News from the Investigations Center for Curriculum and Professional Development

Investigations Equity Team

Going to ATMIM at Holy Cross (3/14/24)?

Come hear Annie Sussman, Polly Wagner, and Amy Chang’s talk, Fostering Connection: How Knowing More about Your Students’ Identities Can Impact Your Math Instruction.

Description: After a research project in which our team explored how learning about student identities informs teachers’ practices, we discovered something we had not expected. While teachers deeply valued learning more about their students, they had difficulty seeing the connection between knowing their students and math learning. We want to cultivate that connection. We are excited to share our ideas with you about unearthing student identity and broadening our definition of mathematics.
Time: 8:30-9:30 am
Location: Room 320


Come hear Karen Economopoulos, Megan Murray, and Annie Sussman‘s talk, Deep and Rigorous Mathematics and Strength-based Assessment: Two Components of Equiltable Teaching and Learning

Description: What does equitable teaching and learning look and sound like? How do deep and rigorous mathematics and stength-based assessment support the development of students’ mathematical identity and agency? In what ways can curriculum materials promote equity in the mathematics classsroom and support students who have been historically marginalized? This session explores a framework for reflecting on characteristics of a mathematics learning community that foster and support all students in becoming powerful thinkers and learners.
Time: 9:40-10:40 am
Location: Room 402/403


Come hear Katrina Mills, Danielle Silverman, Bevin Hale, and Annie Sussman‘s talk, One Teacher + 20 Students + 2 Coaches = A Journey: The Impact of Reflection on Equitable Teaching and Learning

Description: The presentation will allow participants to consider the impact of both student reflection and teacher reflection by following two coaches as they support one teacher and a classroom in using both teacher and student reflection tools to impact more equitable teaching and learning. We will introduce, demonstrate, and try out teacher and student reflection tools in order to develop and cultivate a habit of systematic and deliberate reflection in order to create an equiatable mathematics learning community.
Time: 10:50 am – 12:50 pm
Location: Room 406/407

Investigations Equity Team

Forum for Equity in Elementary Mathematics (September, 2023)

The Forum for Equity in Elementary Mathematics is a new website for reflecting on and discussing equity, access, identity, and agency in the K-5 mathematics classroom. The work is not curriculum specific. Its goal is to provide resources, publications, and professional learning opportunities to broaden and deepen perspectives on equity and to open up discussions among educators as we seriously and passionately pursue equity in mathematics learning for elementary students. Download a framework that supports reflection on equity; read blogs about various aspects of equitable learning communities, and explore tools that support teacher and student reflection.

Investigations Equity Team

Going to NCSM in Washington, D.C. (2023)?

Come hear Arusha Hollister, Cinthia Colón, and Lynne Godfrey‘s talk, Teacher Reflection: A Key Element to Equitable Participation in a Mathematics Learning Community.

Description: Teacher reflection is essential to equitable participation in mathematical classrooms. All students, particularly those who have been historically marginalized, need opportunities to express their ideas, and see them valued. We will examine tools teachers can use to collect information about participation and reflect and act upon their findings. We will discuss how coaches can use these tools with teachers and explore examples of teachers using them, considering impacts on teacher practice and student participation.
Date: Tuesday, 10/31/23
Time: 9:15-10:15 am
Location: Room 3


Come hear Susan Jo Russell and Deborah Schifter‘s talk, Stories from the Classroom: Students’ Mathematical Representations as a Context for Empowering Students and Teachers.

Description: By using student representations to ground discourse, teachers empower students to participate in mathematics through multiple modes, such as drawing, building, describing, pointing, and comparing. As students analyze connections among visual images, words, and equations, teachers empower themselves to understand the potential contributions of every student. Participants in this session will analyze classroom videos to consider how student representations, used as much more than visual aids, support both rigorous mathematics and equitable student participation.
Date: Tuesday, 10/31/23
Time: 12:15-1:15 pm
Location: Room 10-11

Susan Jo Russell
Deborah Schifter

Going to NCTM in Washington, D.C. (2023)?

Come hear Susan Jo Russell and Deborah Schifter‘s talk, Noticing and Conjecturing about the Arithmetic Operations: Weaving Mathematics and Equity.

