If your Rocket Math subscription has expired

Posted on by Dr. Don
What if your subscription to the Rocket Math “filing cabinet on the web” has expired?

If you are still using Rocket Math, please consider renewing your subscription now.  

 

I think subscriptions that renew automatically, even when you aren’t using them, are a rip-off, so we don’t use them.  With Rocket Math you will need to take action to renew your subscription.

If you can’t log-in to the page shown below, here is how to reset your password. 

How to Renew your subscription–in 2 steps.

1.  Click into the Subscription Manager page.

Once you are logged into your account you’ll see the blue header and in the center (outlined in yellow in the picture) you’ll see “Subscription Manager.”  Clicking on that will take you to your account page.

2.  Click on the Renew Subscription button. 

Your account page will look like this. The top bar has tabs including one to Renew Subscription.  Click on that and you can choose which type of  subscription you would like (Basic or Universal) and what size (individual, 3 teachers, 6 teachers or Whole School) and then choose your method of payment (credit card, PayPal, or Purchase Order).

 

 Thank you for your support.

Dr. Don

Rocket Math: Because going fast is more fun.

 

Learning subtraction computation–easily and confidently

Posted on by Dr. Don

In 18 easy-to-manage steps!

Rocket Math Universal Subscription now includes Subtraction–Learning Computation.

After becoming fluent with subtraction facts the best way for students to retain the knowledge of those facts is by doing subtraction computation.  If students have not been taught subtraction computation, Subtraction–Learning Computation breaks it down into 18 small, easy-to-learn steps that are numbered in a teaching sequence that leaves nothing to chance.  Even better the instructional materials include an assessment of all the skills in subtraction computation in order, so you can test the knowledge of the student(s) before beginning instruction to see where to start. You can use this assessment to find very specific “holes” in student skills and then have the exact problems and explanation to fill that hole.

Note that the number for each skill gives the grade level as well as indicating the teaching sequence.  Skill 3b is a 3rd grade skill and after skill 3g is learned the next in the sequence, skill 4a is best taught in fourth grade.  Minor changes have been made, but for the most part, the sequence of skills is drawn from M. Stein, D. Kinder, J. Silbert, and D. W. Carnine, (2006) Designing Effective Mathematics Instruction: A Direct Instruction Approach (4th Edition) Pearson Education: Columbus, OH.

(1b) Subtract from 2 digits; no renaming.

(2a) Subtract from 2digits; renaming required.

(2b) Subtract from 3 digits; borrow from 10s.

(3a) Subtract from 3 digits; borrow from 100s.

(3b) Subtract from 3 digits; borrow either place.

(3c) Subtract tens minus one facts.

(3d) Subtract from 3 digits; zero in 10s; borrow 10s or 100s.

(3e) Read and write thousands numbers, use commas.

(3f) Subtract from 4 digits; borrow from 1000s.

(3g) Subtract from 4 digits; borrow once or more.

(4a) Subtract from 4 digits; zero in 10s or 100s column

(4b) Subtract from 4 digits; zero in 10s column, 1 in 100s.

(4c) Subtract hundreds minus one facts.

(4d) Subtract from 4 digits; zero in 10s and 100s column.

(4e) Subtract 1, 2, or 3 digits from 1,000.

(4f) Subtract 5 and 6 digits with borrowing.

(5a) Subtract thousands minus one facts.

(5b) Subtract from a number with four zeroes.

For each skill there is a suggested Teaching Script giving the teacher/tutor/parent consistent (across all the skills we use the same explanation) language of instruction on how to do the skill.  My favorite part is the rule students are taught for when to borrow (often confusing for students): Bigger bottom borrows.  Simple, easy-to-remember and consistently correct.  The script helps walk the student through the computation process.  For the teacher, in addition to the script, there are answer keys for the five worksheets provided for each skill.

Each worksheet is composed of two parts.  The top has examples of the skill being learned that can be worked by following the script.  After working through those examples with the teacher the student is then asked to work some review problems of addition problems that are already known.  The student is asked to do as many as possible in 3 minutes—a kind of sprint.  If all is well the student should be able to do all the problems or nearly all of them, but finishing is not required.  Three minutes of review is sufficient for one day.

There are five worksheets for each skill.  Gradually as the student learns the skill the teacher/tutor/parent can provide progressively less help and the student should be able to do the problems without any guidance by the end of the five worksheets.  There are suggestions for how to give less help in the teaching scripts.

