4th grade Instructional Guide

Mathematics Best Practices Observers should be able to see at least one BUT NOT all practices going on in the classroom at any given time.

Math Classroom Specific Best Practices

What it Looks Like in the Math Classroom

Standards for Math Practice

Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them: students are continually asking themselves, throughout the problem- solving process, “Does this make sense?” Reason abstractly and quantitatively: students make sense of the quantities and their relationships in problem situations. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others: students use mathematical assumptions, definitions, and established results in constructing arguments. Model with mathematics: students apply the mathematics they know to solve problems arising in everyday life.

Students are making reasonable predictions about how to solve a problem, monitoring their progress, and adjusting approaches if necessary when working on mathematical tasks*. Students create a coherent depiction of the problem by representing it with mathematical symbols. They manipulate the symbols to solve the problem and then analyze the solution to see if it makes sense. Students can listen or read the arguments of others, decide whether they make sense, and ask useful questions to clarify or improve the arguments. Students use models such as graphs, pictures, diagrams, formulas, equations, etc…to apply what they know to simplify a complicated mathematical situation. Students use appropriate tools to solve problems such as pencil and paper, concrete models (manipulatives), a ruler, a protractor, a calculator, a spreadsheet, a computer algebra system, a statistical package, or dynamic geometry software. Students use clear definitions, symbols, units of measure, labels, and calculations appropriate for the problem context.

(What the Students Do)

Use appropriate tools strategically: students consider the available tools when solving a mathematical problem.

Attend to precision: students communicate precisely to others in mathematical discussions and problem solving. Look for and make use of structure: students discern a pattern or structure WITHIN a problem.

Students use mathematical reasoning to figure out the pattern to solve a given problem.

Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning: students notice patterns across problems to generate general methods and shortcuts.

Students use reasoning from previous problems to make generalizations to be able to solve similar problems.