Mental math strategies and shortcuts will lead to students mastering math facts.
Mental exercises in math always follows the Daily Math Review and is used for daily oral math.
Mentally solving math problems is also a part of elementary problem solving exercises when using daily calendar math activities.
When teaching children mathematics, daily oral math must be incorporated. Teaching mental math strategies makes talking about mathematical thinking a priority.
This is Part 2 of "Math Lesson Plans: Elementary Daily Math Review." If you have not read that page first, click here, then come back to this page.
Why Do Mental Maths?
1. It gives students practice with basic number facts and combining operations, which leads to mastering math facts.
3. Patterns that exist within the number system are explored and will deepen conceptual understanding.
These types of problems should follow a theme that allows students to begin to discover and analyze patterns. Our brains register patterns - the right side looks for patterns, rhythms and the "big picture."
Pattern recognition skills is something we use all the time, even if you don't realize it. However, it is a skill that many students need to develop and exercise to improve it. In addition, doing mental math, as long as it is focused on patterns, could also enhance reading skills!
How? Because reading is pattern recognition. Small letter patterns, to CVC combinations, to larger patterns within a text…strategic skills are necessary to decode words as well as make meaning from a text.
When students use math shortcuts and strategies, they are making meaning with patterns.
Immediately after reviewing the Daily Math Practice & Review Questions, I dictate a series of numbers and operations. This is our daily oral math.
I go slow enough for all students to be able to process each step. The students write their answers in their math journals, I repeat the question, and then we check the answer.
That's it. It's so easy to implement and it reaps huge benefits for your students. However…there is a lot of thought and preparation that should go into this instruction.
When we do mental maths with our students, we need to teach them some tips and tricks to be able to manipulate numbers in their heads. Do not assume your students will be able to use mental math shortcuts without your direct instruction.
One way to directly teach this it to show students how to think about numbers as blocks.
It is also beneficial to train students to focus on finding number families. For example, write a number on the board that shows a number family, such as 6. You say "2" and the students respond with "4", the number necessary to complete the sequence.
You can also use this technique in going up to 10 (our base number system). You say "2" and the students respond with "8".
What you are doing is providing the foundation for learning the patterns that makes mathematics in base ten a manageable system to mentally work with.
Want to see math strategies that show how looking for patterns and at the bigger picture can help students add large numbers without needing to use pencil and paper?
Becoming skillful in mentally computing math problems is essential to mastering math facts. Try implementing it in your math lessons today!
Download this free resource about Mental Arithmetic by Brigitte Mach Erbe from Roosevelt University. Just click on the icon below.