Learning multiplication computation–NEW program in Rocket Math

Posted on by Dr. Don

After becoming fluent with multiplication facts the best way for students to retain the knowledge of those facts is by doing multiplication computation.  If students have not been taught multiplication computation, this program breaks it down into small, easy-to-learn steps that are numbered in a teaching sequence that leaves nothing to chance.  Even better the instructional materials include an assessment of all the skills in multiplication computation in order, so you can test the knowledge of the student(s) before beginning instruction to see where to start.

Note that the number for each skill gives the grade level as well as indicating the teaching sequence.  Skill 3b is a 3rd grade skill and after skill 3e is learned the next in the sequence is skill 4a.  The sequence of skills is drawn from M. Stein, D. Kinder, J. Silbert, and D. W. Carnine, (2006) Designing Effective Mathematics Instruction: A Direct Instruction Approach (4th Edition) Pearson Education: Columbus, OH.

 

 

(3b) Multiplying 1-digit times 2-digit; no renaming

(3c) Multiplying 1-digit times 2-digit; carrying

(3d) Multiplying 1-digit times 2-digit, written horizontally.

(3e) Reading and writing thousands numbers, using commas.

(4a) Multiplying 1-digit times 3-digit

(4b) Multiplying 1-digit times 3-digit; zero in tens column

(4c) Multiplying 1 digit times 3 digit, written horizontally

(4d) Multiplying 2-digits times 2-digits.

(4e) Multiplying 2-digits times 3-digits.

(5a) Multiplying 3-digits times 3-digits.

(5b) Multiplying 3-digits times 3-digits; zero in tens column of multiplier.

For each skill there is a suggested Teaching Script giving the teacher/tutor/parent consistent (across all the skills we use the same explanation) language of instruction on how to do the skill.  The script helps walk the student through the computation process.  For the teacher, in addition to the script, there are answer keys for the five worksheets provided for each skill.

Each worksheet is composed of two parts.  The top has examples of the skill being learned that can be worked by following the script.  After working through those examples with the teacher the student is then asked to work some review problems of addition problems that are already known.  The student is asked to do as many as possible in 3 minutes—a kind of sprint.  If all is well the student should be able to do all the problems or nearly all of them, but finishing is not required.  Three minutes of review is sufficient for one day.

There are five worksheets for each skill.  Gradually as the student learns the skill the teacher/tutor/parent can provide progressively less help and the student should be able to do the problems without any guidance by the end of the five worksheets.  There are suggestions for how to give less help in the teaching scripts.

You have to require your students to model

Posted on by Dr. Don

Have them model the correction procedure rather than the latest fashions.

You can’t just tell your students the three steps of the Rocket Math correction procedure.  That’s not enough to be sure they know it.  The best way to determine if the students know the procedure is to require them to model it.

Do this, not just when you start Rocket Math, but any time you see that students are NOT doing the correction procedure the right way.  If they start to slip or zone out, the best thing to do is stop them from doing Rocket Math and spend a few days requiring them to model how to correct your errors, one at a time, while everyone listens.   Do it for ten minutes each day (during Rocket Math time) for several days–at least until you have had every student get a chance to “be your checker.”

Require them to model the correction procedures while you role play being a student making errors.

You have to role play being a student and you have to make the ALL the errors which they have to learn how to correct.  You have the worksheet and your students have the answer key in front of them.  Choose one at a time to be your “checker.”

First, ask that student WHEN should they should correct you.  They should say (in any order),

When you make an error. 

When you hesitate. 

When you say the problem wrong. 

When you don’t say the whole problem and the answer. 

Second, ask that student HOW they should correct you.  They should say (in order)

1.  Stop. Interrupt the student and say the correct problem and the answer.

2. Repeat.  Have the student repeat the correct problem and answer three times. 

3. Back up.  Have the student back up three problems and begin again.  

Third, begin practicing as if you were a student and then make errors.  Then require the student you’ve selected to be your checker to model the three-step correction procedure.   They should interrupt you and say the whole problem and the answer, ask you to say it three times, and then after you’ve repeated it three times, they should tell you to back up three problems and begin again.  You’ll end up counting together and coming to agreement about where to start and then beginning again.  But remember, they have to know not just HOW to correct, but also WHEN to correct.

