It is the second of January, 2013.
I have been working with the new CCGPS “officially” for six months. The new ELA
standards are not difficult to work with. The only challenge that I see with
these new standards is the limitations of the current curriculum that we are
using. The math however, is another story.
I am a
fifth grade teacher, and I teach a flexible grouped math class. Most of my
students lack “math sense” and struggle with the concepts that are required.
The new standards, I find, to be particularly challenging with these students.
I want them to be adequately prepared for middle school and do not want to
“dummy down” the standards. My hope is that they will not only learn the
concept but be able to apply it in the end.
I am looking for a way to introduce math sense to these students while
teaching them strategies and “tricks” to use when solving problems.
I am
currently using our Harcourt textbook as a reference. It does not even begin to
touch the depth and knowledge required from the new CCGPS but does allow for
problems for independent practice. Last year, I wrote a grant to purchase the
Math Out of the Box curriculum. I have used it so far with place value and
basic operations such as multiplication and division. It does a great job of
making meaning out of concepts. The students respond well to the lessons and
concrete examples provided. They are still struggling however with the transfer
of knowledge and applying what they have learned in a “real world” setting.
So, I am
going to journal (blog) the resources that I find that work and don’t. I am
hoping that I will get some responses from others that are teaching the CCGPS
or similar standards from other states to hear what is working and not working in
their classrooms. Feel free to post any resources that you find and I will do
the same.
Thanks!
Until next time,
T.SalleyS Math
