Fingertips —number facts where you need them!
Fingertips is a 3-in-a row game that allows practice of basic number facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) at a level and speed that can be closely matched to the player’s skill. The game allows players to select from:
- Options: Standard number facts or Advanced number facts
- Operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
- Player Skill: novice, intermediate, expert or super-expert
Lesson Plans
We have created lesson plans for using Fingertips at four levels. Click below to download suggestions for how to use this app in the classroom at the Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4 levels of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics.
About the App
The combination Standard – Addition – Novice allows time for a beginner to use a count-on strategy to work out the addition. But watch out, because the Advanced – Multiplication – Super-expert combination results in a very fast-paced game that even some adults find challenging and entertaining.
Selection |
Coverage |
Standard − Addition |
Totals of 10 or less only using count on 1, 2 or 3, doubles to 10 and pairs that add to 10. |
Advanced − Addition |
Totals up to 20, doubles beyond 10, bridging through 10 |
Standard − Subtraction |
Uses the same triples as Standard – Addition but expressed as a subtraction, |
Advanced − Subtraction |
Uses the same triples as Advanced – Addition but expressed as a subtraction, e.g. 8 + 7 = 15 is posed as 15 – 8 = ? |
Standard – Multiplication |
Covers multiplication by 1, 2, 5 and 10 only. |
Standard – Division |
Covers division by 1, 2, 5 and 10 only. |
Advanced – Multiplication |
Covers all multiplication facts to 10 × 10, including multiplication by 0. |
Advanced – Division |
Covers division by any number, with dividend <= 100. |
Selecting the Player Skill
Changing the speed with which the tiles drop increases or decreases the pressure to quickly recall the number fact that is being asked. At the Novice Level, it is intended that the students will recognise which mental strategy should be used before they try to recall or work out their response. The rate of descent gets faster and faster until at Super Expert level, there is no time for thinking and the response has to be made almost immediately.
When the game is used in a learning support context, playing at the Novice Level or Intermediate Level encourages the student to say the strategy they will use before they say the answer, as choosing the correct strategy reduces the ‘search space’ for the answer and means that the first step in the thinking isn’t a guess, it’s a strategic decision as to what options should be checked.
Using the Scoreboard
At the end of a game pressing the Score button will reveal a scoreboard that shows which facts were correctly and which were incorrectly answered. Teaching focus can be then targeted to the required area. The scoreboard is cumulative, so if the game is played more than once at the same setting, the correct and wrong answers accumulate over each game. You can even switch the game off and return later to find the cumulative score. The scoreboard is only reset if the game settings (e.g. change from Intermediate to Expert) are altered.
Category: Math Education
Current Version:
Size:
Language: English
Seller: Natural Maths
© 2011 Natural Maths
Rated: 5¬
Requirements:
Compatible with iPhone, iPod, iPad
Requires iOS 3.0 or later
