[jcornfor]

Does anyone use Otter Creek math facts program? I am piloting it for my school and was wondering what challenges you find with the program or things I should consider when setting it up for my class.

Right now I am conflicted with how they should check their problems. I am hesitant in whether they will be able to correct their own or not....

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[ossianteach]

We have been using this program for about 3-4 years. I do not have my kids check thier own problems. I have them instead count how many they did and if they completed the number for their goal then they turn in thier paper. If they did not complete the number for their goal then they take thier paper home.

I think this program, like any, works great for most kids. My kids are always excited about Rocket Math. Of course, I always have 3-4 student who struggle with it.

[2teach4ver]

My biggest challenge is the kids' goals. The "writing" test is not a true goal setter for me as the kids never seemed to reach that goal. Instead, I give them the leveled test (A, B) and their goal is based on how many they were able to do. Each time they take a new test, if they do more problems, I up their goal.

I agree that writing the numbers should be how fast they know the answers, but that was never the case in the years that I have used it. Too many kids would get frustrated about not reaching that goal.

I also had the kids turn the papers in to me if they thought they reached their goal (they draw a line on their paper to where they have to get and know they need to get farther than that), and keep them to study if they did not.

[RR]

I have had Rocket Math for a couple of years. I am trying it as an intervention for multiplication for 2 students. We set their goals, then took the pretest. It showed they should start on level A. We did. They scored a 40, which the way I remembered it, upped their goal to 40. That was fine until they got to level D. I don't think they will make 40 in the 5 days...Do I go with the 1st goal set, or the 40 because the could do that many for A and B?

[dezi]

We have been doing Rocket Math for a few years also. I have modified it by making my kids beat their goal three times before moving to a new letter. I did it the way it was instructed, but felt they weren't mastering the facts and were getting frustated with the higher numbers. This way is much better for the kids to know their facts. I also only move their goal usually by one or two numbers. Most of my kids goals are around 30-35 and are in letter M -S. I plan on keeping them around 35 unless they are easily beating this goal. Some kids are still lower, but I think they know their facts much better this way. I collect their folders after the one minute test and grade them myself each day.

[jcornfor]

Thank you so much for your feedback! I will keep all these things in mind as I begin piloting this program. I appreciate knowing how it works in other schools....

THANKS!

[mteachers]

I love the idea of making them beat their goal three times before moving to the next letter. Do you have some kind of chart to keep track of how many times they meet their goal for one letter?

[dezi]

I use the chart that comes with the rocket math. It has all the letters with spaces and the rocket the kids color. I only record the number of times they pass by writing a 1,2,3 above their number.

[sun&stars]

I used rocket math when I student taught last year and my 3rd graders loved it! They were also reliable and responsible enough to correct their own. I just ran off answer packets in bright yellow color so I could see them and keep track of the easily. But I also told them that if they cheat about it, they are only cheating themselves. Which just makes it harder in the long run because they won't have them memorized. Again, they were an outstanding class! Hope this helps.