Students demonstrate mastery of facts when they can produce an answer with speed and accuracy (in about 3 seconds) without resorting to inefficient means such as counting up, using fingers, etc.

Often students have difficulty mastering basic facts because they have not developed efficient methods of producing a fact answer based on number relationships and reasoning.

In other words, memorization is not enough; students must understand how numbers work together

in order to make the learning more meaningful.

Think of basic facts in terms of understanding the relationships between the numbers rather than just memorizing a set list.

BASD is moving towards introducing facts that are connected rather than isolated lists. As the year progresses and students continue to build their understanding of the patterns and relationships between numbers, some facts appear to be "left off" when compared to more traditional lists. The elimination of facts is purposeful and allows students to give attention to the “new” facts.

For example, with the understandings and connections we are building, a student that knows 4 X 2 = 8 should know 2 x 4 = 8 without the need to memorize it as an isolated fact. In this way, by the time students are introduced to the more difficult facts (x6, x7, x8), they are only a few “new” facts that need to be introduced. The division facts are included so that students see the connection between the two operations.