Today my students were arguing about whether a missing factor on a multiplication problem being equal to the quotient in a division problem of the same fact family was the commutative property or not. Using THOSE WORDS. Who are these kids?!?!
To all my teacher friends who are out there frantically trying to write common core math units and trying to figure out what exactly those standards are trying to get you to do, I have your new best friend. To top it off, I believe the CPS board told everyone they are not allowed to but curricula for next year. Lol. Board of education. Silly non-elected, non-educators. So right about now you're freaking out about math because you really can't teach it without a curriculum right?! And then they want you to write your own units for math with little to no direction on how, and definitely no time. I HAVE YOUR SOLUTION!! and it's FREE. the state of Georgia received a grant from the department of education to write these units and spent way, way more time on them than you will EVER have to write them yourself. Worried about the new teacher evaluation criteria? The lessons have everything you need, right down to addressing misconceptions ahead of time, group work, student self-discovery, situations for student argumentation, etc.... They even contain background knowledge for the teacher about what kids at this age will think, developmentally, about the subject of the day's lesson, and they're pretty accurate. I have taught only two of these units so far, but it is safe to say that this will be my math curriculum for next year. I have taught the third grade fractions unit and also the third grade unit on multiplication and division strategies. I keep saying "WOW! They really got that!" At the end of almost every lesson. Each lesson builds upon the next one beautifully, and the students really get enough practice with things to develop an automaticity. This is something I felt that Everyday Math was missing-big time. I haven't felt this good about math instruction in a while. Here are a few things to remember about the units:
1) you have to take a little time to read the lessons (including the background knowledge) and really try to understand what they are getting at.
2) sometimes these lessons call for candy or some other manipulatives so you need to check that in advance and pick them up. Most of the manipulatives are regular things you have in your classroom- pattern blocks, spinners, counters, etc...
3). Check the performance task at the end of the unit. I don't like all of them and sometimes I have to write a different one. I usually take one of the lessons near the end and tweak it into a performance task if I don't like it. (The fraction one had them creating a board game with fraction questions, not high enough rigor and I didn't want to read 3,000 game cards to see if they addressed all requirements)
4) you're going to need copies. If your school doesn't let you have enough copies, they're cheating the kids, but I digress. Most lessons come with a student activity page. This is NOT a drill and kill page nor worksheet, more like a recording sheet. Sometimes you can get away with having them writing on paper instead of making copies but not every day. We are thinking of making them all at once and binding them into a book over summer.
5) you have to give the kids TONS of time to discover things on their own and in groups. They will amaze you at how smart they really are!!!
6) the units are great, but we still find ourselves running off a super teacher. Sheet or like resource for homework and/ or additional practice.
7) use the formative assessment questions like they're going out of style for discussion and reflection at the end of the lesson. They're Wonderful.
8) you have to make your own Friday quizzes. I use a rest prep book from some company that is aligned to the common core. Since this test prep book is broken into the sane units, the questions are matching almost perfectly with the lessons. I cut and paste the test together out of the book. They're multiple choice and easy to grade and give then practice in that as well. I usually give them credit for a workspace area next to each problem as well.
Thank you, state of Georgia! You saved me from spending $3000 of my own money on a math curriculum since the board of education will no longer buy them for us.
Plus, these units are rigorous, and fun, and engaging, and prepare the kids both for life AND for the standardized tests. My kids gains equal about twice what other third graders across the nation gained in math, so it's working. Just sayin'.
