Fact fluency levels for 1st and 2nd grade

[Anonymous]

I must be looking in the wrong place on the MCPS website but I can't seem to locate the goals at each elementary grade level for math fact fluency. Anyone able to share? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

There are no goals for that that I am aware of.

More important to be able to draw pictures to show deeper understanding than be able to recite facts.

[Anonymous]

Facts are something the children pick up with strategies as they do other lessons. They don't do fact drills anymore. In first and second in our school, kids get an xtramath account and do drills at home. I set one up for my kindergartner (she was interested because her older brother was doing it) and she is picking up the facts slowly and likes to see her "squares turn green". She can't type the number fast enough though (you need to beat the timer) so she likes when I type and she shouts out the number.

They expect addition and subtraction in 1st and 2nd and then learn multiplication and division in 3rd and 4th. If you expect your child to be in compacted in 4/5, then I would suggest speeding that along.

So they teach facts by learning strategies to do the problems. They don't do drills or tests in class that I remember so you may want to do this at home.

[Anonymous]

My child's school was doing facts tests last year, at least through third grade. So it might not be an MCPS-wide policy, but there are certainly schools/classes that do it.

OP, if I were you, I would ask your child's teacher what kind of fluency the teacher would like to see at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are no goals for that that I am aware of.

More important to be able to draw pictures to show deeper understanding than be able to recite facts.

Well, yes, actually, it is, in first or second grade. If you had to choose one or the other, which would you prefer a second-grader to be able to do?

1. Memorize "five times four equals twenty"
2. Be able to show that 5 x 4 = 20 using a five-by-four array of dots, and/or explaining that 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 (i.e., five 4s) is 20, and/or explaining that 4 x 5 = 20 so 5 x 4 = 20, and/or explaining that 5 x 2 = 10 so (5 x 2) x 2 = 20, and/or explaining that 4 x 4 is 16 so add one more 4 to make 20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are no goals for that that I am aware of.

More important to be able to draw pictures to show deeper understanding than be able to recite facts.

Well, yes, actually, it is, in first or second grade. If you had to choose one or the other, which would you prefer a second-grader to be able to do?

1. Memorize "five times four equals twenty"
2. Be able to show that 5 x 4 = 20 using a five-by-four array of dots, and/or explaining that 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 (i.e., five 4s) is 20, and/or explaining that 4 x 5 = 20 so 5 x 4 = 20, and/or explaining that 5 x 2 = 10 so (5 x 2) x 2 = 20, and/or explaining that 4 x 4 is 16 so add one more 4 to make 20.

Past 2nd grade, it's time to memorize the facts. You'll mostly likely need to do this at home b/c in my experience, schools don't want to "waste" time on low level learning like memorization. God help all of those kids whose parents don't do this at home. They'll still be skip counting and drawing pictures in 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Past 2nd grade, it's time to memorize the facts. You'll mostly likely need to do this at home b/c in my experience, schools don't want to "waste" time on low level learning like memorization. God help all of those kids whose parents don't do this at home. They'll still be skip counting and drawing pictures in 5th grade.

But OP is specifically asking about first and second grades.

As for kids still skip counting and drawing pictures in fifth grade -- that's an empirical question. Are kids actually doing that? If so, how many? And has the proportion increased, decreased, or stayed the same since the introduction of Curriculum 2.0?

My anecdotal experience with two kids in first and second grades at the same ES, one pre-2.0 and one with 2.0: Pre-2.0, there was no math facts practice in class; the school told the parents that it was the parents' responsibility to practice math facts with their kids at home. With 2.0, the kids did lots of math facts practice in class.

[Anonymous]

About the best you can do to understand what MCPS does is go through the curriculum summaries by grade found here but be warned it's pretty vague:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/guides.aspx
Each grade is broken down by marking period and then subject, so scan through the math goals.

Or you can look at the actual standards and second grade includes:

Add and subtract within 20.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.B.2
Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies.2 By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.

Multiplication facts are third grade:

Multiply and divide within 100.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.C.7
Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division (e.g., knowing that 8 × 5 = 40, one knows 40 ÷ 5 = 8) or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

From the MCPS brochures fact fluency isn't emphasized but from my recollection multiplication facts were drilled in second grade at least the first year of rollout when my DC was in 2nd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About the best you can do to understand what MCPS does is go through the curriculum summaries by grade found here but be warned it's pretty vague:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/guides.aspx
Each grade is broken down by marking period and then subject, so scan through the math goals.

Or you can look at the actual standards and second grade includes:

Add and subtract within 20.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.B.2
Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies.2 By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.

Multiplication facts are third grade:

Multiply and divide within 100.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.C.7
Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division (e.g., knowing that 8 × 5 = 40, one knows 40 ÷ 5 = 8) or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

From the MCPS brochures fact fluency isn't emphasized but from my recollection multiplication facts were drilled in second grade at least the first year of rollout when my DC was in 2nd.

Thank you!!!!!!!

I am so sick of people spouting off the idea that common core doesn't expect mastery of math facts and fluency/memorization.
Common core expects fluency with addition facts through 10 by the end of first grade and addition/subtraction through 20 by the end of second grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About the best you can do to understand what MCPS does is go through the curriculum summaries by grade found here but be warned it's pretty vague:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/guides.aspx
Each grade is broken down by marking period and then subject, so scan through the math goals.

Or you can look at the actual standards and second grade includes:

Add and subtract within 20.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.B.2
Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies.2 By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.

Multiplication facts are third grade:

Multiply and divide within 100.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.C.7
Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division (e.g., knowing that 8 × 5 = 40, one knows 40 ÷ 5 = 8) or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

From the MCPS brochures fact fluency isn't emphasized but from my recollection multiplication facts were drilled in second grade at least the first year of rollout when my DC was in 2nd.

Thank you!!!!!!!

I am so sick of people spouting off the idea that common core doesn't expect mastery of math facts and fluency/memorization.
Common core expects fluency with addition facts through 10 by the end of first grade and addition/subtraction through 20 by the end of second grade.

But that is so SLOW and is not helping the advance or even the kids at grade level at all. My child is in 1st and learned 2+2, 5+5, etc... in preschool. I think it is ridiculous they are having these tests twice a week in 1st grade. It is 3rd quarter and they are working on sums up to 7 right now. So many of the kids are so bored. It takes them 30 seconds to do a 3 minute test and then they all draw on the back of the paper.

My oldest is now 14 and she learned facts up to 10 in K at the same school. By 1st grade she was moved to 2nd grade math because before common core, they actually tracked for math starting in 1st grade. She is now in Pre-Cal as a freshman. I have no idea how my youngest can even achieve the same thing at this point. We do so much at home but there is zero enrichment in school these days. They teach everyone to the lowest level so they can get better standardized test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About the best you can do to understand what MCPS does is go through the curriculum summaries by grade found here but be warned it's pretty vague:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/guides.aspx
Each grade is broken down by marking period and then subject, so scan through the math goals.

Or you can look at the actual standards and second grade includes:

Add and subtract within 20.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.B.2
Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies.2 By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.

Multiplication facts are third grade:

Multiply and divide within 100.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.C.7
Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division (e.g., knowing that 8 × 5 = 40, one knows 40 ÷ 5 = 8) or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

From the MCPS brochures fact fluency isn't emphasized but from my recollection multiplication facts were drilled in second grade at least the first year of rollout when my DC was in 2nd.

Thank you!!!!!!!

I am so sick of people spouting off the idea that common core doesn't expect mastery of math facts and fluency/memorization.
Common core expects fluency with addition facts through 10 by the end of first grade and addition/subtraction through 20 by the end of second grade.

You're welcome. But do note, the mix of responses you're getting from parents who have no idea this should be part of the MCPS curriculum and also the MCPS curriculum guides that manage to completely down play that memorizing facts is still part of learning math. There is a lot going wrong with 2.0 that goes beyond parents misrepresenting things. I won't go off on my own perspective except to say the only reason I've been looking at the MCPS curriculum guides and the actual standards is because my kids have both hit the wall in math and I'm trying to figure out what needs to be fixed. My kids are out of elementary now and didn't have 2.0 the whole time. But that is the other common misunderstanding, a lot that is wrong with MCPS 2.0 was actually already wrong in the previous MCPS curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About the best you can do to understand what MCPS does is go through the curriculum summaries by grade found here but be warned it's pretty vague:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/guides.aspx
Each grade is broken down by marking period and then subject, so scan through the math goals.

