Our Program

A short daily routine for practicing math facts after a skill has been taught.

Facts on Fire provides about 5–10 minutes of school-wide fact fluency practice each day, after a skill has been taught. Schools choose the skills their students need and build practice into the school day.

The skills progress from counting through addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and multidigit work, with fractions extending the range of practice. Schools typically choose three to five skills to focus on over the year.

Learning cards show addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and one quarter, alongside counting beads.

Skill scope and sequence. A clearly defined order, from early numeracy through computation.
Controlled problem sets. Students practice a small set of facts at a time.
Validated procedures. The routines use intervention procedures tested in research.
Simple measurement. Short timings help teachers and students track growth.

Read more about the research behind the program.

The daily routine

Students write their answers while a smart screen shows 6 + 3 = ?.

1. Taped problems

A recording reads a fact and pauses. Students write their answers before they hear the answer on the recording.

Three students work on separate sheets while a classroom timer counts down.

2. One-minute timing

Students complete a one-minute check and compare their score with their previous timing.

Some classes add two short warm-up timings before the one-minute check.

Sums to 10 chart, correct in one minute: Warm 1–12, Hot 13–24, On Fire 25–36, Nuclear 37–48.

3. Heat goal

Count the problems answered correctly in one minute. Find that score on the workbook’s heat chart and record the level reached.

The teacher adds a flame to the shared goal chart as the class celebrates.

4. Weekly celebration

On Friday, the class celebrates progress toward its shared goal.

See the routine in use

In this PaTTAN presentation from 2023, Brian Poncy explains how MIND can support class-wide computation practice.

Laura Stam’s published classroom demonstrations show choral taped problems, written responses, warm-up timings and a Friday celebration.

Watch Laura’s classroom demonstrations

Equipment

A teacher presents a basic fact on the classroom screen while students write their answers.

Board

The class sees facts on a screen or smartboard. The teacher plays the recording and runs the one-minute timing.

Students complete printed workbooks with support from their teacher.

Paper Workbooks

Students write their answers and complete timings in printed workbooks. The paper materials are free, and the school covers printing.

Students practice on laptops and tablets while their teacher supports the class.

Devices

Students complete practice on their devices, with automatic timing, scoring and progress tracking. Online and hybrid practice is priced by school quote.

Request a school quote.

Progress Reports

Teachers fill out progress reports manually when students use paper workbooks, or get them automatically when students use devices. Reports help teachers and school leaders see progress across classes and identify students who may need more support.

Starting at your school

Choose a coach. Agree on who will help teachers learn the routine and check in with each class.
Choose the skills. Grade teams identify facts students have already been taught and need to practice. Prepare the materials for those skills.
Set a daily time. Give every class a regular five to ten minutes for practice. Teachers circulate during the timing and help students record their progress.
Review progress together. The coach visits classes to see how the routine is running. Teachers use timing results to decide who needs more support and celebrate progress with the class on Friday.

For help introducing Facts on Fire, contact the authors about training and consultation.

Every student can be On Fire.

Build fact fluency, one short practice session at a time.