hink about how you assess reading fl uency. Does your assessment plan involve listening and observing as children read as well as asking reading comprehension questions? Now imagine what you might learn about students' reading fl uency if you used only timed quizzes. How would your confi dence in your assessment change? Formative assessments-including observations, interviews, performance tasks, and journaling-have become common practice in many classrooms, with a recognition that by using different ways to assess children, we gain a more comprehensive, accurate picture of what they know, what they do not know, and their misconceptions. These data are then used to design instruction accordingly (Wiliam 2011). Yet, in spite of this trend in other areas of education, timed, skill-based assessments continue to be the prevalent measure of basic mathematics facts achievement. As a result, many rich opportunities for assessing basic fact fl uency are lost. In this article, we share a variety of ways to formatively assess basic fact fl uency. We defi ne fl uency, raise some issues related to timed testing, and then share a collection of classroom-tested ideas for authentic fact fl uency assessment.

First understand what fluency is, then use these games and a sequence of strategies to help your students develop facility and confidence.

Learn when and how teachers can use rich mathematical vocabulary to develop and maximize students' learning, particularly English Language Learners and struggling readers.

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