Description: During mathematics discussions, teachers weave students’ ideas into a mathematical story line while considering how to support each student’s opportunity to learn.  Participants will do math together and view video from upper elementary classrooms to consider the challenges of managing these two commitments—to rigorous mathematics and to equitable participation.
Date: Saturday, 10/28/23
Time: 9:45-11:00am
Location: DC Convention Center, 206

Going to NCTM in Los Angeles?

Come hear Megan Murray and Karen Econompoulos’s talk, Counting and Place Value: How Are They Connected?

Description: We will examine K-1 video to unpack the many aspects of counting – by 1s and groups – and to think about how this work builds a foundation for and supports students in making sense of place value. We will also think about how lingering and going deep with these ideas can support K-1 students in developing a strong sense of agency and identity.
Date: Thursday, September 29
Time: 8:00-9:15 am
Location: LA Convention Center, 409

Come hear Susan Jo Russell and Deborah Schifter’s talk, What We’re Learning to Ask about Weaving Mathematics and Equity During Classroom Talk: Grades 3-5.

Description: During mathematics discussions, teachers weave students’ ideas into a mathematical story line while supporting each student’s opportunity to learn. Participants will do math together and view video from upper elementary classrooms to consider the challenges of managing these two commitments—to rigorous mathematics and to equitable participation.
Date: Thursday, September 29
Time: 9:45-10:00 a.m.
Location: LA Convention Center, Petree C

Come hear Susan Jo Russell and Deborah Schifter’s talk, What We’re Learning to Ask about Weaving Mathematics and Equity During Classroom Talk: Grades K-2.

Description: During mathematics discussions, teachers weave students’ ideas into a mathematical story line while supporting each student’s opportunity to learn.  Participants will do math together and view video from K-2 classrooms to consider the challenges of managing these two commitments—to rigorous mathematics and to equitable participation.
Date: Thursday, September 29
Time: 2:45-4:00 pm
Location: LA Convention Center, Petree C

Come hear Karen Econompoulos, Megan Murray, and Marta Garcia’s talk, A Framework for Creating an Equitable Mathematics Classroom.

Description: What supports the development of students’ mathematical identity and agency in an elementary math classroom? What does equitable teaching and learning look and sound like? This session explores a framework for reflecting on characteristics of a math learning community that foster and support all students in becoming powerful math thinkers.
Date: Friday, September 30
Time: 1:00-2:15 pm
Location: LA Convention Center, 409

Come hear Annie Sussman and Arusha Hollister’s talk, Making Sense and Persevering Together: Using SMP 1 to Foster an Equitable Math Learning Community.

Description: This session explores connections between Math Practice 1 and the development of an equitable math learning community in which all students see themselves as problem solvers. Using classroom examples, we will examine ways in which this practice can be leveraged to build a collaborative community that fosters positive math identities and agency.
Date: Friday, September 30
Time: 1:00-2:00 pm
Location: JW Marriott, Platinum FG

Going to NCSM in Anaheim?

Come hear Susan Jo Russell, Lynne Godfrey, Karen Econompoulos, and Marta Garcia’s talk, A Framework for Using Mathematics Curriculum to Reflect on Equitable Teaching and Learning.

Description: What supports the development of students’ mathematical identity and agency in an elementary math classroom? What does equitable teaching and learning look and sound like? In what ways can curriculum promote equity in the mathematics classroom and support students who have been historically marginalized in mathematics?  This session explores a framework for reflecting on how curriculum can foster and support a learning community that affirms all students as powerful mathematical thinkers and learners.
Date: Tuesday, September 26
Time: 8:15-9:15 am
Location: Platinum 3

Come hear Susan Jo Russell and Deborah Schifter’s talk, Learning to Weave Mathematics and Equity During Classroom Talk.

Description: During mathematics discussions, teachers weave students’ ideas into a mathematical story line while supporting each student’s opportunity to learn.  How do we, as leaders and teachers, reflect on our practice in order to maintain a commitment to both rigorous mathematics and equitable participation? In this session, we will work with a protocol for using classroom video to consider the challenge of maintaining these two commitments.
Date: Wednesday, September 27
Time: 9:30-10:30 am
Location: Platinum 3

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A new publication: A Framework for Reflecting about Equity in the Investigations Mathematics Classroom

We are excited to share a new framework that lays out the territory for potential action, as our staff takes up questions about how Investigations can be a tool for anti-racist work and better support students who have been historically marginalized, especially Black and brown students, to be doers of mathematics. We offer it as a resource for reflecting on issues of equity, identity, and agency in mathematics learning and teaching, both for ourselves and for school-based educators. (October, 2021)

Susan Jo Russell

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Deborah Schifter

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Going to TDG in March?

