Figuring Out Fluency - Multiplication and Division With Whole Numbers

A Classroom Companion

“This text provides a clear definition of what fluency really is and provides strategies to deepen students’ number sense and make them fluent mathematicians.”

“I wish I’d had this book when I was in the classroom 10 years ago. The authors clearly lay out a pathway to procedural fluency, including intentional activities to understand and practice specific strategies, while also advocating for space for students to make decisions and feel empowered as mathematical thinkers and doers.”

“This book is a must-read for teachers wanting to learn more about focused math fluency instruction. The steps are clear and easy to follow. You will have all the steps to help your students become fluent math thinkers.”

“Are you ready to help your students connect their Number Talks and number routines to the real world? Figuring Out Fluency will give you the routines, games, protocols, and resources you need to help your students build their fluency in number sense (considering reasonableness, strategy selection, flexibility, and more). Our students deserve the opportunity to build a positive and confident mathematics identity. We can help support them to build this identity by providing them with access to a variety of strategies and the confidence to know when to use them.”

“Figuring Out Fluency goes beyond other resources currently on the market. It not only provides a robust collection of strategies and routines for developing fluency but also pays critical attention to the ways teachers can empower each and every student as a mathematical thinker who can make strategic decisions about their computation approaches. If you are looking for instruction and assessment approaches for fluency that move beyond getting the right answer, this is the resource for you.”

“As principal of a Title I school and former mathematics specialist, I appreciate this resource for what it is; a true teacher’s companion! The authors provide explicit strategy instruction in whole number multiplication and division to foster flexibility, efficiency, and true fluency in ALL students.”

“This is the book classroom teachers have been waiting for! It provides extensive support as students gain confidence with multiplying and dividing whole numbers, and it does so with a deep esteem for educators and learners. The authors, highly respected in the field of mathematics education, provide careful explanations of effective strategies that will help students build their number sense and their computational fluency. There are routines for supporting instruction in the classroom, games and centers for practicing the strategies, and prompts to encourage sense making and extend learning. Kudos to all three authors for writing such an important, no-nonsense book. I cannot wait to share it with my colleagues!”

“For years research has indicated that fluency is much more than speed, yet timed assessments and traditional instruction persist for teachers without a clear vision or tools to change their practices. This series provides teachers with the explicit examples, resources, and activities needed to bring that research to life for their students and will quickly become a well-worn guidebook for every fluency-focused classroom. This is the toolkit teachers have been yearning for in their journey toward fluency with their students.”

“Fluency isn’t a dry landscape of disconnected facts—it is a rich soil for developing and connecting diverse perspectives and ideas. This book series equips you with a deep understanding of fluency and a variety of activities to engage students in co-constructing ideas about multiplication and division that will last a lifetime.”

“This is the book we (educators) have been waiting for! Figuring Out Fluency – Multiplication and Division With Whole Numbers provides classroom teachers, special ed teachers, and instructional coaches with the support they need to develop true fluency for every child. This book is packed with great activities; quality practice that is not a worksheet; examples, routines, games, and centers; and a companion website with resources ready to use! Any question you may have— about how and when to teach a specific strategy, how to engage your students in meaningful practice, or assessing your students’ fluency—will be answered in this book! Any educator that is serious about understanding how basic fact strategies grow into general reasoning strategies and how to advance their students’ fluency will want this book! True fluency is a way of thinking, rather than a way of doing!”