{"id":40134,"date":"2020-02-15T09:29:20","date_gmt":"2020-02-15T17:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rocketmath.com\/?p=40134"},"modified":"2020-02-25T09:51:26","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T17:51:26","slug":"math-benchmarks-writing-speed-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocketmath.com\/stagingserver\/math-benchmarks-writing-speed-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Math Fact Benchmarks: Why Writing Speed Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Math drills are used to help students learn their basic single-digit math facts. The goal is to help students answer basic math facts from recall and develop automaticity. The only way to tell if a student is recalling the answer rather than figuring it out is by using timed math drills as benchmarks. But students cannot learn how to recall a full page of math facts by drilling on them. The drills will likely cause anxiety and frustration for students. Here are some common pitfalls that are wise to avoid when teaching students basic single-digit facts.<\/span> \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Common Problems With Math Benchmarks\u00a0<\/h2>\r\n

Schools typically set “benchmarks” to evaluate whether students have achieved their educational goals.\u00a0 When it comes to math fact memorization, schools will set benchmarks to distinguish between knowing the answers by a quick recall from the slow process of figuring out the facts. There are two main problems with these benchmarks.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Learned one at a time.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

The first problem is that math facts are learned individually and students meet the benchmark one problem at a time. The benchmark should be to answer a problem in less than a second. If they can, then it would be clear which math facts a student has memorized and which ones they don\u2019t. It is more common for schools to give tests on all the facts in an operation and these tests can\u2019t tell the schools which facts are memorized. <\/span>A more meaningful report would be which facts in an operation can a student answer instantly.<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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Time to write the answer.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

The second main problem is that no matter how well students know facts, they cannot write answers to facts any faster than they can write. Elementary students vary in speed and can write answers anywhere from 10 answers in a minute to 50 in a minute. If a student can answer 40 problems in a minute, they have achieved mastery of math facts. But if they can\u2019t write answers that quickly, they can not meet their school\u2019s benchmark. In order to set a reasonable standard, teachers need to know how fast students can write and a writing speed test will help determine this.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Common Core Math Fact Fluency Need Not Cause Anguish<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

The Common Core Idea says that students must have a quick recall of math facts to progress successfully in math. For some reason, almost all children have memorized 2+2=4 and can answer this problem from recall. It is not stressful or hard and will not cause math phobia. So, we know that learning how to answer a math problem instantly from recall is doable and can be done without being stressful. The challenge is that there are a lot of facts to learn, but taken a few at a time, they can all be learned equally easily.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To do this though, it takes a systematic effort, daily practice, and careful monitoring. Teachers need a facts program of some kind to help their students commit a large number of facts to memory. Before developing the design principles behind Rocket Math, I had thought this was a nearly impossible task. But in the last 20 years, I have seen how Rocket Math has been used successfully to teach math facts to students. With plenty of time, patience, and encouragement, students can learn to recall math facts from memory and with Rocket Math they can do this while having fun.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rocket Math Writing Speed Test<\/h2>\r\n
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\u00a0The writing speed test for Rocket Math<\/span><\/p><\/div>\r\n

Here is a simple easy-to-use <\/span>Writing Speed Test<\/span><\/a> to help figure out how fast a student is able to answer when they have all the facts in an operation memorized. The test is a mix of one and two-digit numbers so it works with addition and multiplication.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Simply give the test to your students and have them write the numbers they see in each box for one minute. You will be able to find out how many boxes they can complete in one minute. That number is the upper limit of math fact problems you can expect them to be able to answer–if they are answering from recall rather than by figuring them out. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Writing speed is number of boxes completed.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\r\n

When the student has finished the test, you will have the number of boxes they can complete in a minute. You can expect the student to be able to finish at least 80% of that number if they can recall the facts instantly.\u00a0 If the student can answer 90%, they don’t need any fact work. If they are between 80 and 90% of that number, they are good, but more facts work would help them. Anything below 80% and they are having to stop to figure out some of the facts and need more work.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>If you’re not interested in doing the math over and over, here is a<\/span> goal sheet for pre-tests<\/span><\/a>, where the numbers are worked out for you. You can print it from this link.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Benchmarks must be based on writing speed.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\r\n

Benchmarks that don’t take into account the speed at which children can write, leave a lot of children with an impossible expectation. Asking children to do something they are physically incapable of doing will cause a lot of unnecessary anguish.\u00a0 <\/span> \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

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Kindergarten Math Benchmarks<\/h2>\r\n

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Students should be taught how to write numerals correctly and efficiently in kindergarten. The methods of drawing numerals that children invent on their own can be slow, cumbersome, and inefficient – causing them to have a slow writing speed later. <\/span>Rocket Math Writing for Numerals<\/span><\/a> is a systematic method that will help students learn how to form their numerals. Benchmarks for kindergarteners should focus on the speed of writing numerals, which takes a good amount of practice and instruction.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Kindergarten Numeral Writing Fluency Benchmarks (digits)<\/strong><\/p>\r\n