Reply To: Lesson 5-5: Extending Multiplicative Thinking – Discussion

[Aaron Davis]

I agree that the textbook should never be the curriculum guide. Even in my current international school here in Amman, Jordan, teachers have the tendency to follow the lesson progression of Engage NY. It is really frustrating.

To meet the standards highlighted in this video, exposing tasks to students where they can visually see multiplication as iterating a unit is essential. Not allowing the students to see and play with manipulatives is a common problem in math education worldwide. This is why gaps occur so often because we miraculously expect students to have conceptual understanding when they reach a specific grade level.

I have been downloading a lot of illustrative mathematics tasks (specifically linked to the Operations and Algebraic Thinking standards) and turning them into google slide presentations. My go to resource has been the Howard County, Maryland, Public Schools website. Under the tab for each standard (Preferred Resources) you will find similar tasks created by HCPS. https://hcpss.instructure.com/courses/107/pages/4-dot-oa-dot-1-about-the-math-learning-targets-and-rigor

When the teachers at my school have used these tasks we have noticed more engagement amongst the students. Great discussions too.