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Knowledge of mathematics is essential to be a productive member of a technological society. It is the mission of South Windsor Public Schools to provide a mathematics curriculum that will encourage students to shape information into knowledge and experience into understanding. Our philosophy is that students learn mathematics best by doing mathematics. It is the role of the teacher to guide students in constructing their own mathematical understanding. Teachers will implement curriculum and plan activities that will guide and support students as they investigate, analyze and achieve. As a result of this guidance, students will develop an appreciation of the value of mathematics, gain confidence in their ability to use mathematics, and become mathematical problem solvers. Students will also develop their ability to communicate and reason mathematically. All students are expected to master mathematics according to their greatest potential.
The major goals of the South Windsor Public Schools mathematics curriculum are to:
Ensure high expectations and access to meaningful mathematics learning for every student.
Ensure implementation of the Standards for Mathematical Practice to develop the processes and proficiencies in mathematics.
Implement a curriculum that is aligned to national and state standards while incorporating 21st century skills and technologies, resulting in relevant and meaningful instruction and high student achievement.
Utilize data-driven decision making based on universal screens, benchmarks and formative assessments to inform instruction and improve student learning.
To ensure instructional equity among all students.
The Mathematics curriculum encourages the use of the following Mathematical Practices:
Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
Reason abstractly and quantitatively
Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others
Model with mathematics
Use appropriate tools strategically
Attend to precision
Look for and make use of structure
Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning
Math Unit Overview
The district is using the San Francisco math curriculum as a core resource. A description of each of the units is provided below. These units tie to the skills and student outcomes outlined in the progress report overview.
Unit 4.1
Structures of
Whole Numbers
Unit 4.1
Structures of
Whole Numbers
In kindergarten through Grade 3, students had many experiences with numbers, building their understanding of the base-10 number system and how it works. In Grade 4, students practice with one of the most important ideas about numbers: that any digit in a multi-digit number represents a number that is ten times greater than what it would represent one place to the right. Understanding how to describe and work with very large and very small numbers will be important for all future mathematics.
Unit 4.2
Whole Number Multiplication
Unit 4.2
Whole Number Multiplication
Unit 4.2 is all about multiplication. Students will practice the multiplication facts they learned in third grade as they work with larger numbers. In this unit, students will learn to compare using multiplication, and will learn several ways to multiply two-digit numbers.
Unit 4.3
Whole Number Division
Unit 4.3
Whole Number Division
Multiplication and division are related operations. In this unit, fourth graders take what they have learned about multiplication and apply it to division, developing a deep understanding of what division is and how and when to use it. Unit 4.3 covers division of whole numbers of up to 4 digits by 1 digit, or numbers in the thousands place divided by numbers in the ones place.
Unit 4.4
Decimal Numbers
Unit 4.4
Decimal Numbers
Unit 4.4 continues the Grade 4 focus on important ideas about place value, now
extending the concept to include decimals. Students will add to their understanding that any digit in a multi-digit number is ten times greater than what it would represent one place to the right. This is true for decimals in the same way that it is true for whole numbers.
Fourth graders will practice with many of the same routines and procedures as they used in Unit 4.1: Structures of Whole Numbers.
Unit 4.5
Fractions
Unit 4.5
Fractions
The idea of adding and subtracting is the same across whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. In this unit, fourth graders practice many strategies to understand, compare, add and subtract fractions.
Unit 4.6
Factors and Multiples
Unit 4.6
Factors and Multiples
Unit 4.6 builds on the work in multiplication and division done in both 3rd and 4th grades. Students extend their practice with multiplication to include that the factors of a whole number are the numbers that divide it evenly, with no remainder. and the patterns of scaling up with a number (its multiples). Understanding factors and multiples will help students operate more proficiently with fractions in later grades and with proportions and ratios in middle school.
Unit 4.7
Measurement
Unit 4.7
Measurement
In this unit, fourth graders work with standard units of measurement, meaning measurements that are agreed upon, such as one inch or one pound. Students will use measurement in problems with area and perimeter, and they will convert between units to help them make sense of real situations in the world.
Unit 4.8
Polygons
Unit 4.8
Polygons
In this unit, fourth graders will classify and categorize polygons, by their sides and their angles. Students have worked with two-dimensional and three-dimensional figures since preschool and kindergarten, learning the formal definition of a polygon in Grade 2. In this unit, fourth graders will formalize the distinctions between the different kinds of polygons.
Unit 4.9
Number and
Shape Patterns
Unit 4.9
Number and
Shape Patterns
Patterns can be made up of numbers or shapes. In fourth grade, students extend patterns and describe them with words, tables, and numbers. Many of the lessons and tasks in this unit will feel like engaging puzzles. The mathematics emerges as students see and describe the patterns. As students progress into middle school and high school, the growth patterns they work with get far
more complex. In 4th grade, what matters is that students can recognize the growth, describe it with everyday words, and show the patterns in a table. In later years, students will describe these patterns with equations using algebraic notation, meaning they will write equations with numbers they know and
letters for the numbers they don’t know or that change.
Additional Resources
Where to go for additional information and support
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