COMPUTATIONAL FLUENCY

What does it mean to know your a!ts"#

Fluency with number combinations means that students can use number pairs
accurately, efciently and fexibly as they solve problems. Developing fuency
requires a balance and connection between conceptual understanding and
computational profciency. On one hand, computational methods that are over
practiced without understanding are o!ten !orgotten or remembered incorrectly.
On the other hand, understanding without profciency can inhibit the problem
solving process.
"n frst grade, we emphasi#e the playing o! games to increase children$s
understanding o! and fuency with number combinations to %&. 'earning these
combinations within a meaning!ul context means that the children have a deeper
understanding o! number relationships and what the !acts actually mean. (hildren
go through developmental stages as they learn their !acts, !rom direct modeling
to counting, to numerical reasoning.
"n order to develop good computation strategies, students need to eventually
become fuent with the addition combinations from 0 + 0 to 10 +10. )hese
combinations *or !acts+ are part o! the repertoire o! number ,nowledge that your
child is developing. We e$%e!t that !hi&dren in 'rst (rade wi&& end the year
)uent in these num*er !om*inations+
Two im%ortant ideas we want to stress,
---tudents learn these combinations best by using strategies, not simply by rote
memori#ation. .elying on memory alone is not sufcient. /e expect more !rom
our students. "! your learning is based on your understanding o! numbers and
their relationships, you have a way to rethin, and restructure your ,nowledge
when you don$t remember something you 0,new.1
--2nowing the combinations should be 3udged by )uen!y o! use, not necessarily
by instantaneous recall. )hrough repeated use and !amiliarity, students will
eventually come to ,now most o! the addition combinations immediately, and a
!ew by using some quic, and com!ortable numerical reasoning strategies.
For example, when one child thinks of 8 + 5, she doesnt automatically see the
total as 1! rather, she sees the 5 broken into a " and . #he " combines with 8
to make 10, then 10 + $ 1. %hile this strate&y may take a while to write down
or read, the student 'sees( this relationship almost instantaneously. #hus, she
knows this combination.