AIS_MathsLearning_01

Math Learning A Family Guide 3K - Grade 5

Our Approach to Math In the Primary School at Atlanta International School, we build foundational skills and deep conceptual understanding with over 600 students across grades 3K to 5. While our school is located within the United States, our learning community represents students, families, and staff from over 60 countries. Our curricular framework is the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP); as such, we intentionally view mathematics as a transdisciplinary, sense-making activity rather than solely a series of disconnected facts and procedures to be memorized.

Inquiring into Global Math Systems Because our global community naturally exposes students to different forms of measurement, algorithms, and ways of representing quantity, we actively invite students to explore and inquire into these geographic and cultural variations. This framework allows young learners to see mathematics as a powerful tool for problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking. We encourage students to look for and analyze these connections, though they are only required to formally demonstrate standard proficiency within a single system (e.g., imperial versus metric). Ultimately, this helps our students develop a strong sense of self as confident, capable, and internationally minded mathematicians.

Learning in Two Languages A central pillar of our identity is our dual-language model. In the Primary School, mathematics instruction occurs in two languages. We believe that true mathematical literacy thrives in a multilingual environment. Our students are given consistent, structured opportunities to construct meaning, transfer skills, and apply mathematical understanding across all the languages taught at AIS. By engaging in mathematical reasoning and hands-on investigations in multiple languages, our students enrich their mathematical vocabulary, collaborate across cultural perspectives, and learn to look at their world through a rich mathematical lens.

Math Learning A Family Guide | 3K -Grade5

The Five Strands of Mathematics At AIS Primary, mathematics is never taught in isolation. Guided by the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), students develop conceptual understanding alongside practical skills through five interconnected strands of mathematics. Below are some examples of skillbased outcomes and conceptual understandings in each strand.

MATH STRAND

SKILLS Students will be able to...

CONCEPTS Students will understand that...

Skip count by tens using a number line or 100s chart Subtract a two-digit number by a two-digit number with regrouping

Connection: Numbers are connected to each other through a variety of relationships Form: The base ten place value system is used to represent numbers and number relationships

2 Shape & Space

Prove/reason that 2 shapes are congruent making references to its attributes Draw (2D) and build (3D) shapes that contain defining attributes

Function: Shapes can be transformed in different ways without impacting their properties Form: Shapes are classified and named accordingly to their properties

3 Measurement

Accurately measure length with precision using decimal and fractional notation Use a thermometer to identify temperature and round to the nearest 10 degrees

Function: Standard units allow us to have a common language to identify, compare, order and sequence objects and events Function: Mathematicians choose from a range of tools to measure the attributes of objects and events

4 Data Handling

Represent data using tables and graphs Identify the mean, median, mode, and range of a set of data

Causation: Appropriate questions can lead to the intentional collection of data. Following the collection, further questions may emerge Change: Analyzing data supports people in discovering patterns and making predictions

Pattern & Function

Create and extend a repeating, growing, and shrinking pattern Identify the rule of a pattern

Function: Whole numbers exhibit patterns and relationships that can be observed and described Form: Patterns can be represented using numbers and other symbols

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Learners at AIS make active connections between mathematics concepts and skills both within each strand and deliberately across the strands. Rather than treating math as a series of disconnected facts and procedures to be memorized, we encourage our students to consider mathematics as a fluid way of thinking.

Math instruction begins with conceptual understanding, which precedes procedural fluency. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ Position Statement defines fluency as accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility in computation.

An algorithm is just one way to solve a problem, but it is not always the most efficient. For example, when calculating 5009 - 998, a rigid reliance on a standard vertical algorithm can introduce mechanical borrowing errors. A truly fluent, relational thinker exhibits flexibility. They see that 998 is close to 1000, subtract 1000 to get 4009, and compensate by adding 2 back to reach 4011. Fact fluency is built on the development of foundational facts and strategies to develop fluency with derived facts in all four operations.

Math Learning A Family Guide | 3K -Grade5

Developing Mathematical Thinkers At AIS, mathematics is more than learning numbers and procedures—it is a way of understanding and interpreting the world. Through inquiry and real-world experiences, students develop the confidence to think critically, solve problems creatively, and make meaningful connections across subjects and everyday life. Our approach helps every learner build a deep, flexible understanding of mathematics that extends well beyond the classroom.

How We Develop Mathematical Thinkers

Students explore authentic challenges that build perseverance, creativity, and reasoning.

Learners represent ideas in different ways, connecting abstract concepts with realworld situations.

Students justify their thinking, explain their reasoning, and learn through mathematical discussion.

Hands-on experiences and mental math help students develop flexible, confident understanding of numbers.

Instruction is differentiated to provide every learner with the right balance of support, challenge, and opportunity to grow.

Students extend their thinking by exploring concepts more deeply rather than simply moving ahead to the next topic.

By building conceptual understanding before procedural fluency, students become confident, adaptable mathematical thinkers who understand not only how mathematics works, but why it works. They learn to choose effective strategies, justify their reasoning, and apply mathematics confidently in new situations. These habits of curiosity, collaboration, and critical thinking prepare them for lifelong learning.

Math Learning A Family Guide | 3K -Grade5

Assessment Assessment is a continuous, formative, and holistic process integrated directly into the daily cycle of inquiry. We intentionally design our mathematical assessments to serve four clear, structural purposes: to monitor the learning process, document growth over time, measure outcomes against established benchmarks, to transparently report progress to our learning community.

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How We Assess A central tenet of our assessment design is that conceptual mathematical understanding must be evaluated separately from a student's linguistic expression. To prevent language barriers from obscuring true mathematical literacy, our teachers utilize a diverse array of authentic data collection methods, including: observations 1-on-1 interviews choice in student expression of thinking paper and pencil tasks with language scaffolding standardized assessment (MAP Growth in Grades 2-5)

CRA Model

Assessment of mathematical concepts also includes the recognition of the development of the concept from concrete to representational to abstract.

Students may be asked to use manipulatives (concrete) as a part of assessment, explain their thinking using drawings (representational), or, when appropriate, through the use of numbers and symbols (abstract).

CONCRETE REPRESENTATIONAL ABSTRACT

Math Learning A Family Guide | 3K -Grade5

The Mathematics Learner Driven by natural wonderings and self-efficacy, students investigate mathematical concepts both collaboratively and independently within safe, stimulating environments. They make sense of their surroundings by posing questions, interpreting situations, making conjectures and estimates, and using reasoning to make informed decisions.

By learning to utilize effective tools, strategies, and varied representations to communicate their mathematical thinking, students develop transferable skills to make sense of the world around them.

Transdisciplinary connections in math Whenever possible, math learning is linked to our Units of Inquiry. This gives the learning an authentic context for meaning making and application. Below are some examples of how math learning connects.

Unit

Mathematics examples could include the following.

Who we are

In the ELC unit on exploring and developing community through play, students measure how tall their friends are.

Where we are in place and time

When exploring the concept of change, 1st grade students learn about change over time and sequence of days and months using a calendar.

How we express ourselves

During the unit on patterns, 5K students explore and create patterns with music and language.

How the world works

In a unit on structures, 2nd grade students explore geometry through building and testing design strength.

How we organize ourselves

Students operate a business during 3rd grade’s market day, utilizing money to exchange for goods and services, calculating totals and change for customers.

Sharing the planet

In the 4th-grade unit on natural resources, students use data to determine how much of Earth’s water is accessible fresh water.