Cutting to the Core of Common Core Cathy Hale Academic Specialist for Elementary Math December 2013

Is my child… O Being taught more rigorous standards? O Gaining knowledge and increasing their vocabulary from year to year? O Being asked to solve real-world problems in math? O Being asked to explain their thinking as to how they solved a math problem?

If you answered yes… Then your child has experienced the Common Core State Standards!

What are the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)? A set of academic standards for K-12 students developed for English Language Arts and Math

CCSS were… O Designed by educators and academic experts O Inspired by standards from the world’s highest- performing countries O Adopted by S.C. in 2010 O Designed to teach critical thinking and problem solving CCSS are not a curriculum!!

Why are they important for my child? O Ensure that all children receive a consistent high- quality education from school to school and state to state O Prepare our children to confront the challenges of an unpredictable and ever-changing future O Help them retain (or regain) their competitive edge in the global marketplace O Create a level playing field for all students

The Shifts in Mathematics 1. Focus: Focus strongly where the standards focus 2. Coherence: Think across grades and link to major topics 3. Rigor: In major topics, pursue conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application with equal intensity

Content Shifts in Mathematics

Critical Areas O Name the big ideas in math that students should learn at each grade level O Identify how instructional time should be focused

Kindergarten Instructional time should focus on… 1. Representing, relating, and operating on whole numbers, initially with sets of objects; 2. Describing shapes and space.

First Grade Instructional time should focus on… 1. Developing understanding of addition, subtraction, and strategies for addition and subtraction within 20; 2. Developing understanding of whole number relationships and place value; 3. Developing understanding of linear measurement and measuring lengths as iterating length units; 4. Reasoning about attributes of, and composing and decomposing geometric shapes.

Second Grade Instructional time should focus on… 1. Extending understanding of base-ten notation; 2. Building fluency with addition and subtraction; 3. Using standard units of measure; 4. Describing and analyzing shapes.

Third Grade Instructional time should focus on… 1. Developing understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for each within 100; 2. Developing understanding of fractions; 3. Developing understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area; 4. Describing and analyzing two-dimensional shapes.

Fourth Grade Instructional time should focus on… 1. Developing understanding and fluency with multi- digit multiplication, and dividing to find quotients involving multi-digit dividends; 2. Developing understanding of fraction equivalence, addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators, and multiplication of fractions by whole numbers; 3. Understanding that geometric figures can be analyzed and classified based on their properties.

Fifth Grade Instructional time should focus on… 1. Developing fluency with addition and subtraction of fractions, multiplication and division of fractions; 2. Extending division to 2-digit divisors, integrating decimal fractions into the place value system and developing understanding of operations with decimals to hundredths, and developing fluency with whole number and decimal operations; 3. Developing understanding of volume.

Emphasis on the Standards for Mathematical Practice 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. 2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. 4. Model with mathematics. 5. Use appropriate tools strategically. 6. Attend to precision. 7. Look for and make use of structure. 8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Math Expectations Students will… O Engage in real-world problem solving O Learn and use multiple strategies to solve problems O Build a conceptual understanding of concepts prior to learning tricks or shortcuts O Use concrete materials (manipulatives) and/or drawings and representations to develop understanding O Develop number sense through meaningful tasks, activities, games, and/or lessons O Fluently recall basic facts O Explain their thinking both orally and in writing

Fluency CCSS identify fact fluency benchmarks: O Kindergarten – addition and subtraction facts to 5 O First Grade – addition and subtraction facts to 10 O Second Grade – addition and subtraction facts to 20 O Third Grade – multiplication and division facts to 100

What is my role as a parent? O Schedule a conference with your child’s teacher to discuss his/her academic progress? O Ask to see samples of your child’s classwork in mathematics and English language arts? O Ask questions about your child’s progress? O Reinforce your child’s learning at home?

How can you help your child in math? - Practice addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts with your child. - Encourage children not to give up while solving problems, to build stamina and develop their critical thinking skills. Don’t give them the answers - ask them to think of different ways they can solve problems. - Have children illustrate the math they were thinking in their head and discuss it out loud. - Have children apply their math knowledge to a real-world scenario at home, such as doubling a recipe or calculating the area of a room.

Children will become… O Active learners O Independent thinkers who can create informed opinions, critique the opinions of peers and the world, defend their arguments with evidence, and communicate their points of view effectively O Required to reason out the best answer, rather than memorize the “correct” answer

Where can I get accurate information about CCSS? O Common Core State Standards O Parent Roadmaps O Video (15 min) O Parent Guides = =2910