The Frequency of Arithmetic Facts in Elementary Texts: Addition and Multiplication in Grades 1–6

We tabulated the frequency with which simple addition and multiplication facts occur in elementary school arithmetic texts for grades 1–6. The results indicated a strong “small-fact bias” in both addition and multiplication. “Large” facts, with operands larger than 5, occurred up to half as frequently as those with operands in the 2–5 range. As was also found in an earlier tabulation for grades K–3, facts with operands of 0 and 1 occurred relatively infrequently; the ostensible exceptions to this pattern, high frequencies for combinations like 1+2 and 1×3, were caused by the small-fact bias in multicolumn problems.