LOWER SCHOOL GETS “INTO MATH” NEW CURRICULUM BUILDS PRODUCTIVE PERSEVERANCE IN PROBLEM SOLVING

During most of the 2021-22 school year, a Lower School faculty math committee collaborated with Middle School math faculty to review new curriculum options that would enhance conceptual learning for our senior kindergarten through fourth grade students. The committee ultimately decided to move from our previous McGraw-Hill Everyday Math curriculum to the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) Into Math program in August 2022. Head of Lower School Marti McCloud has guided and supported the senior kindergarten-fourth grade teachers in this launch and is pleased with the results to date in the first year of implementation.

“We decided to make the switch because we were interested in adopting a curriculum that offered students more practice with a set of skills or thinking strategies, before spiraling to a new concept,” McCloud explains. “In other words, we were looking for ways to offer more time for mastery, which would move students along to more advanced skills earlier than we were doing with Everyday Math. Into Math is a problem-solving based program, in which children learn computation and, more importantly, the skills and concepts needed to solve word problems. Because once children begin tackling word problems with multiple operations to consider, there is a lot of critical thinking that has to occur.”

McCloud knows that word problems can conjure visceral memories for many adults… not necessarily pleasant! Into Math’s curriculum offers student-centered teaching strategies that support conceptual learning necessary for the successful application of computational skills.

“I watched our fourth graders recently and they were nailing it – circling and underlining the operations and identifying the important information,” she says. “We’re excited to see our fourth grade students tackling these more complex problems successfully thanks to the thinking strategies we’re teaching.”

According to HMH, Into Math’s goal is inspiring students to see themselves as doers of mathematics and instilling a positive attitude toward math. By putting students at the center, the curriculum aims to create fearless problem solvers and what HMH terms “productive perseverance in problem solving” that lets students apply their knowledge to higher-level mathematics and beyond. Their strategies help students develop strong number sense and understand math concepts, rather than just memorize the steps for solving a problem.

Middle School Math Teacher Lyn Forsyth is excited about the new curriculum’s focus on word problems, and what it means for Lower Schoolers’ development in mathematics. “Because word problems are open to interpretation as to where to begin, which skills to use, and in what order, [they] require a deep understanding on the part of the student to determine for themselves how to solve a particular problem,” she explains. “Learning math through word problems helps students see the relevance of the foundational skills they have previously developed.”

As Lower School faculty members implemented the curriculum this year, they made notes about what’s working well, and what parts they will tweak or adjust next school year.

“The pace is pretty measured in senior kindergarten,” McCloud says. “For example, SK spent a lot of time mastering number sense, and by spring, we were introducing operations where the problem is backwards with a missing addend, like 5 = 2 + ___, or 2 = 7 - ___. That’s pretty complicated for kindergartners; it’s algebraic thinking. We’ve never focused on missing addends this early, so even if it seems like we’re focusing on just the numbers 1-5 and 5-10 for so long, we’re really diving deep into the part-whole relationship and what that means.”

Multiplication units also moved at a measured pace in third grade, but students were going deeper with concepts such as multiplication, division and their conceptual relationship with fractions. "We are seeing results from spending time building conceptual thinking and connecting concepts with skills, like the relationships between multiplication and division and fractions, and part-part-whole thinking. Students are able to practice skills and then apply the concepts flexibly when a word problem calls for it.”

Another reason Lower School landed on Into Math was because it was conducive to the small group work necessary for differentiated instruction that can meet individual needs of students. As Middle School’s math faculty members prepare to launch their own curriculum review, Forsyth believes Lower School students will be well-prepared to advance to the next level.

“Math is not learned for the next test grade,” she says. “Math is necessary to understand the world around us and is critical in most every career. I would go so far as to say that math is necessary to navigate life in the 21st century!”

Into Math Highlights

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt curriculum

• Problem-solving based program

• Designed with logical progression of skill development

• Created to instill a positive attitude toward math

• Helps students build number sense and conceptual understanding

• Encourages skill practice and flexible application of concepts

• Offers thinking and planning strategies to solve multi-step word problems

• Supports small group work Scan

New Classroom Furniture Chosen to Enhance Learning in Lower School

By Kirsten Horton, Senior Kindergarten Teacher

The math curriculum isn’t the only new feature this year in GSL’s Lower School. Over Christmas Break, classrooms were refurnished with brand new tables, desks, and chairs from VS America (see photo 2). Head of Lower School Marti McCloud guided the thoughtful selection of pieces based on environmental psychology research. Teachers also played a role in choosing the furniture that would lead to engaged collaboration within their specific classrooms, the aim being to create the best possible learning environment for students.

Each table and desk has a natural finish, which produces calming feelings for students and reduces eye strain. Research shows that furniture like this with curved edges leads to feelings of positivity and optimism. Additionally, the light blue color of the chairs is shown to enhance creativity and promote memory. They even have a little bounce for active bodies! The improved aesthetic has inspired many teachers to refresh their overall classroom design. Win-win for both faculty and students, and GSL was pleased to be able to donate the previous furniture to Promise Academy.