5/6 Math 

Program Overview

This page includes information about:

5/6 Math Program

2023-2024 School Year


Welcome to the 5th/6th Grade mathematics program!  As students move through 5th and 6th grade, they develop strong mathematical thinking skills.   This page is designed to help students (and parents) understand the general expectations and practices for math in grades 5 and 6.  If you have questions that are not answered in this online handbook, please send me an email:  lreece@riverdale.k12.or.us

Let’s get started…


Concept Building in the Classroom

Activities in the math room will vary from day to day, following the flow of concept development.  Students develop new concepts through a carefully-orchestrated sequence involving (1) concrete visualization and manipulation, as well as pattern identification and exploring math relationships in contextualized, real-world situations, (2) connecting activities that serve to establish algorithms or formulas, essentially bridging the concrete with the abstract, (3) reinforcement activities that serve to solidify both the understanding of the concept as well as the process for solution, and finally (4) application activities in which students apply their new understanding in contextualized settings (real-life problem solving).

Activities involving concrete concept development include group problem solving and discussion, working with manipulatives and mathematical tools, and drawing and analyzing models.  Those activities could also be involved in connecting activities, as well as more mapping and formula-building.  Reinforcement activities can include paper/pencil practice with algorithms, applied games, sequenced problems, and problem analysis. Application activities often involve applied problem solving in various settings.  Students move through this sequence over a period of several days, thus classroom activities will vary considerably from day to day.


Assessments and Grading

Throughout the course of a unit of study, students will be assessed using two different methods: 

(1) Formative Assessments- "formative" assessments are evaluations of learning as students develop concepts, sometime during the process of concept development.  These could include daily activities and homework, or weekly quizzes.  The intent of formative assessments is to provide real time feedback for both students and the teacher, and to guide instruction, planning, and questioning strategies in the classroom.

(2) Summative Assessments- "summative" assessments are given after the sequence of concept development is complete.  These assessments come in three forms: (a) periodic Mid-Unit Work Samples, given every few weeks that include more material from the unit, (b) Projects, in which students have the opportunity to apply concepts from a unit in an integrated project, and (c) Unit Tests, summarizing learning on all concepts explored within the unit of study. 

All assessments are scored on a "Proficiency" scale. This scale is similar to grading scales for work samples in both mathematics and writing.

5: Highly Proficient  

4: Proficient 

3: Nearing Proficiency 

2: Developing Proficiency

1: Not Yet

Click here for a detailed scoring rubric used for all math assignments.

To determine a trimester final grade, the mean of summative scores make up 75% of the overall grade (50% from unit tests, 25% from work samples and projects); the remaining 25%  from formative assessments.


Homework

Research on homework is mixed, though the majority of studies lean toward some benefit for home practice.  For students in intermediate grades, most studies show that the greatest benefit comes from short, targeted assignments. 

Thus, fifth and sixth graders are assisigned short sets of homework problems daily to practice and reinforce concepts explored in classroom and extend their thinking. For fifth grade students, these problems will predominantly come from the Bridges program, our adopted curriculum for K-5 at Riverdale, as well as other supplementary work from other programs.  Sixth graders will explore problems from the Connected Math Program, our adopted curriculum for grade 6-8, as well as other sources.  Please note it is not unusual for students to struggle a bit with this assigned work, and challenges with homework should not be cause for concern. Students should record questions that arise during homework completion and either email them or bring them in to class. Answer keys will be available on Fridays for students to review their work and make corrections before taking their weekly quiz. 


Parent Support

Parents often ask how involved they should be with student homework.  Generally speaking, students should be able to complete homework indepedently. Parents are welcome to help out as needed, and experience with another perspective or approach can be a good thing in terms of concept development.  However, it is important to note that many concepts in our both our 5th and 6th grade math programs are built over a period of time, using constructivist approaches.  If parents skip directly to the algorithm in their effort to help their student, it can interrupt that learning process and make it difficult for kids as they approach more complex or contextualized problems. It is helpful for parents to  a "coaching" approach, and encourage students to access their notes and recorded work from class to review. We want students to determine what is correct by engaging with the mathematics. That being said, please alert me if homework is routinely taking longer than 45 minutes to complete, or your student is regularly experiencing frustration.  Occasional frustration is normal, daily frustration is not, and it's important to communicate if that is the case so adjustments can be made. 


Turning in Work

Students do not turn in homework. At the end of the week, homework is reviewed in class with complete answer keys available for students to reflect on their answers and understanding and discuss misconceptions in small groups and as a class. Problems from the homework will be adapted into quiz questions, which are scored and recorded as formative assignments. Based on student accuracy, weekly quizzes are followed up with quiz extensions, which can replace the original quiz score. 


 *Additional Note: Families are strongly encouraged to schedule vacations and trips during school vacation days.  If it is known ahead of time that a student will be absent for more than a day or two, please contact the 5/6 team so that work can be gathered and sent with the student to prevent him or her from falling behind.  This is especially true in math, as students explore new math concepts nearly every day.


Differentiation

Every class of students will be made up of students with a wide range of skills, abilities, learning styles, and learning paces.  To address students' need for additional challenge in math, we use an equally wide range of differentiation techniques.  Examples include:

The practice of differentiation includes adaptation for students who benefit from extra reinforcement as well.  All of the techniques mentioned above are utilized for students who need additional processing time, reinforcement, or another approach. For example, as classwork is monitored, problems may be adjusted to include more support problems, giving a student more practice with one concept before moving on to another, or one problem might be broken into individual steps. Follow-up questioning is consistently used, and students also receive additional focused instruction during work stations.  Weekly assessments help us track student progress and make plans for intervention as needs are evident.


Calculators

Calculators are a wonderful tool, and have a valuable place in a math classroom.  However, it is also essential that students understand foundational math processes.  It is important that students build a strong foundation with basic skills and develop a complex understanding of number relationships. 

That being said, students in Math 5 will not need calculators.  Any projects or other unexpected calculator-dependent activities can be completed using the classroom set or online apps.  Students in Math 6 and Math 6X should have access calculators daily, though depending on the unit or activity, calculators may not always be allowed.  

For information about current research on calculator use and student success, check out the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics summary of multiple years of research: Using Calculators for teaching and Learning Mathematics.


Google Classroom

While Google Classroom is an excellent format for assigning work in many subject areas, math is harder to adapt to online work. With an emphasis on modeling, visual representations, and multiple strategies for showing calculations, Google Docs and related programs can be somewhat limiting for math.  For that reason, Google Classroom is used infrequently for math.  Exceptions would include (a) a space to post answer keys that are archived throughout the year, (b) a place to post and assign a long term project with a product posted or presented in a Google-based format, or (c) an assignment that incorporates a related website, such as a Scholastic Math assignment, a Geogebra applet, or an activity in Desmos. 


Extra Math Reinforcement

There may be times in the year when students are either (a) looking for engaging math activities to complete at home for fun, or (b) due to a weather related school closure  are unable to access regular class.  If/when that happens, try out some of these options that encourage mathematical engagement in a fun way: 


MathCounts: MathCounts is an annual math contest for middle and high school students.  Their website includes a "problem of the week" for students to try out and challenge their thinking, and it also includes an archive of previous "problems on the week."  While much of the math material addressed in these problems is upper-middle school level, many of the problems are accessible to 5/6 grade students.  Definitely worth trying out.


Parent and Student Resources

There have been many changes to standards and assessment, and as we all adjust, the following websites can be helpful in gathering additional details:

Common Core Standards site (for math):

http://www.corestandards.org/Math

 ODE:

http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=51

Information about proficiency-based grading:

http://www.ode.state.or.us/pubs/eii/proficiency.learning.parent.info.pdf

 

Curriculum Resources:

Bridges: 

Bridges Second Edition support | The Math Learning Center

Math Resources for Families | Math Learning Center | MLC

Connected Math:

Connected Math: http://connectedmath.msu.edu/


Other Resources