One of the math practices we try to do every week is developing strategies for “Mental Math”. There are basically two ways to do this: 1. Memorization
2. Developing Strategies
Research shows us that developing strategies is the best approach and that is the approach we are taking in G7 & G8 Math students. The following quote from “You Cubed” describes this approach well.
“The best way to learn math facts is to offer conceptual mathematical activities that help students learn and understand number relationships. Brain researchers studied students learning math facts in two ways. One approach was through strategies; for example, working out 17 × 8 by thinking about 17 × 10 (170) and subtracting 17 × 2 (34); the other strategy was memorization of the facts (17 × 8 = 136). They found that those who learn through strategies achieved “superior performance” over those who memorized.”
The reason that the strategies approach is better is because memorization limits the application to only one math fact… while a strategies approach can be applied to many math facts, contexts, and situations.
Keep working on those math strategies G7s and G8s!!
