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RUNNING HEAD: LETS GET FACTUAL: MULTIPLICATION FLUENCY

Lets Get Factual: Multiplication Fluency

Eric Gauthier
Oakland University EA 750

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RUNNING HEAD: LETS GET FACTUAL: MULTIPLICATION FLUENCY

Rationale:
After leaving the middle school to work at the elementary school it was my personal
mission to address multiplication fact fluency in mathematics. While I was at the middle school
multiplication fact fluency got in the way of students concept acquisition when moving into more
complex ideas. I tried a variety of different research-based activities at the third grade level.
Most of the activities met with some degree of success.
When I came back to the middle school I was faced with the same problems as before,
maybe even worse.

I gave all my classes a multiplication screener to see how the students

faired in fact fluency. My fifth hour class ended up being the class I selected for this action
research project. The class scored lower overall, and consisted with a majority of minority
males in the class. Based on the needs of this particular class I decided I was going to use the
most effective intervention that I had put in place in my third grade classroom.
The intervention is implementing the Daily 5 structure for mathematics in multiplication
fact fluency. Will the implementation of Math Daily 5 increase the students math fact fluency
through the use of the centers and small group instruction?
Sources of Information Collected:
All of the information for this research was collected in my classroom during fifth period.
Students come to this class right after lunch. Students tend to come into class energized and
hyper, but quickly fade toward the middle of the class. Information was collected from multiple
resources. The baseline data was set by giving a pre-test to all the students in the class.

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Every three weeks fluency tests were given to gauge overall progress. Weekly spot tests
were given to different groups based on the facts that they were practicing. Immediate feedback
was given to the students so they could monitor their progress. The students were then given
the post-test at the end of the eleven week study.
The pre and post-test was teacher created, and the amount of time given per problem was
based off of previous research that I read about the topic. Each problem was allocated four
seconds. I kept a notebook to write down anecdotal notes on student conversations within the
meeting time with me.
Students were given a post-intervention survey asking them about the effectiveness of the
intervention, their opinions about mathematics now, and what were their likes and dislikes of
being involved in the intervention.
Analysis of Preliminary Data:
The pre-test indicated a significant need for the intervention. Eighty-seven percent of the
class was not proficient based on the test scores. Students expressed frustration and aggravation
with the test through class-led conversations. They felt there were too many problems or they
were not good at math. Student work leading up to this point was often incomplete.
When asked way a majority of the students said that they did not know how to multiply
to get to the answer. They wanted to be successful, but did not possess the skills to get there.
Based on the data from the pre-test students were arranged in groups based on needs and areas of
improvement related to multiplication fact fluency.

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Description of Intervention/accommodations/ Strategies:

The implementation of the Daily 5 classroom organization style was fairly easy. The
majority of our students at Wolfe Middle School all experienced Daily 5 in our elementary
buildings. It is a 1st thru 5th grade district initiative to organize our literacy block.
Students were given a sports team name as their home-group. Each of the five stations
had folders with their sports team logo on it. They knew when they went to that station to look
in that folder for the instructions of the activities they were supposed to use.

Students would

have choice on five different centers that were available to them. The groups also meet with me
during the intervention period. This style of classroom operation occurred 2-3 times per week.
My groups that needed the most support were met with daily. Other groups were at least seen
once a week during this process.
Description of Data Collection:
Data was collected in a variety of ways. Student progress data was collected weekly
through the small progress checks. Class wide data was collected four times throughout the
study. The students were given the same test to monitor overall growth. Classroom discussions
on how the students felt was documented through my inquiry journal. I also made notations
during small group instruction when the students met with me.
Data was tabulated and graphed as part of the ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of
the intervention. Notations were made about trends, effectiveness, and other ideas pertaining to
the action research. We had class discussions about the usefulness of the stations and meeting
with me. Student opinions were used to shape and alter the stations throughout this process. The

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student perceptions survey at the end of the study directly correlated with the effectiveness of the
Daily 5 model in mathematics.
What Happened:
After 11 weeks of implementing the action research project the results overall were
favorable. All students who participated in the study throughout the entire process all showed
positive growth. The results showed that 58% of the students increased their fluency by 20 facts
or higher. Three students attained perfect scores. The class average increase of facts was 23.
This equates to a 46% increase across the board in fact acquisition.
The student survey also displayed some interesting results. Students were first asked
about their overall opinion of mathematics. The class responded with 87% of them liking the
subject of math. The study implemented the use of centers during instruction. Student responses
showed that 65% of the students felt that math centers helped them learn their multiplication
facts. This result coincides with Kozakewichs findings in her study. She stated The students
generally liked the centers, and felt that they helped them become more proficient at
multiplication facts. (Kozakewich, 2011)
Centers were a main part of this study. Students had six centers to choose from. The
centers were: worksheets, flashcards, electronics, math games, holey cards, and meeting with
Mr. Gauthier. The students were asked to pick their top two centers. Meeting with Mr. Gauthier
and electronic math games were chosen by over 50% of the class. Traditional methods of
flashcards and worksheets were the least liked. This was not very surprising to me. The students
like the option of having a variety of ways to learn. Students also seem to like the small group
attention that they received during the 11 weeks. Hought found in their study that targeted small

