Correct speed and manner of practice

Question: We are using Rocket Math in 3rd grade and it is taking much longer than it should for the kids to master a given set of facts. I observed in the room, and the thing I noticed is that the kids are moving through the paired practice section trying to do the problems as fast as they can and are not getting the solid practice they need. Ms. Apple says that she has modeled over and over the correct speed and manner in which to do the practice and the roles of each kid in the practice session. She also commented that the kids will get into an argument about if one of them paused or if they said it correctly or some other procedural issue. Any suggestions beyond more modeling that might help bring this part in line so that the kids get the practice they need?

Answer: Good questions. A few ideas here.

1) Be sure that the paired practice is long enough—e.g., at least 2 minutes and possibly 3 minutes. More practice is better and as they get tired, they will slow down a bit.

2) There is nothing wrong with going fast (everyone can listen faster than anyone can talk), as long as the checker is stopping to correct errors and practice hesitations. The teacher should be sure to model for the students, where she makes a hesitation, and the checker has to stop her to give her the correction procedure. Then as students are practicing, she should circulate, listening for correction of hesitations, and praise that highly, as the BEST thing you can do for your partner—give them extra practice on a fact that were slow in answering.

3) Set up the rule: The checker is always right. Any argument she should respond in the same way. “No arguing. The checker is always right!” This is fair because everyone gets to be the checker. No other policy is workable because there is no way to know and no time to investigate. Just always say, “The checker is always right.”

4) If checkers are having trouble keeping up, make sure that they always “track with their finger.” She will need to make sure that is part of the modeling, and that she praises that behavior when she circulates. “I see some smart checkers who are tracking with their finger!” I’m thinking these should help.

5) Make sure they are taking the un-passed sheets home and practicing there. Give rewards or post on a chart who is taking their sheet home and practicing (the same way) and bringing it back signed by the person who practiced with them. At home practice can make a huge difference, and siblings can do it as well as parents. And three to five days is an OK length of time to pass a set.

6) As a last resort, especially if students are spitting out the problems too fast for the checkers to even hear and everyone is doing it, the teacher needs to stop Rocket Math for a few days. The teacher will have to go back to modeling how to practice, [where she is the student and she picks a student to be the checker] and where the students have to show how the checker should make corrections, as was done in the beginning of the year. But now, with every student who is being her checker she should say the problems too fast to understand, and then teach the checker to say, “I’m sorry I can’t understand you. Go back and speak clearly so I can hear what you are saying.”

Hope this helps.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *