Rationale

Need

Quantitative data shows the needs in my classroom as very polarized; however, qualitative data illustrates commonalities among all students.

Assessment Scores

As of the first semester, addition and subtraction fluency probes showed a need for continued reinforcement of basic facts for computational fluency.

Addition: 8 of 15 students proficient
Subtraction: 5 of 15 students proficient

Based on the winter testing period, number was the lowest area on the math Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment for my own class as well as the whole grade level, and has been a continued area of focus by the second grade team. This suggested the need to build students' number sense. However, the overall math scores of my class showed extension would be beneficial , making these math needs complex.

Strand of Number: 31% average or below
Overall Math: 94% above average

Observations

I noticed that all students, regardless of ability level, struggled to articulate how they solved any math problem. Some students could not estimate reasonable answers, and those who could were unable to verbalize their reasoning. Students did not seem to be thinking about the numbers in a given problem, or the connections between math concepts. This was seen primarily when working with fact families and mental math. For example, most students were unable to make connections between 5+3=8 and 8-5=3. Additionally, if given a problem like 17-9, many students would write the problem vertically and solve it using the standard algorithm, without realizing that when you borrow the problem becomes 17-9 again, therefore making that strategy inefficient. Furthermore, when I pointed this out to students they did not see the issue with this strategy.

Importance

Number sense and computational fluency go hand in hand. The building blocks required for computational fluency are rooted in number sense. As students' understanding of numerical relationships increase, their ability to compute quickly grows as well. Students must be asked to make connections and look for relationships as well as explain and refine their mathematical reasoning to grow these foundational math skills.

As someone who has struggled with math, it was my goal to help students think flexibly about numbers. I wanted my second graders to not only feel confident in their mathematical abilities, but also enjoy the process. To accomplish this, I knew I needed to take a nontraditional approach to help improve and extend their number sense and fluency.

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