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group instruction improved fact fluency. (Haught, Kunce, Pratt, Werneske, & Zemell, 2002)
This was also evident in my findings through the student survey.
The main attitude toward centers was overall positive. Almost 81% of the class liked
learning their math lessons while using centers. Of the 17% that did not like learning with
centers half of the students said the centers helped them learn to multiply. As the center results
came in it became quite clear that some would have to be changed in order to keep interest in
math. Only one student selected the holey factor cards for learning multiplication, and 8%
choose flashcards as a center. I know that target practice was not a favorite among students, but I
believed it helped in fact retention. Wongs study stats that Targeted worksheets improved fact
fluency. (Wong, Evans, 2007) In the future I may just focus on this aspect to see if there is truly
a tangible improvement.
Students were also asked of their opinions on taking timed multiplication tests. About
61% of the students liked taking the timed test. Some of the positive responses were: it helped
them learn, it was fun, challenging, and encouraged them. Some of the criticisms of the timed
test were: it was hard, the time pressure, needing more practice, it was frustrating, and feeling
rushed.
What Have You Learned:
Throughout this process the action research project has forced me to look deeper into my
own teaching practice. This process has shown me that traditional ways are not always the best
ways. It is evident in the data collected, and the opinions gathered from the students. We as
teachers need to adapt to our changing populations learning styles and how our profession is
judged.

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Looking back now with a critical eye there are a few things I would change. The amount
of time that I allotted per problem seemed a little too generous. I figured five seconds per
problem. In hind sight it was too much time. The students were skip-counting with their fingers
instead of having that instant connection. I think this hindered their fluency due to the excess
time. In the future I will adjust to four seconds of time. I did not want to change this mid-study
to keep my results consistent. I noticed that the extra time made a huge difference in terms of
growth for some of my students.
The timed test is another area of possible change. Student opinion overall was favorable
for the timed test. I am considering breaking up the fact test into smaller mini tests, and only
testing certain groups of facts instead of testing the entire amount. I think incentives will also be
a part of my next math unit. The students asked me about them because of other areas of
instruction where they are present. With less pressure about the amount of problems within the
allotted time, and a clear goal I think students will have less anxiety.
Student surveys now will become a common tool in my classroom. I feel foolish for not
including it sooner into my teaching career. It was a valuable tool for me to see how my
students felt about their education, and its effectiveness. Their responses have directed me into
new directions in the way I will educate my future classes. For that I am grateful for their
insight.
The project overall was a success. Student growth was apparent, and student engagement
based off the surveys was high. Students preferred small group instruction with the ability to
move around and sample different centers. They liked the idea that they were learning the same
material in a variety of different ways. I found myself not having to repeat myself nearly as
much after these mini-lessons; this was due in part to the amount of varied practice and small-

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group instruction each child received. The Daily 5 Math organizational plan is here to stay in
my room. Students like the format, and it allows me more freedom to individualize instruction.
Future implications for this study are more investigative for me. I am now curious to find
out about the students education prior to entering my classroom and intervention. The students
who got it entering the study are the students I would like to interview. I would like to find out
who their teachers were, how they learned multiplication, did they practice at home, etc I
really believe that there are answers within our district that need to be shared with everyone else.
The goal of sharing this information with the elementary teachers, so intervention we be student
specific, instead a class wide intervention at the middle school level.
Action research is a great way to look at your curriculum, students, and yourself as a
teacher. It forces you to find rich tasks that are researched based, and are good for all students no
matter what tier they are. With great effort comes great reward. This was truly evident in going
through this process for my students and me.

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Bibliography

Kozakewich, Julie. Caldwell College. The Use of Learning Centers in

the Third Grade to Enhance and Motivate Students to Comprehend
Multiplication Facts 2011

Haught, Laurie., Kunce, Christine., Pratt, Phyllis., Werneske, Roberta,

Zemel, Susan. Improving mastery of basic math facts in elementary
school through various learning strategies. 2002.

Evans, David., Wong, Monica. Improving Basic Multiplication Fact Recall for
Primary School Students, Monica Wong and David Evans 2007.