Read the summary that outlines what a typical lesson is like in Illustrative Math. Then select one of the lessons to watch. The lesson plans are also linked below in case you want to reference them as you are watching the lesson. (FYI - the lessons linked below are screencasted - if you want to navigate through the Imagine Learning Platform...you can find additional lessons. Click here to learn how.)
- Summary of a Typical Lesson
- Sample Lesson Videos:
- Corresponding Lesson Plans:
Consider
- What is rolling around in your head about this lesson design?
- What caused you to pause and think?
- What math experiences from your own classroom came to mind as you were watching and reading?
Respond and Interact
Please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above. Read our colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight or interesting possibility.
Please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above. Read our colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight or interesting possibility.
I'm excited for this new curriculum and what it may offer for my students as mathematicians. The lesson video makes the IM Curriculum seem manageable and while different not all that different. I liked her intentionality with building key content vocabulary, noting it on the anchor chart- word bank, encouraging the use of, and then modeling the language. As the students engaged in the instructional activities I appreciated the active engagement and collaboration with peers. A key difference I noted was in the Lesson Synthesis and how critical this step is. In the past students would move into independent practice and then it would be very difficult to bring closure to the lesson many times omitting that step. The lesson synthesis can not be omitted with this curriculum. Managing the time in the lesson will be very important as to bring clarity to the concepts covered. In WUOS teachers have to really utilize each teaching opportunity outside of the mini lesson and I see this portion of the math lesson as VERY important. Thank you Renae!
ReplyDeleteIt was hard to know how to comment on Part 6 since the 3rd grade lesson is different than a lesson that I have done for 2nd grade for years. While I usually start with a small warm up, IM’s warm-ups are built in with a task. Nice! The heart of my current Math Expression’s lesson takes longer than the 3rd grade’s Activity 1 and 2 (35 min). I watched the 3rd grade lesson because it doesn’t have centers built in which will be similar for me with 2nd grade’s IM. The Lesson Synthesis which I hardly ever got to with Math Expression will be nice to have and I hope my lessons stay to the minutes outlined. I do like how the Lesson Synthesis would be great whole group discussion to wrap up the lesson. My ending to a Math Expression’s lesson was using a whiteboard problem or two or a half sheet with two problems as my check for understanding which seems like IM’s cool down, I think. I really like the layout of the warm-up, then partner work as the teacher walks around asking questions and listening to students, then closure with the Lesson Synthesis discussion. The IM lessons seem like they will have longer amount of time for student talk or partner work which excites me. It is nice to see that there were suggestions to centers at the end of the 3rd grade lesson layout. I still plan to teach the math games that I used the last few years to start each year off so students get a chance to get to know each other and build relationships while playing. With our schedule next year, I don’t think I will be able to use math games as an entrance task. But they will be out as a choice for our WIN block if they aren’t pulled out or Flex Days if we have any.
ReplyDeleteBeverly, at the beginning of year when first using IM, I would set a timer for myself, to help me with pacing. I needed it in order to pace myself through the lesson. Occasionally a lesson required 2 days.
DeleteI was excited to watch the first grade lesson. She did a really good job and I loved how the kids were in engaged. I also like how there is a slide show to go with the lessons and so everyone can see and we do not have to create/ make anything. What caused me to pause and think is that there is so much hands on activities and I love that part instead of always doing paper and pencil activities. I really appreciate that. The other thing that popped into my head was about the parents/ families who ask about homework and so forth. What has the teachers from last year done or told their families? I know you get both sides about homework but I always made it optional as additional practice, so that made me think and wonder. I am just really excited about this new math and can't wait to see the engagement, wondering, and perseverance in the kids. The other thing that I have a question is what about the kids who are academically performing really well or well below average. Was there anything that the teachers noticed from last year or helpful tips that could be useful for this school year? JUst out of curiosity.
ReplyDeleteThanks Renae! I can't wait to just dive right into this and try this out! Woo Hoo....
Hi Judy, I sent the additional problems home as part of my homework routine. Each section (A,B, C etc) of the Unit comes with additional problems, so I would make sure that I was through the section before sending it home. Most sections have 3-5 lessons. Hope this helps!
DeleteI had the same wondering about homework as Judy. It was good to read what you had to say about the homework routine and how you used them in your classroom.
DeleteThanks Rachelle!
DeleteThe biggest shift for me in using IM was not jumping ahead and talking about things or next steps. The many times I did...it came up later in the unit, often the next day. My mantra was "trust the curriculum!" It took me time to let my kids try on their own and have productive struggle. I found I needed to have class conversations about how my job was too help them figure out ways to solve the problem, not give them the answer, or tell them what to do to solve the problem.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more Rachelle! It was so difficult not to jump in and "teach" like I'd done in the past, rather trust the curriculum and the fact that the students would put it all together when it was time. The outcome was so much greater. I am excited for year 2 as I now have the big picture and can more easily trust that it will all come together in the end.
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DeleteRachelle, I had the same issue, trying to jump ahead or "Pre-teach" a little - I too needed to trust the curriculum because what I shared came up later in the lesson. So yes, trust the curriculum!
I focused on the third grade lesson, and I appreciated how the warm up was a review from a previous unit. WHile I know, and hope, they won't all be that way, it's nice for students to revisit skills. The activities presented in the lesson prompted conversation and included manipulatives beyond the book which was awesome (but also seems like a lot of initial prep). The specific vocabulary of "attributes" didn't come up until the synthesis, and I wondered if that was intentional.
ReplyDeleteMy other question - I know IM is supposed to be very student driven. I'm thinking about the shape sorting. What if every group sorted their shapes in the same way. As a teacher, would I offer suggestions, ask them to find another way?
I'm excited for the breakdown of the lesson and look forward to the routines presented.
The lesson video was so good to get to watch for first grade. It always helps to see what you are learning about in action. From what I’m seeing in the lesson plan itself and the video there is going to be some wonderful time for students to show what they are learning. And the built in teaching tips and student engagement are amazing.
ReplyDeleteI am a little concerned about time management, but I also think the more I do it the better that will become. I’m also wondering if there are some lessons that go fast and some that will take more time?
I thought the lesson plan was great and easy to follow. There is a ton of student engagement and you always have a better lesson if students are able to be involved. I mentioned this in my last comment but it’s worth saying again that they really utilize vocabulary in a very consistent way. If a student doesn’t understand the language of the subject, how are they supposed to do the work? So I love how it’s built into every lesson.
I have enjoyed learning about the curriculum and look forward to using it this year. Thank you for putting this together!!
Thank you ALL for your thoughtful reflections and the enthusiasm that you have shared with each other. I know that giving up part of your summer is a huge sacrifice so I am especially grateful that you made some space to take this course. 🧡 I hope you feel more prepared and optimistic about our implementation in the fall.
ReplyDeleteIt totally agree with what Rachelle said about not jumping ahead or early explaining what comes next. It caught up to me when i did that. Sometimes i questioned why i wasn't naming something first but i had to remember that this curriculum was designed this way on purpose!
ReplyDeleteOrganization of the unit's materials is of utmost importance. I liked taking each unit and putting the cool downs all before the section quiz so that i knew what was coming and when. Watching the unit narrative videos before starting was super helpful to know where we were headed. I feel way better starting this year having tried IM last year.
Kathy, I totally agree about the unit narrative videos - really helpful to watch before starting a unit. I too tracked the cool downs before the section quiz - helped create small groups for extra support where needed in a timely manner.
