Singapore Math Sprints

Last school year, a bunch of us went to a training on Singapore Math.  The term "Singapore Math" refers to the math curriculum in the country of Singapore, developed by their Ministry of Education.  The curriculum is taught in a logical, step-by-step manner that builds on the students' prior knowledge and skills.  Singapore Math follows Jerome Bruner's approach of concrete to pictorial to abstract.  Problem solving is the heart of the Singapore curriculum.  Place value, mental math, and computation are reinforced through problem solving.  Problem solving is more than just word problems in Singapore.

The Goals of Mathematics (in Singapore) are:
1) Develop a positive attitude about mathematics.  Teachers, students, and parents are encouraged to speak positively about math.
2) Develop the mathematics language.
3) Develop number sense.  The emphasis on knowing the math facts is the same as the importance of knowing sight words in reading.  Children should know the facts so well that they can look at numbers and "decompose" them.
4)  Develop confidence in mathematics.

Math facts sprints are used to develop number sense.  Sprints are an approach to drill which makes it into a exciting learning event.  Here is a video of a grade 2 class doing their math sprints.  I especially like how the students recite the facts forward and backward.  Also, this strategy can be done with addition and subtraction.  Start at a number, like 6, and add 4 each time.  So, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, etc.  Then, go backwards.  Really works on the students' mental math.

If you are in school, you can not see the video.  Please view it at home.  It is really good.

Thanks for stopping by.