Toad-ally Exceptional Learners: How to Build Math Fact Fluency in 15 Minutes a Day

If you’ve ever felt like your students just aren’t getting their math facts, you are SO not alone. Despite all the drills, flashcards, and practice pages, those facts vanish faster than a pencil the moment you need them.

Here’s the good news: building math fact fluency doesn’t have to mean extra hours or tear-filled tests. With just 15 intentional minutes a day, you can help your students build fluency that sticks.

Here’s the math reality:

Many students memorize facts long enough to pass a quiz but can’t retrieve them when solving real problems. Timed tests and random drills create anxiety without deepening understanding. And when they move on to multiplication without a strong addition and subtraction foundation? It’s a confidence crash waiting to happen.

Sound familiar?

Why do student's need to know them?

Students need to know their addition and subtraction facts before starting 3rd grade because these facts form the foundation for more complex math skills, such as multiplication, division, and multi-step problem-solving. Without fluency in basic facts, students are more likely to struggle with higher-level concepts because their working memory is overwhelmed by simple calculations. Mastery of addition and subtraction facts allows students to focus on understanding new strategies and applying them effectively, setting them up for success in 3rd grade and beyond.

Here's what NOT to do

When helping students learn their addition and subtraction facts, parents and teachers should avoid relying solely on rote memorization or timed drills, especially if these cause stress or anxiety. These approaches can make math feel like a pressure-filled task rather than something meaningful or enjoyable.

Instead of cramming math facts into an already-packed schedule, try weaving fluency into your daily routine—in a way that’s low-prep for you and stress-free for your students. Let's focus on building understanding through games, visual models, and real-world connections.

🎯 That’s where my Basic Addition & Subtraction Fact Fluency: Path to Multiplication Bundle comes in.

This resource was designed specifically for teachers who need consistent, scaffolded fluency practice without reinventing the wheel each week. With just 15 minutes a day, your students can:

✅ Strengthen fact recall

✅ Build number sense

✅ Gain the confidence they need for multiplication success

How to Use It in 15 Minutes a Day

Group Warm-Up: Start the day with one quick fluency activity. It sets the tone and maximizes focus.
Math Centers: Use as a fast-finisher or targeted center for students who need extra support.
Exit Ticket: Reinforce skills with a quick review before dismissal.

The key is consistency—short bursts of strategic practice add up to big results.

What does this look like?

Here's a look at what I do with my math students. I pull a mixed grade math group 4 days a week for 30 minutes. The size and who attends depends on who else needs to see the student. Last year, I had everyone on Thursday. This is what that session looked like as the whole group needed to build fact fluency.

1) Fact Progress Monitor both addition and subtraction on clip boards. All 6 would find a place to sit where they would do their best work. No one sat at the table as I used that if I had someone who did make a good choice the previous week. The group comes in, grabs their clip boards, sits, and then I start the timer. Four minutes go. Timer goes off. I go around and exchange pages. And we repeat it. They don't grade their work. I do.

2) Math Centers: At the start of they year, I dictate what they do. The next 15 minutes can look like partner work, independent work, technology, work with me or completing a scoot. Those decisions are driven by both the Fact Fluency Data, exit ticket data, IEP goals, and their decisions from the previous day.

Because of the number of kids I tend to have in this group, management is key. By the end of the semester, not only can this group run itself but they hold each other accountable for their actions. This group like all my others also becomes very use to me asking them to reflect on what they need. As with all my groups, I use Marzano's Student Check for Understanding and goal setting.

Most of the student's work like worksheet's are in their math binder. In here I keep, their fact practice work, their IEP goal work, and independent work. To make math stations or centers or rotations work, in a mild/moderate resource room where students are reading 2 years below grade level you have to have true independent work. This may look like cut and color work or if a student is working a skill that has tons of words I might have to add it to our Google Classroom for them to access the reading pieces. The key is going lower than you think.

I teach student's that when they get stuck either work through it and ask for help when I'm not teaching or make the page, find an independent page to do, and ask me later. They learn this is not Starbucks, we have work to do, so don't waste your or my time in mess around. This is a life skill. This is a general education skill. Sitting and doing nothing is far from okay. It takes students time to work through this but they do get it. Set the bar high and they will get there. Just make sure to support.

3) Exit Ticket's: This looks different day to day. Some days it's student responses collected during a whole group lesson, a game, some times it four problems from a worksheet, some times in their fluency data, or IEP goal work. I also ask student's for their input-Did you hit the target? What did you do well on? What needs work? Rate your self. One of my favorites is using the pretest to tell me if you already know the material and can I move you on to the next standard.

Everything you need to get started is included.

Ready to make fact fluency one of the easiest wins of your math block?

👉 Grab the bundle here and start your 15-minute routine tomorrow!