by Karen Economopoulos | Feb 26, 2018 |
“One, two, three, four, five…” I was interested in how quickly Owen and Ravi figured out a way to count the set of 40 yellow hexagons in their Inventory Bag. The boys took turns saying a number as they placed the hexagons in a line which started to snake across the...
by The Investigations 3 Center Team | Feb 12, 2018 |
Question: The Quizzes in Investigations 3 are new to us. We are used to assessing the benchmarks with the Meeting/Partially Meeting/Not Meeting system outlined in the Assessment Teacher Notes. Can you help us get a better sense of how to use the Quizzes as they relate...
by The Investigations 3 Center Team | Feb 5, 2018 |
Question: Why do the assessments of the multiplication facts in Grade 3 include a time limit?Answer: In Investigations, the overwhelming majority of students’ work with the facts is focused on making meaning of the operation of multiplication, building connections...
by Susan Jo Russell | Jan 26, 2018 |
I was watching one of those legal shows on TV the other night. The prosecutor was asking the defendant a version of the same question for the third time. The defendant’s lawyer, getting annoyed, objected: “Asked and answered!” I’ve heard this phrase a hundred times in...
by Karen Economopoulos | Jan 22, 2018 |
“Wow, you’re so smart.” These words drew my attention to a pair of 5th grade girls in a class I was visiting, who I’ll call Cassie and Sophia. They were mid-way through a turn and talk, each sharing her strategy for solving 84 x 59. I casually moved closer, curious...
by Megan Murray | Jan 8, 2018 |
Imagine you are 6 years old. Or 7. You know you can use your fingers to model subtraction. For example, for a problem where there are 7 grapes and 2 get eaten, you can raise 7 fingers, put down 2, and count how many are left. But what do you do when the problem...
by Keith Cochran | Dec 11, 2017 |
On a recent visit to a school in a small city in the Midwest, Karen and I joined a class of 5th graders as they learned a game in Unit 3 called Roll Around the Clock. In the previous session, students used a clock to find and name fractions and equivalent fractions....
by Cynthia Garland Dore | Dec 4, 2017 |
As I worked with teachers in classrooms this fall, the topic of how to help students reflect on their learning and the learning of others kept coming up. I’m still thinking about how to recognize, encourage, and promote student reflection about math ideas. What traits...
by Annie Sussman | Nov 27, 2017 |
Classroom video is a powerful tool for studying and reflecting on mathematics teaching and learning. Unlike in-the-moment interactions with students, watching video enables us to slow down and more closely examine student-to-student exchanges. This affords us a unique...
by The Investigations 3 Center Team | Nov 9, 2017 |
Question: Why does 3rd grade start with a multiplication/division unit and not addition/subtraction?Answer: We often hear from people who wonder why Grade 3 starts with a multiplication and division unit—just like it did in the 1st edition!—rather than an addition and...
