Figuring Out Fluency - Addition and Subtraction With Fractions and Decimals
A Classroom Companion
- Jennifer M. Bay-Williams - University of Louisville, KY, Kansas State University, USA, University of Missouri, USA, Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Lima, Peru)
- John J. SanGiovanni - Howard Public School System
- Sherri Martinie
- Jennifer Suh
Corwin Mathematics Series
Because fluency practice is not a worksheet.
Fluency in mathematics is more than adeptly using basic facts or implementing algorithms. It is not about speed or recall. Real fluency is about choosing strategies that are efficient, flexible, lead to accurate solutions, and are appropriate for the given situation. Developing fluency is also a matter of equity and access for all learners.
The landmark book Figuring Out Fluency in Mathematics Teaching and Learning offered educators the inspiration to develop a deeper understanding of procedural fluency, along with a plethora of pragmatic tools for shifting classrooms toward a fluency approach. Now, teachers have the chance to apply that inspiration through explicit instruction and practice every day with the classroom companion Figuring Out Fluency: Addition and Subtraction with Fractions and Decimals. With this book, teachers can:
- Dive deeper into the Significant Strategies for fluency explained in the anchor book
- Learn how these strategies grow from and relate to the basic fact strategies children learn
- Access over 100 strategy-aligned and classroom-ready activities for fluency instruction and practice in adding and subtracting fractions and decimals, including worked examples, routines, games, and centers
- Find activities for assessing all components of addition and subtraction fluency for fractions and decimals, plus support for engaging families
- Download all of the needed support tools, game boards, and other resources from the companion website for immediate implementation.
Give each and every student the knowledge and power to become skilled and confident mathematical thinkers and doers.
"Where was this book when I taught students in 4th and 5th grade? From the Preface to the References, Figuring Out Fluency—Addition and Subtraction With Fractions and Decimals: A Classroom Companion summarizes the key ideas about fluency, teaches the reader about the “must know” strategies, and gives specific games, routines, and centers to develop students’ fluency. This book is a must-have for anyone who teaches addition and subtraction of decimals and fractions!"
"This book places mathematical thinking front and center! The authors make the compelling case using myriad examples that fluency requires reasoning and relies on conceptual understanding. They provide a treasure trove of engaging activities teachers can use to help their students develop fluency with adding and subtracting fractions and decimals. If you want your students to confidently choose and flexibly use a range of strategies when working with fractions and decimals, you must read this book!"
"Some students can do magic! At least that’s what it seems like to their classmates who don’t have the “secret” strategies for calculating with fractions and decimals. Isn’t this true for adults as well? But it isn’t magic. There is no secret! All of the games and activities primary students learn to make sense of whole number computation are in this book, refashioned to develop the same number sense and skills with fractions and decimal fractions. Can your students play Make 100? Yes? Then they can also play Make a Whole. Read this book, reveal the “secret” strategies for your students, and soon you and your students will be the ones asked to make magic."
This will be a partial adoption. I don't know that I will use the whole book, but I definitely will be using the chapter on making sense of the standard algorithms as a supplement to my other text.