A Better Use for Flashcards

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It's the end of the year, and I've been out helping the grade levels with their math materials inventory.  One thing I ran across in a couple of the planning rooms was flashcards.  In the scheme of all things CRA, flash cards are totally abstract.  They do not foster the understanding of the facts presented.  So how do you use the flashcards for more effective learning?  Take it back to the concrete and representational stages.  I created two little recording sheets you could use in workstations--one for addition facts and another for multiplication.  Students choose a flashcard, use counters to model it, and then draw a representation of the fact.  Easy peasy!!  The more you start to think in the CRA framework, the more natural activities like this will come to you.  Click on the pictures to grab your freebies!

Looking for more CRA?
Fact Family Workstations, CRA
2-Digit Subtraction with Regrouping