Monday, April 2, 2012

Math Fact Family Roll & Write


Repetition is a GREAT way to help children learn, but if you’re asking them to do something over and over again, it better be fun. Since my spelling word Roll & Write activity was such a hit with my son (and followers, too!), I thought another Roll & Write to practice math fact families would be equally well-received.

I was right; my son loved it!!

How this activity came to be ...

The elementary school my son attends uses the Everyday Math curriculum and for weeks now, his teacher has been sending home fact triangles for my son to cut out and practice. The triangles have a number at each point that can be ordered to create two addition and two subtraction problems.

I’m not going to lie. I can’t really tell if my son is “practicing.” And truthfully, aside from their nifty triangular shape, it’s basically just a flash card. Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinking? Borrrrrriiiiiing!

It was sort of a personal mission to find a way for my son to practice these fact triangles. So I made a die – not just any die, but one with triangular sides - an icosahedren!


Download the template I made here, print on heavyweight cardstock, cut it out, score all the lines with the back of a butter knife and a straight edge, fold, and glue the flaps. That’s all there is to it.


My son marvelled at the die I made. 

Download a PDF of the die template and 2-page recording worksheet here.

I gave him a pencil and recording sheet and told him to get rollin’. When the triangle on top of the die displayed a 10, 7, and 3, he wrote the following problems down:
7 + 3 = 10
10 - 7 = 3
3 + 7 = 10
10 - 3 = 7
When the worksheet was done, so was my son.


Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Math triangles practiced at last!

21 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing. I tend to focus on reading, spelling, and science. This will help us have a fun way to focus more on math.

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  2. Wow...are you a genius or what? This is great. I love your ideas to make fun things for learning, especially for boys. I find that my grandson gets bored easily with the same math problems...but games doing the exact same thing is so fun for him. Thanks for making this and sharing. Love the word/spelling one too. I think I will use this with our sight words, maybe word families too. Love it.

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  3. I "2nd" the genius comment! Just printed for my 1st grader. Thank you so much for sharing. I passed it along to my FB readers too and put you in my favorites folder;) Love your blog!

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  4. Fabulous....yet again!!! Sharing with my readers now too :-)

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  5. I love this idea - and would LOVE to use it for Multiplication/Division facts as well. Can you tell me what program you used to make the template ... or how you did it? Thanks!

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    1. Angel, I'm happy to share the template if you have Microsoft Publisher. Otherwise, send me 19 sets of numbers and I'll quick drop them in for you. My email address is on the "About" page.

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  6. What a great idea! I am excited to use this with my students and would also love a copy to help them practice and learn their multiplication and division facts. I do have Microsoft Publisher if you wouldn't mind sharing the template. Thank you so much and thank you for sharing your wonderful ideas. So many children and students can benefit this way!

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    1. Send me an email and I'll send you the Publisher file, cderosa. Otherwise, stay tuned for a bonus post this weekend with a multiplication/division die I made for another follower!

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    2. The multiplication/division die is available now (http://deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com/2012/04/bonus-multiplicationdivision-fact.html). Enjoy!

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  7. AWESOME! Can't wait for the multiplication version!

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  8. I'm very excited for the multiplication version also! I'll be teaching a 3/4 split class next year and I know I'll be able to use both of these die with my students. Thanks so much!

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    1. Amy, the multiplication/division die is available now (http://deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com/2012/04/bonus-multiplicationdivision-fact.html). Enjoy!

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  9. Thank you!
    Josipa, teacher from Croatia

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  10. Just found your multi/division die. Can't wait to use it with my 3rd graders. Thank you!

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  11. I absolutely LOVE this idea!!! Totally going to use it for math stations this week -- love love love - thank you!

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  12. Thank You! I just made the die and will be trying it out today!

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  13. This is exactly what I needed for my math stations this week. Thanks so much for sharing!
    acolwell.blogspot.com

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  14. I printed this out last night...to help Benjamin practice his fact families. Thank you for your creativity and hard work. :)

    Jessica

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  15. Thanks so much for sharing. I found you through Pinterest. I can't wait to use this.

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  16. How is he doing remembering his facts? We are just starting this process.

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  17. Thank you so much for sharing all this great information. I just made the roll and write icosahedren and it looks sweet! I've been struggling to find ways to make homework fun this year. I'm so thankfull that I found your site!

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