Maths flash cards for the classroom board
Sums appear on the board one at a time and disappear again while the class writes the answers down. You choose the kind of sums, the numbers they use, how many there are and how fast they go. No account, no adverts, straight to the first sum.
How it works
Choose the kind of sums
Adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, times tables or division tables. The times tables give sums like 7 × 8; the division tables give the same facts the other way round, 56 ÷ 7.
Set the numbers
"From" and "up to" decide which numbers the sums are built from. With tables it picks the tables themselves, so you can drill the 6, 7 and 8 times tables and nothing else.
Set the timing
The pace sits at the foot of the screen: calm, normal or quick. Pick “set your own” and you set the seconds yourself — how long a sum stays on screen and how long the gap after it lasts. The board is empty during that gap, and that is when the class writes the answer down.
Start, then mark
After the last sum the board says how many were done. With “answers at the end” switched on, the whole run appears as a numbered list with its answers, so the class can mark their own paper.
Why flashing works
Maths only becomes fluent when facts are recalled rather than worked out, and recall comes from short bursts repeated often. Five minutes at the start of every maths lesson does more than half an hour once a week.
The flashing is what makes this different from a worksheet. The sum disappears, so there is no counting on fingers and no glancing back at the row above. A child who has not got the fact yet notices straight away — and so do you.
Keep each run short. Twenty sums is plenty for one go; twenty every day beats a hundred once a week.
Finding the right timing
The pace is what sets the difficulty. Calm gives six seconds a sum, normal four and quick two. Early in a new table, take calm so the class can read the sum properly. Once the table is known, quick is the point, because then the answer really does have to come from memory.
The gap is writing time, and it comes down with the pace: five seconds on calm, three on normal, two on quick. If that is wrong for your class, set the pace to “set your own” and choose both times yourself. In Year 3 a child needs four or five seconds to get a number down; by Year 6 three is usually enough. Set the gap to zero and the sums follow each other without a break, which is the version where the class answers out loud instead of writing.
If it turns out too fast or too slow halfway through, pause with the button or the space bar and carry on, or stop and start again with a different setting.
With the whole class
Put the board full screen and have everyone number their answers down a scrap of paper. The answer list afterwards is numbered the same way, so marking runs line by line.
Ask children to mark the sums they had to work out rather than remember. That short list is tomorrow's practice, and it beats going through the whole table again.
It works as a contest between two halves of the class, and as a fixed opening to the lesson: the settings stay in this browser, so next time you only press start.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account?
No. The tool opens straight away and works without signing in. Your settings are kept in this browser, so you only set them once.
Can I show the answers?
Yes, it is one of the settings. With it on, the whole run appears after the last sum as a numbered list with every answer, in the order the sums came up. With it off the answers stay hidden and you mark the work together.
Can I choose which times tables come up?
Yes. Pick "times tables" or "division tables" and set the range to the tables you want, for example 6 up to 8. Each table runs up to ten times.
Will any sum have a negative answer or a remainder?
No. Subtractions always put the larger number first, and divisions are built from a multiplication, so they always come out exactly. Everything on the board can actually be worked out.
Can I pause a run?
Yes. The pause button or the space bar holds it on the sum that is showing, and the same button carries on. Escape stops the run and takes you back to the settings.
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