Or you can look at the actual standards and second grade includes:

Add and subtract within 20.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.B.2
Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies.2 By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.

Multiplication facts are third grade:

Multiply and divide within 100.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.C.7
Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division (e.g., knowing that 8 × 5 = 40, one knows 40 ÷ 5 = 8) or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

From the MCPS brochures fact fluency isn't emphasized but from my recollection multiplication facts were drilled in second grade at least the first year of rollout when my DC was in 2nd.

Thank you!!!!!!!

I am so sick of people spouting off the idea that common core doesn't expect mastery of math facts and fluency/memorization.
Common core expects fluency with addition facts through 10 by the end of first grade and addition/subtraction through 20 by the end of second grade.

Way to challenge our second graders!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But that is so SLOW and is not helping the advance or even the kids at grade level at all. My child is in 1st and learned 2+2, 5+5, etc... in preschool. I think it is ridiculous they are having these tests twice a week in 1st grade. It is 3rd quarter and they are working on sums up to 7 right now. So many of the kids are so bored. It takes them 30 seconds to do a 3 minute test and then they all draw on the back of the paper.

My oldest is now 14 and she learned facts up to 10 in K at the same school. By 1st grade she was moved to 2nd grade math because before common core, they actually tracked for math starting in 1st grade. She is now in Pre-Cal as a freshman. I have no idea how my youngest can even achieve the same thing at this point. We do so much at home but there is zero enrichment in school these days. They teach everyone to the lowest level so they can get better standardized test scores.

Here is what they are supposed to be working on, according to the curriculum guide:

Measurement and Data: Direct comparison—ordering objects by length; length—nonstandard units.

Number and Operations in Base Ten: Addition—1-digit to 2-digit numbers (concrete models and drawings); addition— 2-digit numbers to 2-digit multiples of 10 (concrete models and drawings); subtraction—2-digit multiples of 10 (concrete models and drawings).

Operations and Algebraic Thinking: Relationships and properties of addition and subtraction; fact families (sums through 10); finding the unknown in an equation.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/elementary/parent-guide-curriculum2.0-grade1-en.pdf

Is your child's class working on these things? If not, you should talk to the principal and the teacher.

Or are you complaining about the boredom of completing a 3 minute math test in 30 seconds and then having to wait a whole two and a half minutes until the test is over? Or that your child is doomed to failure in math because the math facts test in first grade only includes addition facts to 7? If your child completes high school in on-grade level math, she will have completed Calculus A/B as a senior. Do you consider that "teaching to the lowest level"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Way to challenge our second graders!

What's your background in elementary-school math education? I'm asking because you seem to know what's appropriate for second-graders in math, so I assume that you do have a background and are knowledgeable both about the math abilities of second-graders in Montgomery County can do and about second-grade-age math curricula in the rest of the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About the best you can do to understand what MCPS does is go through the curriculum summaries by grade found here but be warned it's pretty vague:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/guides.aspx
Each grade is broken down by marking period and then subject, so scan through the math goals.

Or you can look at the actual standards and second grade includes:

Add and subtract within 20.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.B.2
Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies.2 By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.

Multiplication facts are third grade:

Multiply and divide within 100.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.C.7
Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division (e.g., knowing that 8 × 5 = 40, one knows 40 ÷ 5 = 8) or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

From the MCPS brochures fact fluency isn't emphasized but from my recollection multiplication facts were drilled in second grade at least the first year of rollout when my DC was in 2nd.

Thank you!!!!!!!

I am so sick of people spouting off the idea that common core doesn't expect mastery of math facts and fluency/memorization.
Common core expects fluency with addition facts through 10 by the end of first grade and addition/subtraction through 20 by the end of second grade.

Way to challenge our second graders!

I know, what a joke!