Come hear  Susan Jo Russell and Deborah Schifter talk about What We’re Learning to Ask About the Weaving of Mathematics and Equity During Classroom Talk in grades PK-5. “As they plan and implement mathematics discussions, teachers must both develop a coherent mathematical story line and give all students an opportunity to learn. The first involves eliciting students’ ideas, tracking what students are figuring out, and considering how to draw attention to questions and ideas that move the class toward deeper insight. Of equal weight is the second commitment, giving each student an opportunity to engage in substantive reasoning, to voice ideas, and to freely express questions and confusion. In this interactive session, participants will view elementary classroom videos to consider the challenges and tensions of these two commitments.” (Info about TDG)

Date: Sunday, March 13, 2021
Time: 1:15-2:15 Eastern

Deborah Schifter

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Susan Jo Russell

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A Model for Teaching Mathematical Argument at the Elementary Grades

This paper, byDeborah Schifter and Susan Jo Russell, describes the five phases of a teaching model for mathematical argument in the elementary grades: 1) noticing patterns, 2) articulating conjectures, 3) representing with specific examples, 4) creating representation-based arguments, and 5) comparing and contrasting operations. The phases are illustrated with classroom examples of students who are developing and justifying generalizations about the arithmetic operations. Assessment results indicate that students who engaged in this work improved significantly in providing relational explanations based on mathematical structure. (Read the article in the Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics.)

ALERT: Games and Math Words & Ideas

Links to the Investigations 3 online games and Math Words and Ideas, which were temporarily not working, are back up and running. (July 10, 2020)

(CANCELLED) Going to NCTM in Chicago?

Come hear: Annie Sussman discuss how questioning can empower students to engage with the Math Practices; Karen Economopoulos & Megan Murray talk about the connections between counting and place value; and Susan Jo Russell looks at student explanation in urban classrooms.

Empowering Students as Mathematical Sense Makers Through Teacher Questioning
Presenter: Annie Sussman
Date: Thursday 4/2
Time: 1:00-2:00pm
Location: McCormick Place, Lakeside Center D2,  B
Description: This session explores how teachers can use questioning to empower students as math learners and support engagement in the SMP.  We will explore research findings and examine classroom examples that illustrate how specific types of questions can support math discussions in which all students have opportunities to reason, justify and generalize.

Counting and Place Value: How are They Connected?
Presenters: Megan Murray & Karen Economopoulos
Date: Thursday 4/2
Time: 1:00-2:15pm
Location: McCormick Place, South Building, S404-BC
Description: We will examine K-1 video to unpack the many aspects of counting – by 1s and groups – and to think about how this work builds a foundation for and supports students in making sense of place value. We will also think about how lingering and going deep with these ideas can lead K-1 students to experience mathematical wonder and joy.

Getting the Words Out: Explanation and Representation at the Center of Math Work in Urban Classrooms
Presenter: Susan Jo Russell
Date: Friday 4/3
Time: 2:45-4:00pm
Location: McCormick Place, South Building, S404D
Description: Through making connections among representations, words, and symbols, students construct mathematical explanations.  Participants will analyze video clips of grades 1-4 students, drawn from urban public schools, to consider how teachers support development of student explanation and build on and respect the brilliance of all students.

(CANCELLED) Going to NCSM in Chicago?

Come hear Susan Jo Russell’s talk, Putting Representation at the Center: Students Acting as Mathematicians.

Description: Through making connections between visual representations and mathematical abstractions, elementary students dig below the surface of computation to construct mathematical explanations.  By interacting with each other’s representations, they grapple with foundational ideas about the properties and behaviors of the operations. Video clips, including examples from urban public schools, illustrate the depth and rigor of student thinking and how teachers support conceptual understanding of the operations.
Date: Tuesday, March 31
Time: 8:15-9:15 a.m.
Location: Hyatt Regency Chicago, Columbus CD

Going to NCTM in Salt Lake City?