Fourth, be sure to make all four kinds of errors to see if your “checker” recognizes all of them.  Try reading just the answers and see if your checker follows the correction procedure.  Definitely do a two second hesitation and if they don’t jump in to correct you, prompt them to do so.  Read the problem wrong as well as say the wrong answer.  Prompt the correction procedure if the student doesn’t do it the right way or at the right time.  If you have to prompt a student then they aren’t ready yet.  Keep going around the class, calling on each of your students to be your checker, and make sure they do it correctly and prompt them if they don’t.  Go back and call on any students who needed prompting and see if they can do it without prompting now. Keep making them model the correction procedure until everyone can do it the right way WITHOUT PROMPTING.

**The correction poster (pictured above) is available in the Rocket Math store under Organization and Training materials.  Item #2014 Corrections poster $18 

“Knowing” means never having to figure it out

Posted on by Dr. Don

Most people, for example, know their name, by memory.

In a previous blog I discussed  What does CCSS mean by “know from memory?”    

A reader asked the following question:

This topic of “know from memory” is something I have been digging into as a special educator. I wonder what your thoughts are about whether certain accommodations from these “know from memory” standards would actually be modifying the curriculum?

For example, if we used “extra time to respond” and the student had to use their fingers or some other method to count, would they then not be doing the standard?

This relates to where I’m at in middle school math, but I think that it’s reflected in the continuum of the common core maths.

Thanks.

Dr. Don’s response: 

Actually, your example is very clear that it is not “knowing from memory.” You are describing “deriving from a strategy” or what I call, “figuring it out.” When you know it from memory, when you recall the answer, then you stop having to “figure it out.”

Knowing from memory and figuring something out are two very different things. I used to ask workshop participants to imagine sitting next to me in a bar and asking me for my name. What if, instead of saying, “Hi, my name is Don,” something different happened?  What if, like the man pictured above, I was puzzled and said, “Wait a second, I have it here on my driver’s license.” Most people would likely turn their attention elsewhere while wondering what kind of traumatic brain injury I had sustained! They would very likely say to themselves, “OMG, that man doesn’t know his own name.”

The purpose of the verbal rehearsal that is a daily part of Rocket Math is to cement these basic facts in memory. Then when a student says to themselves, “8 times 7 is,” the answer pops into their mind with no effort. It takes quite a bit of practice to achieve that. However, the ability to instantly recall the answers to basic math facts makes doing mathematical computation a relative breeze. It make seeing relationships among numbers very obvious. It makes reducing fractions and finding common denominators easy. That’s why the Common Core thinks “knowing from memory” is so worthwhile. It’s why I began promoting Rocket Math in the first place.

Do you know the active ingredient in Rocket Math?

Posted on by Dr. Don

Timed tests are not the important part of Rocket Math.

The “active ingredient” in the Rocket Math prescription, the thing that makes it work, is not timed tests.  Timed tests don’t actually teach and often don’t really help students develop fluency.  The usual timed tests of a random selection of all the facts can assess fluency in math–but they don’t work to develop it!

The “active ingredient,” the thing that makes Rocket Math effective, is verbal rehearsal.  When students practice with their partner the students read the facts and RECALL the answers from memory and say them aloud.  That verbal rehearsal is what cements them into memory.  Reading the fact and recalling the answer from memory strengthens the neural connection.

Why do we give the daily tests in Rocket Math?  Not to teach, but only to assess whether the facts introduced thus far have been learned well enough for the student to have new facts added to what they are learning.  Individual students learn at different rates.  Some students need only a couple of days of practice to memorize two new facts while others may need several days.  The purpose of the daily tests is just to see if the student needs more practice time, or is ready to “swallow” some more facts.

As I note in my basic training presentation, “It’s like feeding mush to a baby.  You have to make sure they have swallowed the last mouthful before you give them more.”   See an explanation in this You Tube video in our Rocket Math channel: https://youtu.be/J8cWSDG0Di8

two students practicing rocket math facts with a quote "8 times 7 is 56"

Keeping track of progress in Rocket Math

Posted on by Dr. Don

Which students are progressing as fast as they should be in Rocket Math?

And how fast should they be progressing, anyway?

Over the years of helping teachers and schools implement Rocket Math I have learned that a complete laissez-faire attitude about student progress can mean that some students get stuck for weeks on the same sheet.  Needless to say, students who get stuck, come to hate Rocket Math.  When this happens, those students don’t get through all the operations they should learn.  So we need to intervene, and give them more help.  It turns out that some students need more practice, sometimes two or three times more practice, to learn the facts than their peers.  To get such students through one operation a year means they have to have extra practice sessions scheduled in each day.  Here’s a link to a blog about how to provide extra help.