DeleteI look forward to using this lesson structure. I feel like it engages students more than the previous curriculum and the amount of interacting students have with each other as well as the number of transitions will help students stay engaged in the lesson. One thing I look forward to the most is using the centers to help engage students while learning material that can be hard to understand or new concepts that are easier for some students to understand when doing hands on activities. I'm very excited to get started with this math curriculum and see for myself, what other teachers have been raving about.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in an earlier post, I love that the warm-ups are already built into the lesson. My second graders looked forward to seeing what the warm-up would be for that day. These beginning routines do a wonderful job of inviting all students into the lesson and learning and they allow every student to feel successful. They are also a great connection to prior learning as well as set the stage for that day's lesson. I love the strategy that was modeled in the 3rd grade lesson of having students hold up fingers to indicate the number of different responses they had for the problem. This allows everyone to stay engaged while giving valuable time to those who require more think time. Another feature of the lesson that I really appreciate are the Cool Downs that are already a component of the lesson. I used to create my own Exit Slips for Math Expressions, so I love that these are already available for me. They are a quick and easy way to determine which students understood the lesson and reached that day's target. I used this quick information to work with students independently, or in small groups as needed.
ReplyDeleteI loved seeing a video of an IM lesson. I saw some new approaches to routines that I have already been doing in my own classroom, so that was really helpful. For example, I like that she had the students underline the learning goal/target in their journal and that was really made clear versus a general mention (or invitation to the learning) at the beginning. I also enjoyed watching how she implemented the 'True or False?' warm-up routine. With 2nd graders, I did that routine in more of a mental math/discussion format. I thought it was interesting that they individually solved those problems in their student journal and then came back together to discuss. I liked seeing these different approaches. I also enjoyed seeing the Card Sort learning routine play out in the video as this is an activity that my class enjoyed last year. It is so collaborative in nature and students had to arrive at the learning on their own rather than the teacher telling them how to sort their cards. I thought the Gallery Walk at the end was valuable where they had to identify how other groups had sorted their card sets.
I am reminded how critical the activity and lesson synthesis are. This is a component that I had to be very intentional to include especially at the end of the lesson when you may be running low on time.
Thank you Renae for all of your support this year!
I am so excited for our new curriculum. One thing that I have been thinking about is how important the synthesis is at the end of the lesson. I know there is clearly throughline in all the lessons. The warm-up has a very clear and intentional connection to the first activity and then there is the connection to the synthesis. I want to make sure I have a clear understanding of the connections that need to be made during each part of the lesson. I wonder if some common team planning and or PLC time can be used to support our teams understanding of the connections we need to make.
ReplyDeleteI know I need to very intentional with the synthesis and how important it is which will mean I need to ensure I leave enough time for it. I struggled with timing with the lessons I did try out with my students. It is so easy to let the lessons go on when rich learning is taking place.
Another thing I have been thinking about is the cool down. They offer so much information but can easily be pushed aside due to time. I am considering using them as morning work, but I know I need to make sure to have them graded before our math block begins.
Since I teach second grade, I decided to watch the first grade and third grade videos. Watching how each teacher went through the lessons was extremely helpful. I printed out each of the lessons so I could see how the teacher moved throughout the lesson. I'm officially excited for this new math curriculum. I know I will have many questions as I go through the year, but I am thankful for the people who worked on the curriculum this past year. Thank you for all of the incites and knowledge you have shared with us this summer! Thank you, Renae!
ReplyDeleteThe routine of the lesson design was helpful last year. As I was learning to teach a new curriculum it made it easier to focus on other parts of the lesson because every day the design was the same. As others that taught last year have said, it was hard not to “teach ahead” or explain something more. In the beginning this caused me to take longer to teach some of the lessons. I remember having a big ah ha moment in Unit 6 of 2nd grade, like now it all makes sense. 😊 Reading about the practice problems was surprising to me. I am going to print that page so I can remember how to each kind. Families often asked for things that would help their students or homework for extra practice, especially after the first test. That was something that I found very challenging last year, and I often had to create things. Over the year I did learn how to download the practice problems into word and make some changes or create more problems and that was helpful. I am looking forward to having my whole team using the curriculum and bouncing ideas off of each other.
