduction...

 I am a 4th grade teacher in a public school.  I will be starting my 4th year of teaching this fall.  I have taught 4th grade for two years and taught Kindergarten for one year.  I loved those little kinders but decided that Upper Elementary was a better fit for me.  I absolutely LOVE 4th grade!  I teach in a small, southern town.  My school is made up of many ethnicities, which includes many Spanish speaking students.  I do not know Spanish well (beyond "Hola", "Me llamo es..."), but I wish I could speak Spanish fluently.  Therefore I am making it a goal to learn spanish these next couple of years!  I LOVE chevron, polka dots and stripes.  You will see all three of these designs around my classroom :) 

I am excited to share some of my ideas and find some ideas from other bloggers! Bare with me as I learn about blogging and possibly even make some blogging mistakes (I'm sure there will be a couple)!