Changing Math Lessons

As you may know, I am one of the three teachers from the fourth grade team who are on the math curriculum committee for our grade.  With three counterparts from RBS and our district K-6 math coach, we meet ever few weeks to continue the process of revising our math instruction.  When we transitioned to align with the Common Core, we found that our former series, Everyday Mathematics, was no longer appropriate in its entirety.  As we rewrote our fourth grade math curriculum, we worked to pull materials and resources that were best suited for teaching a given concept or skill.  Something those resources came from individual Everyday Math lessons, sometimes they came from OnCore, and occasionally we pulled in miscellaneous resources (including SMART Notebook lessons from SMART Exchange, homework or classwork worksheets from different sources, etc.)

Four our new math unit, which focuses on adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions, we have chosen to pilot a new resource.  EngageNY is a resource made available by the New York State Department of Education.  The state has developed Common Core-aligned lessons and resources for each grade, and we have found from small pilots that the lessons are well-structured, include valuable resources, and integrate an appropriate amount of rigor (while not being unreasonably difficult).  As a team, we have chosen to pilot this program for our new math unit.  You and your fourth grader will see a few changes:

• Lessons are more structured and include more instructional support.  While worksheets are still included for practice at the end of lessons, they are less emphasized than other lessons we have considered.
• The word “tape diagram” is introduced.  It means the same as “bar model” (which your kids should certainly be able to explain to you!)  Both terms will be used interchangeably.
• Lessons begin with a number talk, which allows students to practice mental computation skills and to discuss different methods in which they solved a given problem.
• Lessons end with exit tickets.  These are very short (one or two question) worksheets that let teachers get a quick overview of student proficiency.  They can be used in different ways, including informal assessments, warm-ups for the next day, etc.
• Classwork and homework worksheets have the potential to be more lengthy.  There are times when I may ask students to complete a whole assignment.  Other times, I may ask kids to complete certain sections.  Overall, however, the assignments will have more items than the five-item worksheets you remember from OnCore.  Additionally, most items are open-ended, as compared to the OnCore multiple choice homework worksheets.  This allows students to better apply their skills.  Homework worksheets more closely resemble the classwork pages, so a correct sheet from classwork can help a student as he or she completes the homework page.

As with all changes to our instructional plan, we will continue to meet as a team to review our progress, discuss what we like and don’t like about the new lessons, and revise our plans based on our experiences from students.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions!

Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss