Fact Family Cups

One of my particular missions when teaching 5th/6th grade math is to get every child (unrealistic but I set my aim high!) to know his or her multiplication facts through 12. When I was in elementary school, we had to do this, but I have a feeling that most lower grades teachers are not focusing on memorization of math facts because about 10% of my students know their facts when I get them. Now, some might question the importance of memorizing math facts in today's calculator age, and perhaps they are right. However, I am less concerned with rote memorization than I am with overall number sense, and the facts can be taught in multiple ways. The old-fashioned method is good ole "memorize this" with a lot of repetition, and that is what fact family cups are designed for. However, the progressive method is to teach patterns and shortcuts (such as x3 is the same as doubles plus one. Ex: 3x8 = 2x8+8). Studies (or I guess I should say study because I only read one on this particular topic) show that a combination of both methods is most effective. Thus, I have stumbled across a way of modernizing flash cards and turning practicing the facts into a competitive game.

The bottom of the cup gets the multiplication fact. The inside of the cup gets the answer. (I had written it on the bottom, but you could see through a little bit.) I just used those little rinse-your-mouth-out cups. They are flimsy, and I worry about their durability. I am field testing two sets first, and if they get worn out too quickly I will make some more using sturdier plastic cups.




I decided I wanted to differentiate between fact families so that kids could pull the ones they needed to work on quickly and easily. So, I used more of my fancy paper to cover the cups.

Materials: scissors, paper, cups, Xacto knife, tape, markers, and glue

Make a stencil out of one of the cups. I stacked 3 sheets of paper and cut. Be sure to cut out a little extra on one end so that it overlaps slightly when you tape.

After I cut out the paper, I applied glue to it. I wrapped it around and finish it off by taping up the seam. I didn't feel like glue alone would hold it, but I bet if I had used tacky glue and not a regular glue stick the tape wouldn't have been necessary.

How to Play:
There are two ways to play, and probably more that the kids will come up with.
Single Player: Choose the facts you need to practice. Mix the cups and place them face down. As you pick up each cup, say the fact out loud along with the answer (multi-modal practice is more effective, which is why the student reads the fact AND says it out loud.) Check the answer. If you were correct, you start building a pyramid. Keep going, but only add the ones you got correct to the pyramid. Try to make the tallest pyramid you can!
Two Player: Take turns reading and answering you cups. The player with the tallest pyramid wins.

Depending on the number of cups, you could start stacking them top/bottom and then bottom/top. You could also try to make the longest wall, or any other structure. I hope the kids like this!








And, for storage, I will be keeping each set in a tennis ball canister. (Last year, I got enough tennis balls to cover the legs of all of my tables and chairs through the awesome website donorschoose.org. This left me with 100+ empty cans that I couldn't throw away. I have found a lot of uses for them so far, and I will create a separate post with these ideas at some point in the future.)


I saw this online with sight words as well (I guess you put a picture inside so that the kids could self-check?) I am thinking you could also make some of these for definitions, or any other time you make flash cards. Little cups are cheaper than index cards, and I have a feeling the novelty will make them more user-friendly.