Assessment in this unit
Key Ideas, Expectations, and Opportunities
Using Assessment to Meet Individual Needs
The explicit Expectations and assessment tasks in this unit
describe what it means to “get it.” Providing feedback on these
Expectations helps identify students who need to access the
content another way, need further practice opportunities, or are
ready to extend or deepen their understanding of a concept.
Instructional opportunities that help support the varied needs of
students also need to be identified. These opportunities provide
models that can be replicated or used multiple times and can be
used in a variety of settings (e.g., home, transitions, support
classroom, as a center).
The Assessment Program serves the
following purposes:
- It provides information to teachers about what students
know and can do. This information is used to guide instruction.
An activity may help teachers answer questions about whole-class
instruction: What do I do next? In the next minute? Next lesson?
Next class? Next unit? Other assessments may help teachers decide
how to support individual students, including those who struggle
with a concept and those who are ready to be challenged.
- It communicates the goals of instruction to parents and
students. What teachers choose to assess communicates to the
class what they value. For example, if teachers want students to
work hard at communicating problem-solving strategies, then it is
important to assess mathematical communication.
- It provides feedback to students and parents about
student progress. This includes teacher evaluation of student
progress as well as students’ assessment of their own progress.
Key Mathematical Ideas
The mathematical content in Math Trailblazers is organized
around a set of Key Ideas. These Key Ideas are based on the National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards for the
grade band as well as current thinking in the mathematics education
community, e.g., Charles (2005), NCTM (2000), Van de Walle (2005).
There is a set of Key Ideas for each content strand: Number, Algebra,
Geometry, Measurement, and Data. They are based on “big ideas” in
mathematics and describe what students should be able to do within
each strand. The Key Ideas are shown in the table in Figure 1.
1. Number Sense:
Understand the base-ten number system, recognize relationships
among quantities and numbers, and represent numbers in multiple
ways. |
2. Operations: Understand the meaning
of numerical operations and their application for solving
problems. |
3. Computation and
Estimation: Use efficient and flexible procedures to compute
accurately and make reasonable estimates. |
|
1. Identifying Patterns:
Identify and describe patterns and relationships, including how a
change in one variable relates to a change in a second variable. |
2. Tables and Graphs:
Represent patterns and relationships with graphs, tables, and
diagrams. |
3. Symbols:
Represent patterns and relationships with symbols (includes using
variables in formulas and as unknowns in equations). |
4. Using
Patterns: Apply relationships, properties, and patterns to solve
problems, develop generalizations, or make predictions. |
1. Shapes: Identify, describe, classify,
and analyze 2- and 3-dimensional shapes based on
their properties. |
2. Orientation and Location: Use
coordinate systems to specify locations and describe spatial
relationships. |
3. Motion: Apply transformations (slides,
flips, and turns) and use symmetry to analyze mathematical
situations. |
4. Geometric Reasoning: Use
visualization, spatial reasoning, and geometric modeling to solve
problems. |
1. Measurement Concepts:
Understand measurable attributes of objects or situations (length,
area, mass, volume, size, time) and the units, systems, and
processes of measurement. |
2.
Measurement Skills: Use measurement tools, appropriate
techniques, and formulas to determine measurements. |
1. Data Collection: Select, collect, and
organize data to answer questions, solve problems, and make
predictions. |
2. Data Representation: Select and create
appropriate representations, including tables and graphs, for
organizing, displaying, and analyzing data. |
3. Data Description: Describe a data set
by interpreting graphs, identifying patterns, and using
statistical measures, e.g., average and range. |
4. Using Data: Apply relationships and
patterns in data to solve problems, develop generalizations, and
make predictions. |
Figure 1: Key Ideas for Math
Trailblazers (Key Ideas
addressed in Unit 15 are shaded.)
Expectations
To monitor students' growth across and within grades, there is a set of Expectations that describes what
students are “expected” to do within each content strand. Expectations show the growth of the mathematical
content within the Key Ideas for each strand.
EXPECTATIONS |
|
Use this list of Expectations to assess students on the key concepts and skills in this unit. |
E1* |
Identify and extend patterns represented in numbers and in geometric patterns. |
E2 |
Represent patterns and functions using words and tables. |
E3 |
Describe the location of an object relative to an origin using direction and distance. |
E4 |
Measure length using nonstandard and standard units. |
E5 |
Make a table, bar graph, or line plot to find information about a data set. |
E6 |
Read a table, bar graph, or line plot to find information about a data set. |
E7 |
Make predictions and generalizations using patterns in tables and graphs. |
E8* |
Demonstrate fluency with the subtraction facts related to the addition facts in Groups A–F. |
Targeted Practice
This unit provides opportunities for additional targeted practice for some of the
Expectations. See the chart in Figure 3 and the descriptions that follow. These opportunities connect directly
to assessment tasks, so the practice can be tailored to the current level of student progress.
- For students who are struggling with the Expectation, practice is targeted toward the foundational concepts
and skills involved and often provides a different way to access the content.
- For students who are making significant progress toward the Expectation, practice is designed to help
move toward proficiency and autonomy.
- For students who are already meeting the Expectation, opportunities are provided to deepen or extend
understanding.
Expectation |
Opportunities for Targeted Practice |
E1*. |
Identify and extend patterns represented in numbers and in geometric patterns. |
|
E8*. |
Demonstrate fluency with the subtraction facts related to the addition facts in Groups A–F. |
|
Figure 3: Expectations for Unit 15 with opportunities for targeted practice
Games
There is one game in this unit that can be used to provide targeted practice. This game can be played
in centers, as part of class transitions, in another setting, or at home.