But which students need extra practice sessions?   Under Resources/Educator Resources I’ve created two versions of a tool that can help.

Whole Class Excel Rocket Math (2 operations in a year) Aimline.  This is pictured to the right.  It is needed for 2nd grade and 4th grade and up when students need to finish one operation and do a second one in a year.  The expectations needed to pass two operations in one year are basically that students should pass two sets each week.  If they have studied some the year before, they will be able to pass sets in the first operation at a quick pace.  For example if they have done much of Rocket Math Addition in first grade, in second grade they should be able to pass those addition sets again in a day or two.  That will put them ahead of the expectations and they should have a plus by their name most of the year.  Conversely, if they are not able to pass sets quickly, (see the students highlighted in yellow) they will get a minus by their name and should start getting extra sessions scheduled daily.

How does the Excel Aimline work?

Please note: The pictured EXAMPLE Rocket Math Excel Aimline is available from the link or in the Resources/Educator Resources page for you to download. 

Take the blank template and save it for next year.  Then fill out one for this year.  Look at a calendar and on row 4 enter the month and on row 5 enter the starting day of each week in the school year.  so each column numbered 1 through 36 will correspond to a week in your school year.  In row 7 you see the green expected set to be passed by the end of that week.  At the end of week 1 we expect that students will have at least passed Set A.   By the end of week 2 they should have passed Set C to be on pace to finish two operations in a year.

Entering student names.  Starting in row 10 you enter the student names in column B.  This class only has ten students, but I’m guessing yours probably has more!   Cool thing about excel is you only have to enter those names once.  And if you’re really good you can freeze that column so you can easily see it later in the year.

Entering weekly information.  Each week grab all the student folders and for each student enter the highest set they have passed.  You can see that from the Rocket Chart on the outside of the folder, so you don’t even have to open the folders.  If the letter they have passed is equal or higher than the green set expected at the top of the column for that week, then put a plus by the letter they have passed.

Look at Alvin Ailey at the top of my class list.  Week 1 he had passed both Set A and B, so I wrote “B” in his square.  I put a plus because it is exceeds the expected level for the first week.  By the second week he had also passed Sets C and D.  Only up to “C” is expected,  so I wrote “D” and also gave him a plus.  Alvin is rocking it!

Look at Cindy Crawford a little further down the class list.  Week 1 she had passed Set A, so I wrote an “A” in her she got a plus because she met the expectation.  But by week 2 she had only passed Set B, when C is expected to be passed, so I wrote “B” in her square, with a minus indicating she is below expectation.  Now I highlighted her square yellow, but that’s kind of advanced so you don’t really have to do that.  Only Excel experts can do that, although it really makes it easy to pick out who needs help.  We can see that Cindy continues to make slow progress and continues to get minuses.  She needs to have extra practice sessions scheduled to finish two operations this year.  That pace is fine for one operation per year, but not two.

Look down at Gary Grummond.  He didn’t pass even Set A by the end of the first week so I wrote “np” in the first square.  He continues to make progress the next few weeks, but not fast enough to complete two operations in a year.

Row 8 Fraction of students meeting expectation.    After entering all the students for the week you can see how you are doing overall in your class.  Make a fraction with the numerator being the number of students who are meeting the expectation over the denominator of the number of students in the class.  You want a high fraction nearer to 1.

If that fraction falls below 70%, meaning more than 30% of your class is not on track, then you should institute a class-wide intervention.  Either add an extra practice session each day, or see if there is room to improve the quality of practice.  See these blogs and posts about how to monitor for the quality of practice.

Whole Class Excel Rocket Math (1 operatipon per year) Aimline.   In grades 1 and 3 where students are expected only to complete one operation in a year, you can use this Excel Aimline.  The expectations needed to pass one operations in a year are basically that students should pass one set each week.   Everything else about how you use the excel form is the same.  Note that if you want students to do two operations in the year (for example both subtraction and multiplication in 3rd grade) then you would use the two operation aimline.

 

Looking for free math worksheets?

Posted on by Dr. Don

Do you want your students to learn OR are you just keeping them busy?

It’s OK if you need busywork.  

