Allaying Older Sister's Frustrations over Common Core Math Homework

I saw this problem on Twitter with the caption: "My 9 year old sisters math homework with this "common core" %$#. WHAT ARE THESE DIRECTIONS.”

Dear Frustrated Older Sister,

The directions are confusing to someone who hasn’t read the Common Core standards and accompanying documents (which only people like me actually do).  So it makes sense that you are confused.  I would guess the confusing part of these directions are either “number bonds” or “skip-count.”

First I’ll talk about “number bonds.”  One of the shifts in the Common Core State Standards is towards conceptual understanding.  What used to be taught as a practice in memorization is now taught to understand the underlying concept.  “7+7=14 because... my brain told me” is no longer acceptable.  Understanding that 7 can be broken up into 3+4 (that’s what the number bonds are showing you) is important and helpful in understanding why 7+7 = 14.  You may ask, why 3+4 and not 2+5 or 1+6?  The reason is in the next step, we are taking the 7 and adding 3 to it to make a 10.  Then we have 4 left.  Putting it altogether, 7+7 is the same as 7+3+4 which leads to 10+4 which is the expanded form of 14.  

If you are confused about the “skip count” part, we used to just call it counting by 7’s.  Similarly to how you jump over ground when skipping on the playground, you can skip over the other numbers when counting.  I believe the skip was added to make clear they are jumping over the numbers in between to differentiate it from regular counting which would mean by ones.

Thanks for trying to help your little sister,

Jim Town - Mathematics Specialist at ACOE Core Learning

Core Coaching Network 2014-2015 Kickoff

Yesterday, the Core Learning team launched a new year of the Core Coaching Network...and it is better than ever!  Instructional leaders from seven districts in our county joined our executive director, literacy, and math teams in a half-day meeting which included getting-to-know-you activities, information about planning meaningful PDs for their district/school sites, and plenty of time to learn new ed tech resources. (All handouts from this meeting are at our tinyurl.com/corelearning site, under Core Coaching Network)

Creating Meaningful PD

In accordance with the image above, instructional leaders were led through a series of interactive steps toward creating meaningful and effective PD; they were asked to:

1. Define meaningful/real-world outcomes
2. An authentic application experience
3. Finding meaning-making resources
4. Using the 4 Cs
5. Formative Assessments
6. Technology integration

In retrospect, what we came to find was that these steps mirror what the Smarter Balanced Assessment is asking of our students: take a real-world experience and create a product using multiple, meaning-making resources (stimuli), while using the 4 Cs, and answer formative assessment questions (the research questions), all while using technology.

Networking

Participants had ample time to get to know each other while working through the steps toward effective PD, and also during networking time.

  

 

Future Meetings
Future Core Coaching Network meetings will focus on three important elements:

1. Strategies to design dynamic PD based on adult learning theory
2. Content-area specific data, coaching, and pedagogy
3. Opportunities for participants to collaborate and network as they problem-solve, share district practices, and work in partnership on projects

Join Us!

If you are an instructional leader who is interested in...

• Advancing your design and delivery of professional development for 21st century curriculum and instruction, including cutting-edge technology tools
• Learning and being able to share best practices for adult learning as well as how to facilitate systems transformation
• Developing a strong community through shared expertise and time to network with job-alike colleagues from neighboring districts
• Deepening your Common Core content knowledge
• Learning how to align tasks and assessments to Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium expectations

then come be a part of the Core Coaching Network!

The cost is a fee of $1,000 per school district (this covers all participants from that district for the school year).  Please click here to register: https://2014corecoachingnetwork.eventbrite.com.  For registration questions, contact Michael Lee at mlee@acoe.org.

By Maria Vlahiotis, Literacy Specialist

Problem of the week: Tetrahedron Puzzle

I was reading through Martin Gardener's book Origami, Eleusis, and the Soma Cube where he described a plastic math puzzle consisting of two pieces that you have to put together to form a tetrahedron and thought it sounded like fun.  He kindly gives a pattern so one may be cut out of paper:

Your challenge is to print out two of these patterns on thick paper, make the pieces and put them together to make a tetrahedron.  

A pdf of the pattern is available here.

By Jim Town - Mathematics Specialist at ACOE Core Learning

Common Core English Language Arts Standards: Tips for Parents

Schools throughout the country are working to improve teaching and learning so all children will graduate high school with the 21st century skills they need to be successful in college, their careers and beyond! In English Language Arts (ELA), there are several changes that parents should be aware of. Students will, in addition to stories and literature, be required to read more non-fiction to learn important facts and background knowledge in subjects like history, art and science. They will need to read more challenging texts more closely and will be asked the kinds of questions where they will need to go back to the text to find answers. Students will need to learn how to make strong arguments and support their views using evidence from diverse viewpoints.

