Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Timed math tests for fourth grade

I wanted to ask if your kids had timed math facts tests in fourth grade. If so, how many problems would they have in how much time? Was it multiplication, addition, subtraction? Etc. Thanks!

While 3rd grade had the big push to learn multiplication and division facts and show mastery through timed tests (100 problems in 5 minutes), 4th grade in our public school district also has timed multiplication tests to solidify the automaticity of facts (and for those who didn't memorize them in 3rd, teach them). We even have several 5th grade teachers who have a weekly timed multiplication test.

Timed tests started here in second grade with addition and subtraction. They needed to do 100 problems in 5 minutes.

I believe our district started timed math in 2nd, with addition and subtraction. For third, DD's teacher required 100 problems in 10 minutes in each of addition / subtraction / multiplication to pass, and 100 problems in 5 minutes to be excused from further timed drill. (Unfortunately for DD, the fastest she could physically write that many digits, even without the need to do the calculation, was 7 minutes. Getting under 10 minutes with recall was a struggle.)

In 4th, they did timed division drill, but it was an easier standard - 20 problems in 2 minutes, with all problems from the same fact family.

Just asked my daughter (who just finished grade 4) and she said they did multiplication, 30 questions in 2 minutes. They did other math in grade 4 (long division, fractions, decimals, etc.) but they didn't have timed tests for that. My son did addition/subtraction, 30 questions in 1 minute, in grade 2.

My son took 4th grade math while in 2nd grade. They did have timed test. 100 in 5 minutes. This was multiplication, division, addition and subtraction. The teacher gave a test a week starting with addition. The numbers were also 1 - 12 and you had to get 100%.

This kind of worried me a bit with the subject acceleration.
Division was by far the hardest. But he got them all with a couple weeks to spare.

Everyone that got all at 100% and on time were treated to ice cream with the principal.

My son said a lot of kids didn't get them all.

Then in 5th grade the first week they took the timed tests again. I am sure they did addition and subtraction in 2nd and 3rd grade too. Just not so many.

My son hates these type of test. He kind of rebels against them till they really count.

When DD12 was in 3rd grade, they worked toward 100 problems in 5 minutes with 2 or less errors. I think that all of the kids in her gt class achieved it by the end of the year. There was a big public display and prizes awarded when you reached the goal. Though my DD reached the goal early, she now tells me that it was a source of humiliation for the non-math kids. Everyone knew who hadn't achieved the goal. In fourth grade, the timed tests disappeared

When DD10 was in 3rd grade, they started timed tests but DD never came close to 100 problems in five minutes -- like many kids with dyslexia, she is not great with timed tests. In her case, the timed tests persisted in 4th grade. I'm not sure whether this was because she did not achieve "proficiency" in third grade or whether it was a case of having different teachers.

My daughter had the 5-minute additiona, subraction, and multiplication last year in second grade. 100 questions. I think a few kids had a problem with the multiplication.

Addition and subtraction, 100 problems with 100% accuracy in 5 minutes started here in 2nd grade. 3rd grade was multiplication facts by individual numbers (x2 or x3 etc) through x12, with a mixed multiplication test at the end. Same goal- 100 problems with 100% accuracy in 5 min.

The 3rd grade teacher was very, very high pressure and made a giant to-do about it with a star chart on the front board and a big ceremony every week after the timed tests. She also would stand at the whiteboard and write down 4 minutes. 3 minutes, etc, until she got to 30 seconds, then she would count aloud. That sent my perfectionist, anxious kid over the edge. Then the following week she would go through and say "Okay, Billy, Joe and Betty are only on their x2s, they'd better practice at home and catch up!" or the worst for my kid "___ is supposed to be so good at math but he's stuck on his x8s, no star again this week!"

And that is 1/3 of why we're now homeschoolers. Forced timed tests, combined with her attitude really destroyed him. We begged her to stop counting down, making a scene or to, at a minimum, let him count UP instead of down. No.

http://mathsolutions.com/documents/9781935099031_message18.pdf

Thanks to everyone for the information! I don't think our school/the teacher will be high stress like all of this. I'm just wondering what we might expect.
My son has a documented processing disorder and has extended time written into his IEP, but he has never used it. He got a 87th percentile on CTY's math part this year, so he can answer questions on a timed test, but he has trouble on these timed fact tests.
On the little book I bought, he did 36/50 (I think) in two minutes on addition and 24/50 in two minutes on multiplication. He definitely knows his math facts but he has trouble processing it all fast enough. I guess we will just keep chipping away at it.