It’s critical to keep some of your students occupied in order for you to have the peace and quiet you need to teach other students.  Those free math worksheets of random facts are fine for busywork, provided students already know the facts.

Get a 60 day trial for only $13

Sign Up Now!

BUT

(and this is a big but) if you want students to actually learn facts, you need math worksheets that are more systematic than the usual fact practice worksheets.  A random mix of problems (on those free math worksheets) is fine for practicing what you already know, but it is USELESS for learning new facts.

Students who don’t know their facts are left painfully counting on their fingers to do their “work.” This just wastes their time and makes them come to HATE math.

I know, because I made my students do it for years. 🙁

 I discovered that with systematic practice students can actually learn math facts!

In order to learn new facts students must concentrate on a few they don’t know and practice those particular facts until they know them “by memory” without having to figure them out.  After students have learned those they can then tackle a few more.  That’s the only way to learn a bunch of facts.  That’s what Rocket Math does. Watch this video to see it in action.

 Rocket Math worksheets are not free, but they will actually teach. rocket math worksheets

Each sheet (A-Z) adds two new facts and their reverses, making the process of learning them painless.  By the time students have worked their way through the A-Z worksheets of an operation they know the facts “by heart” or as the Common Core calls it “by memory.”

If LEARNING is your goal, you’ll need something more effective than the free math worksheets.

 

 

 

Rocket Math has a MONEY-BACK guarantee.

If you spend the $13 to get a trial subscription and you decide Rocket Math doesn’t work or you don’t want to use the program, we’ll gladly refund your money.

 

 

Plus

Students have more fun and learn better when they are practicing orally, with a partner so they can get corrections and extra teaching on any facts they don’t know well.  That is part of how Rocket Math works.  So it won’t just be busywork.  Your students will actually learn the facts and be proud of it.

 

Can I upgrade from a Basic to a Universal subscription?

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A teacher asks:

Can I upgrade from basic to universal? Will I just pay the difference?

Dr. Don answers:

Yes, indeed. If you login to your account you can see a link to upgrade (pictured above).   Yes you will pay the difference between your current subscription and the upgrade. Good decision to upgrade!  Once you upgrade you will be able to get into the drawers of the Universal subscription.  All of these are included:

  • Rocket Writing for Numerals,
  • Add to 20,
  • Fact families (+, -) 1-10s,
  • Subtract from 20,
  • Skip Counting,
  • 10s, 11s and 12s (Multiplication and Division),
  • Equivalent fractions,
  • Factors,
  • Integers (adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers, etc.

I also have completed and added to the Universal Subscription programs to teach computation.  The instruction proceeds in small steps from the beginning skills in an operation up through the highest levels. Each skill taught has a suggested teaching script to make it easy for tutoring.  So far Addition and Multiplication are done.  Each one has a placement test, so you can see where to begin.  Subtraction and Division are yet to be completed.

 

Are you off to a good start with Rocket Math?

Posted on by Dr. Don

By now you’ve got Rocket Math up and running in your class.  If you’re hard-working, dedicated and smart you have read the instructions thoroughly.  If you need motivation to do so (I know it’s a lot to read through), check out this blog: Without the directions you may get lost!   So that’s the first thing to know.

If you want to quiz yourself (or your staff) Dr. Don has created a 20 question quiz you can take.  Where, how, and why you might want to do so, is explained in this blog that asks, “Do you know how to make Rocket Math enjoyable?”

Most importantly, you should be walking around during Rocket Math practice listening to your students to be sure they are correcting errors and hesitations the way they should–like every single time!  How important it is for you to be carefully monitoring practice cannot be stressed enough.   It’s not life or death, but it is learning or pretending, so you have to be certain that practice is going as it should.    If you need convincing please read this blog:  Monitor, monitor, monitor!

You can structure your self-evaluation, or get someone else to observe and help you evaluate yourself with the 100 point Observation form.  If you want to know, “How well do I implement Rocket Math?” this is the tool for you.  Click on the link here to get to the blog that will explain it as well as links to the form itself.

Finally, if monitoring or observations reveal that your students are NOT practicing as they should, what should you do about it.  Here is an FAQ on the topic, “How do I get my students to practice math facts the right way?”   And below is a video where Dr. Don shows what you must do to each students how to practice the right way.  Sorry, there’s no exciting gun play or car chases, but this is important to see.  If your students are not correcting the right way, this is what you have to do, so it’s valuable.