Getting Started with Fluency Practice

Fluency Practice, made in collaboration with Math for Love, provides students daily, personalized fluency practice with math facts.

Overview

What happened to Multiplication by Heart on Mathigon?

In August 2024, the online version of Multiplication by Heart moved from Mathigon.org to fluency.amplify.com. All student progress was migrated to the new platform, but teachers will need to make new classes in Desmos Classroom. Learn more about the migration process here.

What flashcard sets are available?

There are five different flashcard sets, with more under development. Our grade-level recommendations are:

Kindergarten: Numbers by Heart (Coming Soon!)
Grade 1: Addition and Subtraction by Heart I
Grade 2: Addition and Subtraction by Heart II
Grade 3: Multiplication by Heart
Grade 3: Division by Heart

How does Fluency Practice Work?

Using the theory of spaced repetition, students more frequently practice the facts they are most likely to forget. When students correctly answer a fact, they will not see that same fact again for 1–2 days to a few weeks, depending upon how many times they have already correctly answered that fact. If students answer a fact incorrectly, they will see that fact again the next time they practice. Learn more in the section below on Spaced Repetition

What terms are used when describing Fluency Practice?

Flashcard Set: The operation-based collection of cards.
Decks: Each flashcard set is split up into a number of decks. Each deck has a different visual representation, different number facts, and/or different fluency strategies.
Boxes: Where a specific card lives along the journey of spaced repetition.
Card: The individual flashcard that moves from box to box.
Fact: The actual math fact, like 3 × 4, which appears on multiple different cards.

How often should students practice?

We recommend that students use Fluency Practice daily. The program will automatically select 30 flashcards for students each day. This daily practice should take most students 5–10 minutes. For those students only working on Numbers by Heart, they will only see 20 flashcards each day.

Creating Classes and Student Accounts

How do teachers create classes of students?

For teachers using Amplify Desmos Math, Fluency Practice will automatically import classes from Educator Home into the Fluency Practice platform. When opening the teacher dashboard, teachers will see all their classes. All other teachers can easily roster students through Desmos Classroom. Classes already created in Desmos Classroom will be automatically imported to Fluency Practice. For those new to Desmos Classroom, start by making a free Desmos Classroom teacher account. Next, create a class, and finally, invite your students to join your class. For those schools using Google Classroom, integration is an option as well.

Is there a teacher dashboard?

Yes: a blue Teacher Dashboard button will appear at the top of the screen for those signed-in users that have a class of students associated with their account. Teachers that have a free teacher account in Desmos Classroom but have not made classes of students inside Desmos Classroom will NOT see the teacher dashboard button. Learn how to create classes in the section above.

Assigning Flashcards to Students

How do teachers assign flashcard sets to students?

By default, all students are initially assigned Addition and Subtraction by Heart I. Teachers can change this on the Fluency Practice teacher dashboard: Note, if that link does not open the dashboard, read the section above.

Select a class and go to the Deck Assignments tab.
Use the dropdown at the top to switch between different flashcard sets.
Use the checkboxes at the top to un-assign this set for all students. Teachers can assign different flashcard sets to different students based on students' needs.
Click Save Changes and wait for the green confirmation message at the top of the page.

Can teachers have students skip simple facts they already know?

Yes! Teachers can decide which decks in a practice set they want to assign to each student. Simply uncheck the box next to a specific deck in the row for each student and click Save Change at the bottom of the screen.

Can students work on multiple flashcard sets at once?

Yes! Teachers can assign multiple flashcard sets to students. The program will combine all the cards to create a cohesive experience for students. All students' progress on the cards is saved, even if the teacher un-assigns some of the flashcard sets or decks from an individual student.

Can teachers reset progress or advance all flashcards to the memory box?

Yes! Click on a student name from the teacher dashboard to open the dashboard page for that student and then select the flashcard set from the dropdown menu. Click the trashcan icon to reset the progress on a specific deck and the click the arrow icon to advance all cards in that deck to the memory box.

Student Access and Options

How do students access Fluency Practice?

Amplify Desmos Math Students: Students using Amplify Desmos Math can access Fluency Practice from Student Home on the Apps tab. Alternatively, these students can go directly to fluency.amplify.com. When signing in, these students should use the Continue with Amplify option. Other Students: All other students can go to fluency.amplify.com and sign in. Read the Creating Classes and Student Accounts for information about creating free teacher and student accounts inside Desmos Classroom.

Can students make changes to the flashcard sets they are working on?

Students that are rostered in a class with a teacher, either through Amplify Desmos Math or Desmos Classroom class, do NOT have the ability to make any changes to their assignment. Student users that are not part of a rostered class do have the ability to make changes. These students can choose their initial flashcard sets when visiting Fluency Practice for the first time. After that, students can click on the Progress button and use the checkboxes in the pop-up to make changes.

Spaced Repetition

Each flashcard is in one 6 boxes. What do the boxes represent?

Using the spaced repetition theory, the program automatically selects up to 40 cards each day, personalized for each student. These will be a combination of new cards they have not seen yet or various cards students are still working on. To keep track of where specific cards are in the journey toward memorization, the cards are organized into 6 boxes: A, B, C, D, E, and Memory. Cards start in Box A. Cards answered correctly move up a box and cards answered incorrectly move back to Box A (or remain in Box A).

How long do the cards stay in each box before a student sees it again?

The program selects cards based on how long the cards have been in their current box. As students answer questions correctly and the cards move through the boxes, more days will pass until students see that card again:

For example, if a card has been in Box C for 5 days, that card will likely be amongst the 40 cards to appear on that day. Teachers are not able to change the order of how the cards appear. The box letter of each card appears in the upper right corner of that card.

What happens when all the cards reach the memory box?

If a student gets all the cards from each deck of the practice set into their Memory Box, congratulate them – they have successfully memorized all the facts! To ensure long-term retention of the cards in the Memory Box, the program will continue to show these cards to students in a variety of ways:

On any day in which students are scheduled to see less than 40 cards due to the spaced repetition algorithm, the program will randomly add cards from the Memory Box into the assigned cards for the day so students see a total of 40 cards.
Any cards in the Memory Box will be randomly shown to students in the practice mode as described in the next section.
Cards in the Memory Box will appear mixed in with cards from the other boxes. If a student answers a card in the Memory Box incorrectly after both attempts, the card will move back to Box A and begin the spaced repetition process from the beginning. Teachers can override this on the Teacher Dashboard by moving all the cards in a given deck to the Memory Box. If teachers do not want students ever seeing cards from their Memory Boxes, they can un-assign the entire practice set on the teacher dashboard.

What happens when a student has finished their assigned cards for the day?

Students will see an “All done for today!” screen and the option to continue practicing. If students click the “Continue practicing” button, the program will give them more practice on a random set of cards from all the cards in any of their current boxes, from Box A through Memory. The only way students can get to Practice Mode is by completing their cards for the day. If students complete one round of Practice Mode, they will see the same message again and can repeat the practice if they want. Work done in Practice Mode does not impact cards moving boxes – answering cards correctly will not move them up a box and answering cards incorrectly will not move them to Box A. Additionally, none of the work done in this mode will impact progress shown on the student grid.

Viewing Student Progress

Can teachers see students’ record of daily activity?

Yes! When first opening a class in the Teacher Dashboard, teachers will see a record of daily completion for each student. Hover over each square to see the corresponding date of that square.

A gray square indicates the student did not start the flashcards on that day.
An light blue square indicates that students started, but did not complete, their assigned flashcards on that day.
A darker blue square with a checkmark inside of it indicates the student answered all assigned flashcards on that day. Note, this not necessarily mean the student answered all questions correctly. Rather, it just means that they completed their daily assignment of cards.

How can teachers view student progress on each flashcard set?

Click the Deck Assignments tab and then select a flashcard set from the dropdown to see a summary of the progress for student in the class. The amount of the bar that is filled in represents how many cards the student has in the Memory Box for that flashcard deck.

What information is shown in the class progress grids?

Click on Progree Grids at the top of the dashboard to view a class summary grid for each operation. Use the dropdown to change the operation shown. The letters in the grid represent the average location of that fact for the entire class. Some facts appear on multiple cards. For example, in Multiplication by Heart, 6 x 8 appears in Deck 2 as an array and in Deck 3 in prime factor circles. For these cards, the letter shown in the grid is the lowest location of all the cards with that fact.

What data and information is available for individual students?

More detailed information is available for each student. Click on any student name from any screen on the teacher dashboard to view the full report for that student. The Decks tab shows the number of cards on each deck for each flashcard set. The Progress Grids tab shows the progress grid for that individual student.

Is the class and student data available to download as a CSV file?

Yes! Each page on the teacher dashboard has an option to download the data shown on that page.

Can students view their progress as well?

Yes! Students have access to a Progress button they can click to view a summary of their work.

Miscellaneous Questions

Are physical versions of these flashcards available for purchase?

Yes! Fluency Practice is made in partnership with Math for Love. Multiplication by Heart, Addition by Heart, and many more wonderful games are available at Math for Love. Physical versions of the other Fluency Practice sets are planned as well.

Is there a video tutorial of Fluency Practice?

This video gives an overview of the content above. Please note that the video was made prior to Multiplication by Heart moving from Mathigon to Amplify. So rather than making a Mathigon account as mentioned in the video, students will need to make an account in Desmos Classroom or use their Amplify Desmos Math account. An updated video will be posted to this page soon.

Is there a way to easily preview all the decks?

Yes! First, if you are currently signed in, log out using the link in the top-right corner. Now go to fluency.amplify.com and use the toggles and checkboxes to select a single deck to preview and then click Start Practicing. You can also use the links below to go directly to a preview of each deck:

Change Language

Sign in

Create new account

Account settings

Reset password