Who knew math could be such fun! A colorful variety of musical styles make basic addition and subtraction facts easy to learn. These songs strike a balance between problem solving and memorization with an emphasis on developing mathematical thinking skills. The songs are organized sequentially in a progression of skills and problem solving strategies with the understanding that children have individual patterns and rates of internalizing these concepts. 1. Count Up, Count Down - Counting from 0 to 10 and 10 - 0 2. Naming Numbers - Counting from 0 to 20 and 20 to 0 3. One More, One Less - Adding and subtracting one 4. Doubles Facts - Learning doubles facts 5. Add One To The Double - Using the doubles plus one strategy 6. Switcheroo - Understanding the commutative property 7. Skip Count - Counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s 8. Two More, Two Less - Adding and subtracting two 9. Ways To Get To Ten - Learning combinations that equal 10 10. Ten Plus - Adding single digit numbers to 10 11. Make Nine Into Ten - Using ten plus facts to solve nine plus facts 12. All Aboard To Add And Subtract - Understanding the relationship of addition and subtraction 13. Counting By Twos With The Odd Numbers - Skip counting with odd numbers 14. The Five Seven Twelve Family - Recognizing the 5, 7, 12 fact family and it's relation to the doubles fact 6 + 6 15. Five Ate Thirteen - A fun way to memorize the facts in the 5, 8, 13 family These songs are useful for a wide range of ages from pre-school to third grade. Start at the level of the students you are working with. For example, if a child already knows how to count from 0 to 20 and from 20 back down to 0, you can skip the first two songs and move to the doubles facts. When doubles facts are mastered move to the concept of doubles plus one. Every song has an instrumental or no answers version to challenge the students and test their knowledge. Each song focuses on a mathematical skill or problem solving strategy. Emphasize that there is more that one strategy to solve any problem. The goal is that the child can provide a quick response and also explain or verify that the answer is correct. With this approach students can come up with answers as fast as rote memorization and the facts stay with them longer. In fact, after employing a strategy many times, children often memorize the fact and no longer use the strategy. Having a way, to figure out the basic facts, helps students memorize them (Rathmell). Many students suffer from math anxiety (Beilock and Ramirez). Music and Movement can reduce math anxiety. Getting the body in motion stimulates deeper breathing, which is an effective anecdote to anxiety. Many movement activities are included in this guide. Studies on the relative difficulty of 100 single digit addition facts show the following: 1. Most children find doubles facts the easiest to remember. 2. Larger sums are generally more difficult than smaller sums. 3. The ten most difficult non-zero, single digit addition facts are: 7 + 9, 8 + 9, 7 + 8, 7 + 5, 5 + 7 9 + 7, 9 + 6, 5 + 8, 8 + 6, 7 + 6 Interestingly, this research was first done in 1939 (Murray) and was confirmed in 1993 (Frobisher et al.) suggesting that little has changed to influence the relative difficulty of addition facts. Many of the songs in this album suggest strategies that will help students answer the ten most difficult facts. 7 + 9 Switcheroo, Make Nine Into Ten 8 + 9 Switcheroo, Make Nine Into Ten, Add One To The Double 7 + 8 Doubles Facts, Add One To The Double 7 + 5 The Five Seven Twelve Family 5 + 7 The Five Seven Twelve Family 9 + 7 Ten Plus, Make Nine Into Ten 9 + 6 Ten Plus, Make Nine Into Ten 5 + 8 Five Ate Thirteen 8 + 6 Doubles Facts, Skip Count, Two More Two Less 7 + 6 Doubles Facts, Add One To The Double Currently, the more difficult facts are often referred to as “no strategy” or “left over facts.” These are facts that don’t fit the strategies of 1 more, 2 more, doubles, or doubles plus 1. Included in this list are: 3 + 5, 3 + 7, 4 + 6, 4 + 7, 5 + 7, 5 + 8 and 6 + 3. Here are songs that suggest strategies for solving these problems: 3 + 5 Doubles Facts, Two More Two Less 3 + 7 Ways To Get To Ten 4 + 6 Ways To Get To Ten 4 + 7 Ways To Get To Ten, Ten Plus 5 + 7 The Five Seven Twelve Family 5 + 8 Five Ate Thirteen 6 + 3 All Aboard To Add And Subtract Initially, some children may find zero confusing when it is the first addend in a fact, for example, 0 + 4. Often 4 + 0 is easier to answer. Understanding the commutative principle (featured in the song Switcheroo) shows children that 0 + 4 can be viewed as 4 + 0. The 100 basic addition facts are shown in the following chart: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 3 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 5 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 6 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 7 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 8 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 9 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 By learning key strategies students can quickly answer most of these facts through reason and logic while developing a deeper understanding of mathematics. The strategies also help students memorize the basic single digit math facts. Studies show that students who have the basic facts memorized do better in college readiness exams (Ansari, Price et al.) (Sparks) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Information From Press Release Hap Palmer has the magical gift of making learning fun – and setting it all to music. On his latest CD, Count, Add, Subtract! Fun With Math, Music, and Movement, Hap combines hip songs and fun games to make addition and subtraction come alive for children. Using a colorful variety of musical styles - jazz, country, Latin, hip-hop and rock – Hap, a pioneer in the use of music and movement in learning, makes math easy to grasp. By blending clear, simple lyrics with memorable melodies, math is transformed into an engaging challenge as each song focuses on a specific skill. Children count forward and backward, add and subtract one, learn the doubles facts, and easily move on to doubles plus one. They skip count by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. They find combinations that equal ten, and then learn the ten plus facts. Jumping in a triangle path, children see the relationship of addition and subtraction: 5 + 7 = 12 and 12 – 7 = 5. This approach strikes a balance between problem solving and memorization. The emphasis is on developing mathematical thinking skills, which leads to the ability to quickly solve basic addition and subtraction facts. Studies show that students who have the basic facts memorized do better in college readiness exams. This album is one way to make this task more enjoyable. One of the hallmarks of a Hap Palmer album is the outstanding production. Hap’s arrangements, the variety of instruments, the strong vocals and delightful children’s chorus are all front and center in this celebration of math. He flawlessly merges the subject matter with the music to give us math you can actually dance to. Count, Add, Subtract! is valuable for a wide range of ages from pre-school to third grade. The songs are designed for both group and individualized learning. They are effective in a variety of situations from one child in the home or car to a school classroom setting. A booklet with song lyrics is included with the CD. A complete teaching guide, available free at www.happalmer.com, describes fun games including “Beanbag Toss to Twenty” and “Doubles Partner Dance.” Hap’s recordings and videos have received numerous honors including the Parents’ Choice, American Library Association Notable Children’s Recording, National Association of Parenting Publications, Earlychildhood NEWS Directors’ Choice and American Video awards. Now quickly, what’s 5 + 7?