Come hear Annie Sussman talk about Questions That Elicit Students’ Mathematical Ideas: Supporting Meaningful Discourse. 8-9 on Thursday 10/17/19, in Salt Palace Convention Center, 255B.

Then, on Friday, come hear Karen Economopoulos & Megan Murray talk about the big ideas of place value that K-2 students and teachers need to understand to have a deep and flexible knowledge of place value. 9:45-11:00 in Salt Plaza Convention Center, 255C. 

An Announcement about Scout 

Scout is a digital tool for documenting what you observe about student learning in a single, organized place. Now available via Pearson Realize, and no longer available as an app. Learn more and view a demo. (September, 2019)

Going to NCTM in Nashville?

Come hear: Karen Economopoulos & Megan Murray talk about the big ideas of place value that K-2 students and teachers need to understand to have a deep and flexible knowledge of place value. What does it look and sound like when students have such knowledge?

Session: Understanding Place Value: When 97 Is More Than 90 + 7
Date/Time: Thursday, 10/3/19, 9:45-11:00
Location: Music City Center, 102

Going to NCTM in Boston?

Come hear: Karen Economopoulos & Megan Murray talk about the big ideas of place value in K-2; Susan Jo Russell and Deborah Schifter talk about “Who Gets To Do ‘Abstract’ Mathematics?”; Annie Sussman talk about using questions to empower students as mathematical sense-makers; and TERC colleagues presenting on diversity in children’s literature, partnering with paraeducators, engaging parents, and algebra in the elementary math curriculum. (See the list of Sessions.)

Going to NCTM in San Diego?

Come hear Karen Economopoulos & Megan Murray talk about the big ideas that K-2 students and teachers need to understand to have a deep and flexible knowledge of place value. What does it look and sound like when students have such knowledge?

Session: Understanding Place Value: When 97 Isn’t Just 90 + 7
Date/Time: Thursday 4/4/19, 9:45-11:00
Location: Hilton Bayfront; Indigo 204

Then, check out Susan Jo Russell’s talk—”Who Gets To Do ‘Abstract’ Mathematics?  Mathematical Argument in an Urban Elementary School”—about how one school committed to a focus on mathematical argument.

Date/Time: Thursday, 4/4/19, 1:30pm
Location: Hilton Bayfront, Sapphire EF

AND, come visit us in Booth #527!

Going to NCSM in San Diego?

Come hear Susan Jo Russell talk about how an overly simplified view of a progression from “concrete” to “abstract” can restrict access to cognitively demanding tasks for students seen as “not yet ready” for work on regularity and structure. This talk, illustrated with classroom examples, focuses on how one school committed to a focus on mathematical argument.

Title: Who Can Do “Abstract” Mathematics?  Mathematical Argument in an Urban Elementary School
Date/Time: Wednesday, 4/3/19, 8:15am
Location: Pacific 19

Questions to Elicit Students’ Mathematical Ideas

In this Teaching Children Mathematics article, authors Annie Sussman, James Hammerman, Traci Higgins, and Eric Hochberg discuss ways to create opportunities for students to engage in the Standards for Mathematical Practice, and to support them in further explaining and justifying their ideas. (March, 2019. Article available with membership.)

Susan Jo Russell

Two Equity-Focused Presentations at the Teachers Development Group Conference

Susan Jo Russell and Deborah Schifter presented two sessions at this year’s TDG conference in Portland, OR. The conference focus this year was Awareness and Action in Service of Equity in the Day-to-Day Work of Math Teaching and Learning. The first session — Who Can Think Mathematically? Insisting on Significant Math Thinking in Urban Classrooms — focused on how work on generalization and mathematical argument in the elementary classroom opens up opportunities for students with a range of strengths and needs to engage in rigorous and meaningful mathematics. The second session — Using Representations to Explore Structure of the Operations — explored how representations can be used to understand more deeply the structure of the operations and justify conjectures students derive from noticing patterns in the number system. (February 27 – March 2, 2019)

Going to ATMNE in Warwick, RI?

