Mathematical
Reflections and Translations: October 13, 2015
Announcements
- IMIII hard copy books are on the way! They are in trucks headed for the SUHSD and should arrive at school sites by next Friday (10/23).
- Parent Guides for courses IM7-IMII (in English and Spanish) are available now on cpm.org. They offer parents an overview of the math topics that are in each course, along with examples and extra practice. Free to download!
- 2014-15 Math Final Exams (IMI,IMII,IMIII,Math Analysis) have been released to assist with Final Exam creation this year. See below for more information!
Spanish Versions of CPM text
Spanish language materials expanded!
See tab at top of page for Spanish versions of IM7, IM8, and IMI lessons. Similar tools are on the way for other courses.
Semester 1 Math Tasks
Site leaders will work together to arrange task administration details; teachers should plan to bring unscored student work to Q2 zone workshops.
Second Quarter Cohort & Zone Workshops
10/21 Zone 3A + all Pre-cal @SYH; Zone 3B @RDR
10/22 Zone 4A @SYH; Zone 4B @DO (Board Room)
10/23 Zone 1A @SYH; Zone 1B @BVM
10/26 Zone 2A @SYH; Zone 2B @CPM
Always verify workshop details by referencing the SUHSD PD Calendar.
Access Semester 1 Math Tasks Using the Links Below.
Teachers, plan to bring student work to the second quarter zone workshops in October. The scoring guide is consistent across tasks; teachers should NOT score student work before bringing it to zones.
Printing Tip: Be sure to download files before printing in order to preserve formatting.
Spanish-language tasks are on Canvas; contact Ivette Sanchez-Gutierrez if you have questions or need more information.
Tasks for students in Fundamentals math classes are also on Canvas; contact Carla Jacobs if you have questions or need more information on those.
2015-16 Math Final Exams
This year, teachers across content areas are given the option to use the 2014-15 version of the district final exam OR use a PLC-created final exam.
Due to the high school adoption of CPM this year, some 2014-15 Fall and Spring final exams no longer align with the way the curriculum is organized by semester. As a result, certain final exams have been released (in Microsoft Word format) to assist PLCs with their exam creation this year. The intent is to allow these PLCs ( that do not have a final exam that is aligned to the 2015-16 Instructional Guide) to use these past exams as a resource to build their own site-based final exam.
To access these released exams, visit the SUHSD Curriculum & Professional Development Course on Canvas. On the Math home page and look for "ARCHIVED TESTED CURRICULUM."
Other resources on Curriculum & PD Course: Find instructional guides, assessment and instruction resources.
Recently added: Report Issues with Spanish Translation in CPM using the link at the bottom of the "Written" Curriculum column.
This month's theme: Engaging Parents & Community Members
Family Math Nights offer opportunities for purposeful engagement
Family members join parents and guardians
Many parents/guardians brought OLH students and their siblings to the Family Math Night. All worked together on a problem accessible at various levels.
Teachers, administrators and others facilitate math activities
A significant amount of time during the evening was devoted to "doing math:" participants worked in groups to investigate a dimensional analysis problem.
Mathematics is fun!
CPM provides free access to course-specific Parent Guides
See this example for IMII
Presentation slides illustrate content offered to participants
See these slides. Big thanks to Melody and OLH for sharing their work and ideas!
Active engagement in "doing math" builds understanding
See these resources from Everyday Mathematics, based at the University of Chicago.
CPM offers "homework help" that's accessible to students and teachers
See this example for IMII.
Modify and adapt!
The structure of the evening could be replicated to meet the needs of other content areas.
People recognize positive change
Comments from older siblings in attendance validate the relationship between greater engagement and learning.
See these recent Education Week articles dealing with math:
Teachers Nurture Growth Mindsets in Math (September, 2015)
New Project Uses Primary Sources in the Math Classroom (September, 2015)
Studies Probe How Students Can Apply Math More Widely (June, 2015)
Researchers Target Ways to Design Better Mathematics Text Materials (May, 2015)
Encourage students to apply!
CPM Teacher Tip of the Week
Week 11:
Effective circulation techniques are essential to effective teamwork. Make your circulation purposeful with a specific path mapped out and a specific plan for each pass.
1st pass: Move around to make sure that everyone is on task and following directions. Do not answer questions except those that help teams begin their work, primarily clarifying questions. Do not check homework.
2nd pass: Make sure everyone is working. Ask/Answer questions that help students with their developing understanding.**
3rd pass: Ask/answer questions to help students complete the task.** Listen carefully to student thinking and encourage them to move on to the next problems or extend their thinking.
4th pass: Continue listening and asking questions that help students correct any errors you note. Ask higher order thinking, extension or reflective questions.
As you circulate, always be on the lookout for errors or misconceptions. Be sure to continually check for understanding and offer positive reinforcement. Design your routes so that you visit every side of every study team. Follow varied routes and stick to them. Don’t allow yourself to be pulled off course by teams that try to rely on your assistance instead of listening to each other.
Most teachers find it helpful to carry around an answer key or pages from the teacher edition when circulating. Do not carry a writing utensil with you. You do not want to find yourself doing the problems for the students. If you want to model something, find another student in the team or in the class who has done a step correctly and have them show the student or team the work they have done.
**When circulating and asking clarifying questions, feel free to restate the discussion points to add to the discussion. Encouraging students to reread the discussion points aloud to the team is a great way to get the conversation going. Remember that everyone on the team needs to agree to questions, and your response is best when it is a question that helps them answer their own question. Obviously some clarifying questions simply need to be answered.
CLICK HERE to see some videos on Circulation
For a list of all the Teacher Tips, click Here
Annual CMC-South Conference is in Palm Springs November 6-7, 2015
For more information, click the button below.
Want to Learn More? See Additional Resources below:
- Inside Mathematics - Variety of performance-like tasks for grade 2-12 aligned to the CCSS, with supporting videos, rubrics and additional teaching resources.
- Mathematics Assessment Project - Variety of performance-like tasks for grade 6-12 aligned to the CCSS, with supporting, rubrics and additional teaching resources. Information about formative and summative assessments.
- Illustrative Mathematics - Dedicated to supporting mathematics teachers in the implementation of CCSS. Problems created to illustrate standard clusters.
- Tools for The Common Core Standards - Website/blog of Bill McCallum, lead author of the mathematics CCSS. Learning Progression papers can be found on this site.
- Institute for Mathematics and Education - Information and links to other sites.
- California Mathematics Project – CaCCSS Resources - Information from content-based task force groups. Site is under development but has some good resources.
Math Curriculum Team
Mimi Williams (Math curriculum specialist-Middle School)
Carla Jacobs (Special Education Support)
Ivette Sanchez (SEI and Bilingual Support)
Email: mimi.williams@sweetwaterschools.org
Website: curriculum.suhsd.k12.ca.us
Location: 1130 5th Ave, Chula Vista, CA, United States
Phone: (619) 600-4947