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Re: Oof!
Posted:
Mar 19, 2002 8:01 PM
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Jules,
How brave of you to speak up, especially on an Investigations support
list <grin>! I am using Investigations for the second year and have
had a mixture of success and failure. Our distict uses Silver Burdett
as the main math curriculum and Investigations as a support. When the
students come to me in 5th grade, they have no background in
Investigations, so it's like starting from ground zero each year! I
have started the year with Mathematical Thinking, moved into Silver
Burdett with Multiplication/Division, moved back into Picturing
Polygons, filled in some geometry gaps with Silver Burdett, then back
into Name that Portion (really difficult for my kids until they get
into using the clock to see adding of fractions), and then I hit
decimals in Silver Burdett. I usually end the year with a Polyhedra
unit, but may have time to do another Investigation this year that I
haven't tried before.
It's what works for me, as the kids really love Investigations and
develop a deep love of math. They do not love Silver Burdett, or get
much of an understanding there, but they do develop strong calculation
skills. I give daily homework (usually calculation practice), and hit
Investigations during class time. This keeps the kids accountable to
their own work and is something the parents understand too. It's
almost like Investigations is the preliminary step into understanding
philosophy of what calculation to use and why it works. I also give
the periodic assessments that each student must do individually. If
they have been taking a free ride, it really shows up here. Failing
grade notices sent home to parents wake these 5th graders up real
fast!
Jacki
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