Mrs. Shaw’s Second Grade Class

       I feel it is very important for students to learn basic addition and subtraction facts. However, I was perplexed by the idea of students just memorizing and not fully having a solid conceptual foundation.  In second grade, I found some children are ready to memorize or learn facts by recall while others still need  manpulatives  to build that basic foundation and number sense/relationship.  Matter of fact, research has shown that children with a solid conceptual foundation are more successful when they begin to memorize their facts.

In my class before we start taking timed drill tests, we start off with learning strategies that help us build  number sense. The first few weeks of school are spent teaching strategies such doubles plus one, fact families, etc. These strategies assist each learner with building the important conceputal framework for addition and subtraction.