On Thursday, come hear Annie Sussman and Traci Higgins’ talk: “Engaging Elementary Students with Arithmetic Structure Through Interpretation, Analysis, and Discussion of Student-Generated Representation.” 

In this discussion-style session, we will examine classroom video of grades 2-5 teachers using student-generated representation as a tool for drawing attention to and developing structural thinking while exploring computational patterns in a whole group setting. Participants will have the opportunity to explore ideas together while also leaving the session with a set of key probing questions that can be used to draw attention to structural properties of student-generated representations.

Thursday, 12/6/18, 10:45 – 12:00

Susan Jo Russell

Then, on Friday, come hear Susan Jo Russell answer the question: “What Does Multiplication Have To Do With Equity-Based Practices?”

It’s so easy for us to say, “This student just doesn’t get it.” In this interactive session, participants examine video cases to think through the importance of identifying what students are making sense of, what ideas they have on which to build, what representations they are using, what ideas seem shaky or incomplete, and what next steps might be. Participants will discuss the importance of this kind of close ongoing assessment and how it is linked to equity-based practices (Aguirre, Mayfield-Ingram, & Martin, 2013), in particular, “affirming mathematics learners’ identities.” We’ll use the context of multiplying a whole number by a fraction—content in which students are coordinating multiple ideas about numbers and operations; however, the main points of this session apply across the elementary grades. Participants will take away reflections and questions about their own practice in supporting students’ agency, identity, and proficiency.

Friday, 12/7/18, 12:00-1:15

Going to the NCTM Regional in Kansas City?

Come hear Karen Economopoulos talk about “Developing Computational Fluency in the Primary Grades.” 

What does computational fluency look like in the primary grades? How do students develop accuracy, flexibility, and efficiency with addition and subtraction? We will use student work samples and video to look at fluency across K-2, and to consider how teacher practice can support the development of such fluency.

Friday, November 2, 2018
3:15-4:30
Room 3501 D, Kansas City Convention Center

Susan Jo Russell

Going to the NCTM Regional in Hartford?

Susan Jo Russell will be at the Infinity Bar from 9:30-10:25. Sign up for a conversation here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080a4daea62ba6f58-infinity. (10/6/18)

Then, come hear Susan Jo Russell’s talk, “Contextualizing and Decontextualizing: Supporting Students to Visualize Mathematical Relationships.” In this 3-5 Workshop, participants will consider video clips of students engaged in Standard for Mathematical Practice #2: Reasoning abstractly and quantitatively. We will discuss how students move back and forth between the problem context, representations of that context, and mathematical abstractions, and how the teacher supports all students to make these connections.
Saturday, October 6, 2018
1:30-2:45
Meeting Room 16, Connecticut Convention Center

 

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An Essay about the Math Practices in Investigations 3

What does it look like when students engage in the Mathematical Practices? What is the teacher’s role in supporting the Practices? Read Deborah Schifter and Susan Jo Russell’s essay about what it means to take the Mathematical Practices seriously as part of instruction. (June 15, 2018)

 

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Going to the NCTM Regional in Chicago?

Come hear Karen Economopoulos talk about 8 instructional strategies for differentiating classroom activities to meet the needs of the range of learners. These strategies are designed to help teachers learn to adjust the learning environment, and to scaffold or extend the main math ideas of an activity, in order to support and challenge the thinking of all students. 

Instructional Strategies for Supporting the Range of Learners (#1394)

Thursday, 11/30/17, from 8:00-9:15 am

Grand Ballroom A of the Hyatt Regency Chicago

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Going to NCCTM in Greensboro NC?

Karen Economopoulos is doing two talks: 

Differentiation: It’s More than Just Changing the Numbers This session focuses on strategies for differentiating classroom activities to meet the range of learners. Participants will be introduced to a structure for thinking about differentiation and a set of strategies that can be used to adjust the teaching and learning environment in order to support and extend the thinking of all students.

Thursday, 11/2/17, 1:30-3:00 pm

Koury Convention Center

Developing Computational Fluency K-5 What does computational fluency look like in the elementary grades? How do students develop accuracy, flexibility, and efficiency with whole number operations? Student work samples and video will be used to look at fluency across the grades, and to consider how teacher practice can support the development of such fluency.

