Teacher Success Story

I did addition and subtraction fact tests at the beginning of the school year for my records. All of my students were completing less than 20 facts in a minute. During math time this year I have tried to have stations. One station with me, one station independent working, and one game station to play the math games on line. Each student gets to play the computer games at least twice a week. I also award points to the students if they practice the math games/facts at home.

At the end of the nine weeks we tested again. All but three of my students completed more than 20 facts in a minute. Over half of my class was completing almost 30 facts in a minute. The three that didn’t complete at least 20 facts in a minute were very close to that goal. I had asked them to spend most of their time practicing the games with the skill that they needed the most work. Most of the students were working on subtraction games. On their subtraction tests, they all had very high scores.

After learning multiplication, we started the race car game where you get to compete against other students. The students love this. It is very hard for the students not on the computers to stay away from the computers when a race is going on. Everyone tends to want to go help the racers. They get so excited. The students have also discovered the addition racing game, and they love that too.

Several of my students would rather stay inside at recess to play the games instead of going outside. We have created a bulletin board in our room that is our trophy wall. At the beginning I was hesitant to hang up the trophies, but now I’m not because I found out that they are very generic. There are no numbers on them stating their score or the number of facts that they got correct. The trophies just say the game that they have completed/mastered. The students love earning the trophies as they pass through the levels, and they are very proud of them.

- Ms. Kido

More Teacher Success

"Many of the students play video games all the time at home. This was a way to let them enjoy their playing time, but to practice a skill at the same time. Many of the parents commented on how excited they were that their children were practicing their facts! It was very exciting to see the kids wanting to practice those facts in a friendly, competitive way."

- Mrs. Smeltz Class in Lititz, PA. View Success Story