Does your school use Math In Focus? I have taught the program for the last 3 years (kindergarten, first and second grade) and have a love/hate relationship with it.
The program is great in that it teaches concepts really in depth. It also challenges students (beginning in kindergarten) to think about why math works and what it's real life implications are.
However, I feel it sometimes expects students to jump into difficult problem solving before they're ready. The assessments often present the problem in a different way than the students were taught and expects them to be able to make the connections without guidance.
For some students, it works. For other students, they're left feeling unprepared and discouraged that despite their best efforts- the test in front of them might as well be written in another language.
That's where small group work comes in. I use these resources with the students that need help making these connections and walk them through the steps. Click on the link to download from my TPT store.
The program is great in that it teaches concepts really in depth. It also challenges students (beginning in kindergarten) to think about why math works and what it's real life implications are.
However, I feel it sometimes expects students to jump into difficult problem solving before they're ready. The assessments often present the problem in a different way than the students were taught and expects them to be able to make the connections without guidance.
For some students, it works. For other students, they're left feeling unprepared and discouraged that despite their best efforts- the test in front of them might as well be written in another language.
That's where small group work comes in. I use these resources with the students that need help making these connections and walk them through the steps. Click on the link to download from my TPT store.
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