Planning math lessons doesn’t have to be frustrating or time consuming… AND planning math lessons with your math curriculum no matter the curriculum you use! You’ll want to tune into this episode to find out about how I’m planning math lessons with MY curriculum. ☀️Summer PD on this topic, for FREE monamath.com/summerpd

In this episode we’ll chat about: 

• planning math lessons using math curriculum
• how to supplement math curriculum when planning math lessons
• 5 ways to use math curriculum for planning math lessons 

☀️ Summer Math PD ☀️ don’t miss out on this chance to get FREE or low cost pd about MATH! Planning math lessons is one of our topics! MonaMath.com/summerpd to sign up now. 

Links Mentioned in the Episode: 

🤍Guide to Engaging Math Discussions

Books I love & mentioned often: 

📗Adding it Up https://amzn.to/3FzM4as 

📘Children’s Mathematics Cognitively Guided Instruction  https://amzn.to/3FzLMQU 

📙Principles to Action: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All https://amzn.to/42o816h 

📕5 Practices for Orchestarting Math Discusions https://amzn.to/3zagEEl 

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Want to read more about planning math lessons using your curriculum?

Everyone has a curriculum or some resource provided by the school or district… and everyone has an opinion about it. 

Whether you like all, some, or none of your curriculum doesn’t really have that much effect on your teaching.
Hear me out.

Most curriculums are similar in most ways. 

• The lessons are aligned to standards 
• They cover the same topics at the grade levels 
• Elements are similar– activities, practice problems, homework, online practice

However, your teaching has to do with YOUR choices. YOUR instructional methods.

Your curriculum is what you can use to guide that, but I believe that you can do good teaching with any curriculum you have or don’t have. 

So, I am currently the 3rd grade teacher in a Chicago neighborhood school that uses GoMath. I pretty much like none of this curriculum. I fall into the “likes none” of this curriculum. 

I find it is very heavy handed in helping and guiding students. 

There is little room for flexibility or exploration. 

It leans heavily into teaching strategies step by step and having students practice. 

Also, the layout of the workbook leaves NO room for showing work or writing out their thinking… which leads to an emphasis on the right answer on the line. 

However, I still have a buzzing with excitement, a rigorous and joyous classroom of mathematicians… and I use GoMath.

I use GoMath as my pacing guide, I use the assessments (with some modifications to increase the rigor), and I use the workbooks for practice.

I also supplement with a few things.

-Number sense routines to build flexibility and ultimately fluency 

-Word problem workshop where students problem solve… everyday 

-independent and self paced fact practice 

-strategic re-teaching small groups 

Let’s dive into each of those elements briefly 

1. Number sense routines to build flexibility– I like to use a few things to “warm up” our brains. I use the routines from the book by Jessica Shumway “Number Sense Routines”. https://amzn.to/3ZDqSru 

A few inside that book that are my favorite are counting around the circle and what I call (she calls it something else) Today’s number. 

1. Counting around the circle is a great way to engage every child. You sit in a circle and each child says a number, counting up by a certain interval. So maybe count up by 5 tenths starting at 2. Then, count up by ½ starting at 2. While they count you record the numbers each child says. Then, students notice & wonder looking for patterns. 
2. Today’s number is great for flexibility in making representations of numbers in multiple ways. You give students a number and ask them to make it in as many ways as they can. This is SUCH an easy, no prep warm up. Once they have a few minutes you can do a quick share out in partners or groups and then debrief as a whole class. 

So the way I plan these warm ups is in conjunction with my curriculum. I look at the standards and lessons in the unit and decide what parts of math knowledge or the standards aren’t fully covered or what misconceptions or lacking skills will students have? Then, I choose the numbers and activities to build those skills.

2. Word Problem Workshop– I typically use problems or problem types that align with the curriculum. Sometimes I even pull a really good problem right from the lesson. However, I strategically choose a problem that will achieve the lesson goal. So, when I’m teaching fractions on a number line and equivalent fractions on that number line… I choose a problem that leads students to using number lines and then having a discussion about equivalence. WHen I first started I used the problems right from the curriculum or at the guidance of my math coach. This is where I Had to do the most growing in my own math knowledge. I didn’t want to just keep teaching my students the steps to carry out these different strategies and have them copy what I did. I wanted them to discover it and have the experience of manipulating it… creating their own meaning. We know from research that when students develop their understanding from their own experience it’s more meaningful and lasts. So, I spent a lot of time learning the content through anticipation. Really thinking about all the ways my students might solve and considering the misconceptions or roadblocks they might run into.
   
   Once we have a word problem workshop, most students have experienced the goal of the curriculum’s lesson… then I have them go back and do 3 or 4 problems from the workbook to apply their knowledge.
   
   
3. Independent fact practice. Fact knowledge is essential to upper grade math. Our students need to produce their facts and have efficient strategies. I like to use MathFactLab or Reflex math for students to get a few minutes of ongoing practice throughout the year.
   
4. Re-teaching strategically. I use exit tickets with my students everyday to assess the goal of the lesson/word problem workshop. Depending on how students do over time on these I use that data to pull small groups for a quick re-teaching. I use the book https://amzn.to/40AgWQN Making Sense of Mathematics for Teaching the Small Group by Dixion to structure those groups. 

Your curriculum doesn’t have to be the worst part of your math block. 

You can use your instructional knowledge and skills to bring it to life in both your facilitation and planning 

1. Plan using the curriculum as a guide 
2. Use instructional strategies like math discussions, word problem workshop, exit tickets, strategic grouping, warm ups to help you bring the content to life. Don’t forget to look in your curriculum’s lessons for ideas too. Sometimes on the sidebar of the teacher guide there are some good tips for warm ups or routines 
3. Work on your own math knowledge so that you understand the full trajectory of how students might show up to this particular lesson. Remember, just because we teach it doesn’t mean our students know it. Students are on a learning journey… they might not be ready for this lesson yet, but stay the course and keep giving them opportunities to explore and make meaning, and discuss their reasoning with others. Each day we all get a little bit better. 
4. Seek out support. You’re learning and getting better too! Work with your grade level team to plan for math. Everything’s better together… so talk with your colleagues, ask for your building instructional guide to support your planning. Send me a message! And if you’re in the Chicago area or Midwest let’s talk about having me come to your school to support your work! 
5. Flex on your facilitation. The questions you ask, the way you approach students can make ALL the difference. You get to decide the norms in your math classroom– focus on the process and the thinking. Start now with students you interact with in math today.. by just asking them, “why”. 

Let’s wrap this chat with this final thought. Your curriculum is just ONE part of your math tool box. You have so much to offer your little mathematicians. Don’t get bogged down in having to cover it all or focusing on what lesson and what unit. Focus on what matters most, students being active learners constructing their knowledge through exploration, discussion, and reflection.

Your Guide to Student Centered Math