PEOPLE ASK: CAN WE CHANGE THE TABLES ON SOUNDCHECK FOR YOUNGER PUPILS?

The short answer is that it’s not possible to change the tables in Soundcheck…but the good news is, you may not need to.

SOUNDCHECK

Soundcheck games are designed to simulate the Multiplication Tables Check, a national assessment of year four children in England. There are 25 multiplication-only questions with a six second limit per question.

That time limit, we think, adds a certain pressure. Even as adults, regardless of whether we can answer comfortably in three seconds, we may get a little “performance anxiety” in Soundcheck games.

WHY SOUNDCHECK ISN'T RIGHT FOR YOUNGER PUPILS

In year two and year three, children are still learning the tables and developing their dexterity with the number pad. The six second limit suddenly raises the stakes just at an age when they’re forming an impression of themselves mathematically.

THE ALTERNATIVE - GO WITH THE DATA YOU'VE ALREADY GOT

What year two and year three teachers really want is to know how their pupils would perform on age-appropriate MTC. To put it another way…

Bruno Reddy, CEO Maths Circle

"Can they answer the year 2 and year 3 tables in less than 6 seconds?"

 

The good news is that data is already available to TT Rock Stars teachers, without needing them to play a single Soundcheck game.

Head to Stats > Class > Fluency and scroll down to the pupil table.

You can see whether they can answer each table in under six seconds and they won’t have to do a particular test to evidence it. The data is up-to-date and more reliable than a single test, in fact, it’s taken from multiple recent attempts at each question, so you can really depend on what it’s telling you.

Pro-tip: drag the threshold slider to six seconds and you’ll be able to quickly see which students have passed the 10s, 2s and 5s or the 3s, 4s and 8s.

SUMMARY: NO STRESS!

In summary, instead of a modified Soundcheck game, use the fluency data already available to assess year two and three students. Save Soundcheck games for year four.

Otherwise, everything that people feared would happen with the MTC (stressing teachers, stressing children) is going to come true.

So there you have it! Now go out there and rock your socks off – until next time, stay awesome!

Don’t forget you can get in touch with us at [email protected]. We’re ready to help!

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