Ed has been active in developing curricula, conducting research, working in classrooms with teachers who are teaching the basic facts, making presentations, and conducting workshops on basic facts for over twenty-five years. The following are questions that have been commonly asked as he has talked with teachers around the country. The answers are based on his curriculum development experiences and his interpretations of the research together with years of experience working with children.

Questions

What does it mean to teach basic facts?

What are the basic facts?
Why do we have to learn basic facts?
What should our goals be when we teach the basic facts?
Why are subtraction facts so hard for children to learn?

How have we taught basic facts?

How have textbooks in the past presented basic facts?
How do most teachers teach the basic facts?

What do we now know about teaching basic facts?

What have we learned from research about teaching the basic facts?
What are the most effective classroom practice based on research results and classroom experiences?

What are the thinking strategies?

What are some important thinking strategies for addition?
Which basic facts can efficiently be solved by these addition strategies?
What are some important thinking strategies for subtraction?
Which basic facts can efficiently be solved by these subtraction strategies?

How can we teach thinking strategies?

What are some general guildelines for teaching a new thinking strategy?

How can you teach thinking strategies for basic addition facts?

How can you break the pattern of children counting all to add?
How can you teach counting on for addition?
How can you teach using doubles for addition?
How can you teach making ten for addition?

How can you teach thinking strategies for basic subtraction facts?

How does the part-part-whole language help students learn subtraction facts?
How can we break the pattern of take away and count what is left?
How can we teach counting back for subtraction?
How can we teach counting up for subtraction?
How can we teach using doubles for subtraction?
How can we teach using ten for subtraction?
How can we teach using addition facts for subtraction?

When is basic fact drill appropriate?

What are some guidelines for drill?
What are some teaching strategies that meet these guidelines?
What are the benefits of practice worksheets?
How quickly should children be expected to respond to basic facts?

How should you assess children on the basic facts?

How will you know when students have learned the basic facts?
If students have learned the basic facts, what else will they be able to do?

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