Math

K-4 Math Overview

Prepared by Rachel Clark, K-4 Math Lead Teacher

We look forward to a productive, engaging year of math with your child. The following information may give you some clarity regarding math instruction at the elementary level.

Both Rowe and Yarmouth Elementary School students will use similar materials (i.e., resources, manipulatives, and journals) in all classrooms. These common classroom experiences allow for deeper conversations among teachers around best classroom practices as units are planned and implemented. Teachers have a common language to use when discussing math instruction, assessment, enrichment, and reteaching.

Many routines such as Explorations, Name-Collection Boxes, Frames and Arrows, and What’s My Rule? are similar from classroom to classroom. Number line activities and work with the 100’s grid are commonplace in all classrooms, thereby giving students a strong foundation in number sense and place value.

Our primary resource materials, entitled Everyday Math, are designed to encourage children to think mathematically and to develop confidence and familiarity with math concepts by using numbers and activities that have meaning in children’s lives. Children learn about inches and centimeters by measuring their own hands, for example.

We incorporate a philosophy that provides students with frequent exposure to skills and concepts before mastery is expected. This is similar to literacy instruction in that students are given opportunities for practice and exploration and are invited to marinate in the new vocabulary.

At all grade levels, students play a variety of math games that give them plenty of practice using numbers. These motivating games are coupled with instruction where students gain strategies for acquiring automaticity of basic facts, the understanding of place value, and the relationship of operations. The ultimate goal is basic fact fluency, and we discuss many strategies that help students arrive at mastery with facts. Additionally, children develop a variety of computational methods and the flexibility to choose the procedure that is most appropriate in a given situation. Building a deep understanding of number sense and place value is the cornerstone of instruction regarding computation algorithms.

Problem solving and critical reasoning are key components of our math program at all grade levels. Students will make important decisions about how to solve problems, rather than just following steps to find an answer. They learn to choose from a variety of strategies and carry out their strategies to solve problems. The focus revolves around communicating solutions in a clear and coherent manner.

You will notice a hum in math classes at the K-4 level as students are given frequent opportunities to reflect on strategies used, patterns that are noticed, and observations that are made.

Each grade level has specific learning goals that are essential and linked to the Common Core Standards. The year features instruction and assessment centered around these essential goals. We will update you on your child’s progress toward these goals in a variety of ways throughout the year. As parents, you are apt to hear much about the Common Core in the coming years so here is a quick reference on how all this relates to math instruction. For parents, it is important to know that the Common Core Standards provide a shift in three areas: focus, coherence, and rigor.

We implement a focus on teaching the most essential standards at each grade level so that instruction is deeper, not wider. You will note thoughtful coherence of major topics across and within grade levels. And finally, the Common Core offers added rigor which involves pursuing conceptual understanding, procedural skills and fluency, and application with equal intensity.

You, as parents, will have many opportunities at home to nurture and observe your child’s love of math through a variety of approaches. Games, homelinks, fact triangle practice, Discovery Math (optional), and what Everyday Math calls ”do-anytime-activities” will be your resources as you support your children. Many activities are based on real life situations such as measuring, estimating and counting while cooking, walking or driving. Please refer to my teacher page (https://sites.google.com/a/yarmouthschools.org/rachel-clark/) and family blog (http://rclarkmath.blogspot.com) for added information and tutorials. Your involvement is an integral part of math acquisition as it helps students to see the relevance of math in everyday lives. Through this school/home partnership, the sky's the limit for your children.

I hope you have found this summary helpful and invite you to call me, Rachel Clark, at Rowe School or YES, or your child’s classroom teacher with specific questions regarding math instruction at the K-4 level.

Most importantly, we look forward to engaging your children in the active learning of mathematics this year.