2nd to 3rd Edition: Grade 2 Changes

Changes to the Curriculum Components

Investigations 3 has eight units per grade. Each grade level consists of approximately 140 sessions. The Differentiation and Intervention Guide (2011), and Investigations and the Common Core Standards (2012), have been integrated into the curriculum units, eliminating these 2nd edition components. Support around the Standards for Mathematical Practice, differentiation for the range of learners, and assessment have been added or expanded. A new set of online tools includes e-texts, planning tools, digital presentations, games, and provides access for families. The Student Math Handbook is now a digital-only resource called Math Words and Ideas.

Investigations 3 at Grade 2 consists of 143 sessions across 8 units.

  • Unit 1: Coins, Number Strings, and Story Problems (26 Sessions)
  • Unit 2: Attributes of Shapes and Parts of a Whole (19 Sessions)
  • Unit 3: How Many Stickers? How Many Cents? (24 Sessions)
  • Unit 4: Pockets, Teeth, and Guess My Rule (12 Sessions)
  • Unit 5: How Many Tens? How Many Hundreds? (20 Sessions)
  • Unit 6: How Far Can You Jump? (12 Sessions)
  • Unit 7: Partners, Teams, and Other Groups (10 Sessions)
  • Unit 8: Enough for the Class? Enough for the Grade? (20 Sessions)

Changes to the Content

Investigations 3 is based in large part on the 2nd edition of Investigations in Number, Data, and Space (2008). Content from Investigations and the Common Core Standards (2012) and the Differentiation and Intervention Guide (2011) has been integrated and, in many cases, expanded upon. Other material has been deleted, moved, or merged to create a focused, coherent, and rigorous K-5 mathematics curriculum, fully aligned to the content and practice standards of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

The following is not meant to be a comprehensive description of the Grade 2 curriculum, but rather a brief summary of the major changes.

Changes at the Unit Level

  • The four number units include expanded attention to:
    • Understanding and solving one- and two-step story problems about addition and subtraction, of all types, with unknowns in all positions. Contexts include money and measurement.
    • Fluency with addition and subtraction within 20.
    • The composition of two- and three-digit numbers; using expanded form to represent two- and three-digit numbers.
    • Fluency with addition and subtraction within 100; representing and solving addition and subtraction problems that involve 3-digit numbers.
  • The 2nd edition Geometry and Fractions units have been combined into one unit. It does not include work on symmetry, activities that use the Shapes software, or fractions of sets.
  • The data unit includes work with picture and bar graphs, and with using line plots to represent numerical data; line plots of measurement data are revisited in the measurement unit.
  • The 2nd edition unit that focused on patterns, functions, and change has been revised to focus on the foundations of multiplication. This unit also includes work on even and odd numbers, and additional work with arrays.
  • The 2nd edition work that focused on timelines is no longer a part of the Grade 2 sequence, nor is the work on repeating patterns.

Changes to the Classroom Routines

  • All Classroom Routines have been revised, with new variations occurring over the year to complement ongoing work.
    • What Time Is It? includes telling time to the nearest 5 minutes, and the use of AM and PM.
  • A new Classroom Routine, Fact Fluency, focuses on developing fluency with the addition facts to 10+10, and the related subtraction facts.