I am SO excited to share with you today the system I have been using for the past few years for my students to practice their math facts daily. It’s called Fast Fact Folders. It provides differentiated practice with options to track progress. My students have LOVED practicing their facts using Fast Fact Folders and have found great success.
How to get started:
- Administer one of the placement quizzes (available for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division)
- Score the quiz to identify which level to start on
What is great about this program is its flexibility. You can use it daily in class as a whole group, as a center, or independent activity, or send home to use as homework. Since students are only practicing for 1 minute, after the initial setup, modeling, and guided practice, students can use their fast fact folder on their own for quick, focused practice.
Options for Folder Setup
Each student has their own individual folder
Students will practice using a dry-erase marker on the Fast Fact page kept in a sheet protector. This is to help cut back on copies since the page can be used for practice every day for as long as you need. This program includes the flexibility to decide how long you want your student to work on that set of math facts.
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- Pros: most differentiated, private goal-setting, can be used for homework, once set up, minimal upkeep for the remainder of the year
- Cons: additional set-up initially, a class set of supplies
Partner Folders
In this setup, students share a folder with a partner. They have their individual practice sheet in the
folder along with their goal-tracking sheet. They can work together to practice–taking turns timing one another and supporting each other in filling out their tracking sheets. Or, they can practice independently and just pass the folder along to the partner when they are done.
folder along with their goal-tracking sheet. They can work together to practice–taking turns timing one another and supporting each other in filling out their tracking sheets. Or, they can practice independently and just pass the folder along to the partner when they are done.
- Pros: half the supplies, partner support, quicker to set up
- Cons: less private, takes a little longer to practice as partners
Group Folders
In this setup, students share a folder with multiple people. I used this setup last year during guided math centers. Fact fluency was its own center so during that time, students retrieved their folders from the bin to practice with a partner who was also using the same folder. This takes some careful planning in order to ensure that you don’t have more than two students in a group that shares one folder. (For example, in group A I might have 6 students. But no more than 2 of them are using the same folder.) But, it cuts way down on supplies and set-up. When they were finished with their 1-minute daily practice, they played a flashcard game for the remainder of the time.
- Pros: less supplies and set up, partner support, still differentiated with less effort
- Cons: careful planning of groups, no privacy, cannot be used for homework
Those are three of the ways you can set up Fast Fact Folders although I am sure there are even more! No matter how you set them up, it’s important to be consistent and utilize them daily. Not sure about using Fast Fact Folders in your classroom yet?
Here’s what teachers are saying about Fast Fact Folders:
“This is a great resource to send home for kiddos to practice with! I think it will also be beneficial to use during guided math also.” -Whoo’s Teaching Third
“This has been so helpful when I have needed to quickly assess my first-grade students. It has also helped with motivation!” -Flourishing in First Grade
“This resource works so wonderfully to help students with their fact fluency. It holds them accountable and helps them reach their goals!” – Lauren H.
“Fantastic! My classroom is beyond excited when we do it! I also love the fact that I can differentiate!” – Andrea Z.
These folders are available in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. You can buy them individually or as a bundle. Check them out in my TpT store here: Fast Fact Folders
If you know me, you know that playing games are my favorite way of practicing any skill. Games increase engagement and motivation. I have put together 14 different flashcard games your students can play (PLUS free printable flashcards!). Click here to download.
