2nd to 3rd Edition: Grade 1 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 1 consists of 140 sessions across 8 units.

  • Unit 1: Building Numbers and Solving Story Problems (20 Sessions)
  • Unit 2: Comparing and Combining Shapes (12 Sessions)
  • Unit 3: How Many of Each? How Many in All? (26 Sessions)
  • Unit 4: Fish Lengths and Fraction Rugs (14 Sessions)
  • Unit 5: Number Games and Crayon Problems (23 Sessions)
  • Unit 6: Would You Rather Be an Eagle or a Whale? (12 Sessions)
  • Unit 7: How Many Tens? How Many Ones? (24 Sessions)
  • Unit 8: Blocks and Buildings (9 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 1 curriculum, but rather a brief summary of the major changes.

Changes at the Unit Level

  • The four number units of the 2nd edition were mostly condensed into three units, making room for a largely new unit, focused on representing and modeling addition of 2-digit numbers within 100, and on subtracting 10 from any two-digit number and multiples of 10 from multiples of 10. These (and other) units include expanded attention to:
    • Understanding and solving a variety of addition and subtraction story problem types, with unknowns in all positions.
    • Addition and subtraction within 20; fluency within 10; problems with three addends.
    • The composition of the teen numbers as one ten and some ones, and of two-digit numbers as tens and ones.
    • Notation for addition and subtraction, and the meaning of the equal sign
  • The 2-D Geometry unit no longer includes work on quilt squares/quilt patterns or activities that use the Shapes software.
  • The Measurement unit now includes an Investigation on halves and fourths as equal parts of a whole. 
  • The Data unit no longer includes work with numerical data (ages)
  • The 3-D Geometry unit no longer includes work on boxes/rectangular prisms; making a Block Town; and paths/directions.
  • The 2nd edition unit that focused on patterns and functions is no longer a part of the Grade 1 sequence.

Changes to the Classroom Routines

  • All Classroom Routines have been revised, with new variations occurring over the year to complement ongoing work.
    • Quick Survey is no longer a Classroom Routine; this activity is a recurring part of the data unit.
    • Morning Meeting is no longer a Classroom Routine; the part of that routine that focused on ideas about time is now its own Classroom Routine focused on understanding and telling time to the half hour.
  • A new Classroom Routine, Build It, focuses on number composition and the place value of 2-digit numbers.