Chapter 10: Helping Students Master the Basic Facts
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or
answers the question.
1) What statement most accurately describes a person who has mastered basic facts?
a) He or she can use a model or a picture to figure out the answer to a basic fact problem.
b) He or she has a conceptual understanding of the basic facts and can access her background
knowledge to, with some time, figure out the answer to a basic fact problem.
c) He or she has obtained a set of essential understandings and progressed through a set of stages so
that she just “knows” the answers to certain basic fact problems.
d) He or she can use a set of manipulatives and reasoning to figure out the answer to a basic fact
problem.
2) Which of the following is NOT one of the phases in the process of learning basic facts?
a) Drawing strategies
b) Counting strategies
c) Mastery
d) Reasoning strategies
3) Despite the fact that many learners in the past learned basic facts from memorization, it is not an effective
strategy for all of the following reasons EXCEPT
a) There are just too many facts to memorize, and it’s an inefficient process.
b) When students are taught to simply memorize, they usually don’t go back and make sure that their
work is reasonable.
c) Students don’t develop efficient reasoning strategies and use inefficient ones, such as counting by
ones.
d) It greatly increases student motivation.
TRUE/FALSE. Write “T” if the statement is true and “F” if the statement is false.
4) Research shows that guiding students to use effective strategies can help them achieve mastery. In order to
accomplish this, the teacher must be familiar with a large variety of strategies.
5) Story problems can provide a valuable context to help students apply strategies for computation, as long as
the context is relevant to students.
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or
answers the question.
6) Which of the following is NOT a strategy that helps students master basic facts?
a) One more than/two more than
b) Using 6 as an anchor number
c) Near doubles
d) Doubles
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or
answers the question.
7) When using the subtraction strategy ___________________________, students use known addition facts to
provide an unknown quantity or part.
8) It is of great importance that students understand the _____________________________property, because
it cuts the number of multiplication/addition facts they need to memorize in half.
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or
answers the question.
9) Which of the following is a frequently used strategy to help students learn basic multiplication facts?
a) Nifty nines
b) Using unknown facts to reason and figure out the ones that are known
c) Tripling numbers and then adding one
d) Making students see there is no relationship between multiplication and division
10) When is drill appropriate?
a) Never
b) As a practice tool, only once students are effectively using reasoning strategies that they
conceptually understand
c) When every student is drilled at the same pace
d) Only when students are given for practice a set of facts that have no relationship to one another
11) Games can be appropriate to support mastery because
a) They can be less engaging than other forms of practice.
b) They frequently have aspects that allow students to self-check their answers.
c) They are frequently much more stressful than other forms of practice.
d) They rarely allow teachers methods to differentiate, based on individual student needs.
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or
answers the question.
12) Using games to help students practice basic facts increases student involvement, encourages student-to–
student ______________, and improves communication.
ESSAY. Write your answer in the space provided or on a separate sheet of paper.
13) Name two key ideas or strategies that can guide a teacher’s efforts to help older
students who still struggle with basic facts, and describe briefly how each could
be helpful.
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or
answers the question.
14) All of the following are recommendations that can support students’ ability to quickly recall basic facts
EXCEPT
a) Drilling for extended periods of time
b) Involving families
c) Using technology
d) Encouraging students to self-monitor
15) When supporting students’ ability to quickly recall basic facts, avoid
a) Only working on a few facts at once.
b) Allowing ample time before moving from reasoning to memorization.
c) Using public displays of mastery (bulletin boards, etc.).
d) Limiting the length of timed tests.