These changes outlined in the ELA Common Core Standards aim to prepare students for college and careers by:

• Increasing the quality and amount of reading and writing students are doing on a wide range of subjects – you should see your student reading more closely about current events in news articles for example in addition to text books and novels and writing more frequently
• Teaching students to work in teams to collaborate on tasks by listening to each other – you could see your student participating in teams tackling word games or preparing debates
• Teaching students to make strong arguments both in writing and while speaking – you will see your student back up what they say with lots of evidence from text and not just from their opinion.
• Teaching students to be independent readers and writers – you will see your student learn how to tackle difficult text and write clearly by themselves

Strategies parents can do to support ELA Common Core success: 

1.  Talk to your child's teacher about how you can best support your child during the transition to the ELA Common Core.
2. Get to know your child’s interests and choose books and magazines about those topics. Don’t worry if all they want to read about is cats for a couple of months or if they tire of a subject and move on. Find the zone that’s right for your child. Reading should not be a chore.
3. Read to your child often – even just the sports section or in a language other than English. 
4. Answer questions by asking more questions whenever possible. Ask your child what they think the answer could be. Help them give reasons for their choices. 
5. For the reluctant reader, ask them to replace the name of an animal or character in a story with a familiar name from your child’s life, a pet or friend will do. 
6. Encourage your child to write letters or emails to relatives and friends describing their day or a recent celebration or event. 
7. For older children, talk about the news together. Pick one story in the news, read it together, and discuss with your child what it means. 
8. Visit the campus of a local college with your teen. Have them write about what he or she expects from college. 
9. Visit a local museum together. Take time to closely observe the details of the paintings or exhibits and talk about what you see there. Have your child draw and write about what you saw and experienced.

For more information for parents on Common Core for each grade level visit: 
PTA Parent Guides to Common Core

The ELA/ELD Framework

Today, we had the chance to present information on California's new ELA/ELD Framework to our Curriculum Council--educational leaders from around the county.

(Click either on the image to the left, or here, to view the presentation.  Navigate to our website, tinyurl.com/corelearning, and scroll down to Curriculum Council to view and print out all handouts.)

Unlike the California ELD standards, California's ELA/ELD Framework is a useful tool that is aimed at providing guidance on how to implement the ELA/Literacy standards and the ELD standards in tandem.

The Framework is built upon the premise that there exist five themes that run throughout both the ELA/Literacy and the ELD standards; these five themes are Meaning Making, Language Development, Effective Expression, Content Knowledge, and Foundational Skills.  Chapters 3-7 of the Framework focus on specific grade level spans, and provides specific suggestions for the implementation of these themes.  Most importantly, these chapters provide snapshots and longer vignettes, which provide examples of lessons and units that implement all five of the key themes.

The Framework, then, is a chance for teachers to see what the ELA/Literacy and ELD standards, working in tandem, look like.  And what it boils down to, frankly, is really great instruction that is rooted in scaffolding learning for all students, including ELD students (but also any struggling readers).

The Framework emphasizes a need for collaboration (between elementary teachers, and between secondary content area teachers and ELD teachers) in order to curtail the problem of LTELs (long-term English learners)--students who stay in the ELD classes, not progressing towards College and Career Readiness.

With the right structures in place, and support from administrators, teachers could begin to implement this important work, and see the resulting success in students who have bridged the achievement gap.

By Maria Vlahiotis, Literacy Specialist

Find, Organize, Create and Share Informational Resources Easily!

Common Core Videos, Games and Assessments 

Use the OpenEd website to search for Common Core Language Arts and Math videos, games and assessments by subject directory or standard with no signup required. You can sign up for free, and create playlists of Science, Language Arts and Math video lessons and games to share with students or other teachers. Or, you can create courses to share with students. OpenEd even recommends resources for each topic. 

They also have a great app for tablets called Common Core Quest.  With this app, students can take quizzes to demonstrate mastery of Common Core Math and ELA skills. When they don't achieve mastery, students can play videos and games to learn--all with no ads.

Actually helping Jack with his subtraction problem.

You may have seen this purported parent response to a homework question on Facebook or even the Colbert Report.

I thought it was time to help Jack and explain what the teacher was probably thinking when he or she assigned this problem.

Dear Jack,

You did a great job using the number line to figure out this subtraction problem.  It looks to me like you forgot about the tens jump.  Remember 316 means 3 hundreds, 1 ten,  and 6 ones.  I see you took away 3 hundreds jumps and 6 jumps of one, but missed the 1 jump of ten.  

I hope this helps.

Sincerely,
A Math Teacher

The Frustrated Parent is exactly right about this being an inefficient method of subtracting.  Procedural fluency is an important part of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), so the teacher wants the student to be able subtract those two numbers quickly and efficiently.  However, another important part of the CCSS is building conceptual understanding.   One of the reasons we need the Common Core State Standards is because for many years students were only taught procedural fluency without any understanding of the concept behind it.  That is to say, the trouble Frustrated Parent had figuring out the problem is exactly the reason it was assigned.  The math teacher wanted the student to understand what subtraction and place value mean so that they can do the problem and understand the problem.  This new shift will require parents and teachers to relearn many of the mathematics they thought they knew.
Another aspect of the Common Core this teacher was working towards was Mathematical Practice 4: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.  Whether or not you agree with Jack's method, being able look at someone else's work, figure it out, and help them fix the errors, is an important skill.
While many of us are not familiar with the particular models that are being used to develop students' conceptual understanding, those of us who have seen the shift in student comprehension of mathematics agree that these models can serve as a very important bridge between just "doing" math and actually understanding it.

Need more Common Core Math help?  Visit our Common Core Math Help page and get your answers today! 

By Jim Town - Mathematics Specialist at ACOE Core Learning