TLJ Consulting Group, LLC

  • About Us
    • Contact
    • Sitemap
  • Mathematical Moments Blog
    • Mathematical Moments
      • Elementary
      • Secondary
      • Free Activity
    • Writing and Literacy
      • Elementary
      • Secondary
    • Odds & Ends
    • For Parents
  • Professional Learning
    • Courses
      • Course Catalog
    • Customized On-Site
    • Blended
    • TLJ Professional Learning & Resource Center
  • Resources
    • Q-Pyramids & Overlays: Tools for Effective Questioning
    • Resources for Questioning
    • In the News
    • Websites and Apps
    • The Mathematician’s Notebook: Chronicling a Student’s Journey
      • MNB Components
    • Gifted
    • Homeschool
    • Math Market – Resources by Grade Band
      • All Products
      • Strategy Saturdays Series, 2017-2018 Focus: Using Manipulatives in the Classroom
      • Free Resources
      • K-2 Resources
      • 3-5 Resources
      • 6-8 Resources
      • 9-12 Resources
        • Modular Mathematics – High School
      • My Account
      • Logout
  • Homeschool
    • Excursions through the SEASONS
    • Putting the A in STEAM
    • Excursions in STEAM 2017 – 2018
    • Excursions in TIME 2018 – 2019
  • Algebra I Employment Standards – 2021-2022
  • Math Market

Door to Common Core Math by Leslie Texas and Tammy Jones

October 3, 2013 by Angela Long

middleweb article book and door graphic                        middleweb logo

Editor’s note: Leslie Texas and Tammy Jones are co-authors of the book series, Strategies for Common Core Mathematics: Implementing the Standards for Mathematical Practice, available from Routledge in three editions, K-5, 6-8 and 9-12.
 

Middle school math teachers have a challenge—they need to help students become mathematical thinkers who truly understand concepts and don’t just memorize. One way we recommend doing this is by using the new Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP) to help students build a foundation of thinking and communicating math. We find it most helpful to think of the standards as a door.

A door cannot function without a frame. The frame is the support system that holds the door in place. The two SMP that serve as the frame of the door are: (SMP #1)Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them; and (SMP #5) Use appropriate tools strategically.

The threshold is another integral part of a door. The function of the threshold is to provide a transition between the inside and the outside or between rooms. (SMP #6) Attend to precision, serves as the threshold for the SMP doorway to the Common Core math standards. It is through precise and effective communication that students are able to gain insights about how they think about mathematics.

The remaining standards, (SMP #2) Reason abstractly and quantitatively; (SMP #3) Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others; (SMP #4) Model with mathematics; (SMP #7) Look for and make use of structure; and (SMP #8) Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning serve as the panels of the door.

The key to unlocking the door is to be deliberate and intentional in the implementation of these standard practices. It is one thing to say the SMP are embedded in daily instruction. It is another to actually seamlessly interweave the mathematical practices with content instruction.  read more…

 

Tweet

Filed Under: Mathematical Moments

Mathematical Moments

The Top 5 Reasons for Using Manipulatives in the Classroom

Have you ever asked or said or heard a fellow educator ask or say… “Exactly what constitutes a manipulative?” “I have some of these manipulatives in my closet, but do not have a clue how to use them!” “How do I find the time to use manipluatives in the classroom when I have so much […]

Happy National National Chocolate Day: October 28thChocolate Day!

National Chocolate Day: October 28th My grandmother always said, “God was in a good mood the day He created chocolate!” I grew up thinking that chocolate was a basic food group! And, I admit, chocolate is one of my weaknesses. What does National Chocolate Day have to do with mathematics!   Well – where’s the math? […]

Functional Fluency

I just returned from NCTM Boston. What a great week! I got to catch up with a lot of old friends and made several new ones as well. My co-author, Leslie Texas, and I did a session on one of our strategies from our book series What’s My Move: A Kinesthetic Multisensory Approach to Graphing […]

Algebra I Employment Standards – 2022-2023

State Approved Hybrid Training Sponsored by the Tennessee Department of Education The State of Tennessee has provided various paths for qualified middle school teachers to teach Algebra I/Integrated Math I for high school credit. The various paths are described at https://www.tn.gov/education/licensing/educator-licensure/licensed-educators.html.  The purpose of the trainings offered here is to provide the pedagogical and content […]

Putting the “A” in STEAM

Are you looking for a summer workshop for your K-12 students? In July, I will be hosting an art/writing workshop for students K-12. We will be focusing on Putting the “A” in STEAM.  This 6-day enrichment workshop will focus around the arts and humanities. Students will create and begin to use a combined art journal […]

NCTM, San Francisco

My colleagues and I really enjoyed your presentation at NCTM.  We have already convinced our principal to pre-order us copies of your new book, but we would also like 4 class sets of the pyramids. 

Many presentations talked about problem solving and the benefits of giving students higher level thinking problems, but yours was the only one that really told us how to teach it and scaffold it for students, rather than just modeling what problem-solving looks likes.  Thanks.

Julie Jacewicz
Beaverton, OR

What our clients are saying…

TLJ created classroom resources on TLJ:

TLJ created classroom resources on:

TLJ created classroom resources on:

Copyright © 2023 · Outreach Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in