ReplyDeleteI will also add that I did the cool downs a little differently last year. I put them all in a booklet and had students complete them as an entry task. We would correct them together and I would walk around and monitor while students were working on them. I did have them turn in their booklets a few times during each unit to collect a formative grade.
DeleteI watched the lesson for grade 3. The lesson strikes me as engaging for students and full of rich academic language. It is clear students have some back ground knowledge and are building on this through the partner activities. I like how the teacher is gathering the important academic language onto chart paper. Also, every group is responsible for explaining their sorting. This helps with accountability for their partner time. Students know they need to have something to say. I'm curious how to deal with students who refuse to engage or lack understanding of the activities. I do notice the teacher circling during the partner time and realize this would be a great time to differentiate.
ReplyDeleteI really like the gallery walk first before sharing ideas. This gives students time to compare and contrast with their own work before they have to share out. Also, students can make meaningful connections with their own work and learn from their peers. I could see this working well for students who always want to be with the same partner. They will get a chance to compare work with their bestie even if they are not direct partners with them.
I notice also the teacher asks students a lot of "what do you mean" questions. This puts the explaining and thinking on them. Also, she had several great management strategies for quick transitions and students flowed with it. Transitioning quickly will need to be practiced and maintained during this work.
It will be good to have such engaging tasks. I am looking forward to this work.
:)
Hayley, remember this was unit 7 task, by this time of the year my students were champions at partner work and transitioning, commenting on others because the curriculum really has these skills imbedded in each unit. I really liked her anchor chart of mathematical language too.
DeleteHaving taught the IM curriculum this year, I still really loved watching someone else teach a lesson. This was our last unit and I remember the sorting lesson very well. I really liked her warm up procedure, I usually juused the slides but I like the way she modeled with the work-book and used the math language in her questioning (I did that too.) One change I want to make this year is to do the cool down immediately following the lesson synthesis, while the language and concepts are still right there. I often did them as a morning entrance task last year and found I often had to give many reminders on what we did the previous day. My pacing improved so much as the year progressed, I expect I will easily fit in the cool-down in our math block. I am excited to start a 2nd year with the IM curriculum.
ReplyDeleteIt was beneficial to watch a complete lesson and witness how each activity connects with the next. I found it beneficial when she displayed a timer during the warm-up, and I intend to use a timer to ensure a good pace for myself. The third-grade lesson accomplished a lot within just 46 minutes, which was impressive. The activities effectively engaged the students' thinking process and led to the introduction of new vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteThe concluding synthesis holds significant value, and I'm aware of the need to manage my timing effectively to reach that point. I am grateful for the feedback and advice provided by those who were early adopters. I understand that this initial year will be full of thoughts, questions, and reflections, and I'm excited about sharing these discussions with my team. I look forward to starting this new math adventure.
I watched the 3rd grade lesson.
ReplyDeleteI'm always curious about what "early finisher" students may do for the couple of minutes when everyone else is still working. I saw 1 kid reading a book, a groups just sitting there, and one wandering the room :) Last year I tried to have an Open Middle "challenge" problem on the board for students to work on. But then kids wouldn't want to stop working on that.
I also heard that she had a timer go off after the warmup. I think that I may need to use that strategy as well to stay on pace.
I wonder when to do a gallery walk and when as a teacher to have different groups share in a strategic order. That is one area for me to grow- the selecting and sequencing of the 5 practices.
The lesson synthesis is so important! I need to make sure that I leave enough time for that, to collect vocabulary on a word bank, and complete the cool down.
ReplyDeleteWatching the lessons being taught was so helpful to figure out the flow of my math block. With every lesson I watched and with every lesson I taught, the problem- based instruction/structure felt a little less intimidating and a whole lot more “normal.” There are definitely still things that are uncomfortable and things that will be new to me this year, but I am so excited to have my team working alongside me, problem-solving, and learning together. The time spent on this course, diving into the elements of Illustrative was so valuable in helping me feel more equipped and confident to teach math this year!! I can’t wait to see what this curriculum does for mathematicians, system wide!!