Friday, 11/3/17, 9:30-11:00 am

Koury Convention Center

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Going to ATMNE in Marlboro MA?

There are two talks being given by three Investigations 3 staff:

On Thursday, come hear Annie Sussman and Deborah Schifter talk about, and see videos that examine, what the Standards for Mathematical Practice look like in the elementary grades, with a specific focus on how to support students in making sense, persevering, and constructing arguments.

Math Practices in the Classroom: What Students Do and What Teachers Do to Make It Happen

Thursday, 11/2/17, 10:15-11:45 am

Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center

On Friday, come hear Susan Jo Russell talk about a teaching model, illustrated with video examples, for making learning about mathematical argument a regular, ongoing part of instruction.

Noticing Regularity, Articulating with Precision, and Constructing Arguments in the Elementary Classroom

Friday, 11/3/17, 9:00-10:30 am

Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center

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Going to the NCTM Regional in Orlando?

Come hear Karen Economopoulos talk about 8 instructional strategies for differentiating classroom activities to meet the needs of the range of learners. These strategies are designed to help teachers learn to adjust the learning environment, and to scaffold or extend the main math ideas of an activity, in order to support and challenge the thinking of all students. 

Instructional Strategies for Supporting the Range of Learners (#1352)

Friday, 10/20/17, from 1:30-2:45 pm

Room W108 of the Orange County Convention Center

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Helping Teachers Engage Students in the Process of Mathematical Argument

Our colleague Virginia Bastable was interviewed about her new book, But Why Does It Work?, and about “how mathematical models can support math argumentation, conjectures, and really understanding the affects of operations.” (Teaching One Moore, October 1, 2017)

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How Fourth-Graders Made Me a Mathematician Again

Our colleague Reva Kasman, one of the authors of But Why Does It Work?, wrote a wonderful article about how her work with elementary teachers, on a project focused on bringing mathematical argument into 2nd-5th grade classrooms, made her “ponder the big question: What exactly is a mathematician? What do mathematicians do and why was it so clear to me that these students were functioning as communities of mathematicians?”. (MAA Focus, August/September, 2017)

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A New School Year

Read about the Larkspur-Cordera School District getting ready for a new school year. We are happy to be working with them on the implementation of Investigation 3. (August 25, 2017)

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MA Math Hall of Fame

We are thrilled to announce that our colleague, Deborah Schifter, has joined Susan Jo Russell in the Massachusetts Mathematics Hall of Fame. At the induction ceremony, Deborah said, “There are many things I am grateful for in my career, but at the top is the opportunity to channel the insight, intelligence & wisdom of…amazing teachers.” How lovely that many of those teachers were in the room. (June 27, 2017)

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Want Better Math Students? Argue.

An interview with Deborah Schifter, one of the authors of But Why Does It Work?. Learn about “how argumentation, reasoning, and proof can advance math learning, even at a young age.” (May 10, 2017)

But Why Does It Work?

We are thrilled to announce a new book by our colleagues Susan Jo Russell, Deborah Schifter, Reva Kasman, Virginia Bastable, and Traci Higgins! This book helps teachers learn how to develop students’ abilities to justify their thinking and engage with the reasoning of others. It includes links to classroom video examples. Learn more and download a sample. (March 29, 2017)

Ed Reports: Authors’ Response

Read the authors’ response to EdReports review of Investigations 3. (March 22, 2017)

Ed Reports: Publisher’s Response

Read the publishers’ response to Ed Reports’ review of Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5 of Investigations 3. (March 15, 2017)

Author Talks

We are excited to announce the first in a series of free webinars, hosted by the Investigations Center for Curriculum and Professional Development. Join authors Keith Cochran and Karen Economopoulos as they discuss content and features of the 3rd edition of Investigations. Learn about future webinars and access recordings of past webinars. (October, 2016)

Investigations 3 Professional Development

We are thrilled to announce a new professional development experience, specific to Investigations 3. The Investigations 3 Institute, designed for new and experienced users of Investigations, focuses on what’s new and different about Investigations 3. Learn more about other professional development offerings, which are being updated to incorporate Investigations 3. (June, 2016)

The 3rd Edition!

We are excited to announce the release of the 3rd edition! Learn about the highlights of Investigations 3. (April, 2016)