What were some of the tasks assigned to the 3rd Grade Math team during Curriculum Review Week?

During CRW prework days we reviewed feedback from teachers regarding the sequencing of the 3rd Grade Math Curriculum Guides and I Can/I Will statements. Taking suggestions into consideration, we made slight changes to the guide.

We also created a “3rd Grade - Year at a Glance” document to help teachers sequence their math instruction based upon quarters. Sequencing will be important as we have switched from “Predictive Assessments” to “Benchmarks Assessments”. Teachers across the district having the same math sequence by quarter will be beneficial for PLC’s and collaboration, as well as students who may transfer within the district.

On the “Year at a Glance” we included the CCSS code and the I Can statements, which will better enable teachers to incorporate these in their PDSA processes.

Our team also explored the ISS Common Core wiki which houses many documents, links and resources that will be very helpful for teachers during this Common Core transition.

Can you explain the process for creating the 3rd Grade Math Baseline?

First, we looked at the year at a glance all 4 quarters. We noted what math strands were going to be taught in 3rd grade. Then we looked at the curriculum guide and read through the domain and strands. When we began creating the assessment, we decided to create 33 questions, 8 would be 2nd grade common core questions. Then we begin with Operations and Algebraic Thinking and created a question for each strand since this is 30-35% of the weight distribution for Grade 3. Then we moved onto Number and Operations in Base Ten and only had two questions from this area since it is 5-10 %. Then we continued to create questions for Number and Operations – Fractions 20-25%, Measurement and Data, and Geometry. Lastly, we double checked our work, created directions and a cover sheet.

Can you explain the process for creating the 3rd grade Benchmark Assessment #1?

Since ISS is transitioning into Benchmark Assessments rather than Predictive assessments we first had to divide the 3rd grade curriculum into two benchmark areas. Benchmark assessments are designed to assess what has already been taught to that point and a little of what will be taught on the next assessment. This framework allows teachers to assess what their students retained from the previous quarter and have comparative data for the next benchmark assessment.

After making these divisions of the curriculum we decided it was important to format these assessments based off DPI’s prioritization of the standards. We divided the questions based off the percentages on the table below.

Domain / Grade 3 / # of ?’s
Operations and Algebraic Thinking / 30-35% / 16
Number and Operations in Base Ten / 5-10% / 4
Numbers and Operations – Fractions / 20-25% / 0
Measurement and Data / 22-27% / 10
Geometry / 10-15% / 0
Total / 100% / 30 (1 OE)

Since we do not cover Geometry or Numbers and Operations-Fractions in 1st quarter or 2nd quarter they were not included in our Benchmark Assessment.

We double checked our assessments through peer review, created updated answer sheets, directions, and coversheets.

Can you explain the process for creating the 3rd grade Benchmark Assessment #2?

We created Benchmark Assessment #2. We used percentages based of the DPI site to guide us in creating the assessment. We divided the questions based off the table below.

Domain / Grade 3 / # of ?’s
Operations and Algebraic Thinking / 30-35% / 27
Number and Operations in Base Ten / 5-10% / 4
Numbers and Operations – Fractions / 20-25% / 0
Measurement and Data / 22-27% / 4
Geometry / 10-15% / 5
Total / 100% / 40 (1 OE)

The majority of our standards that fall within 2nd quarter were Operations and Algebraic Thinking, which is why most of the test focuses on these areas. The first 8 questions cover a review of first quarter standards. It may seem that there are many questions that involve standard 3.OA. 8, but please know that 2 of those questions review first quarter standards with addition and subtraction. We didn’t include many questions involving fractions since these standards were not covered in third quarter. We also didn’t include any questions involving area, perimeter, or volume since they fall under 4th quarter standards. It will be up to the teacher to cover these standards on their own and assess accordingly.

One of the biggest problems we came across when creating the assessment is that many of the standards overlap when dealing with multiplication and division. We did our best to create problems that fall within each standard.

Please be aware that students will need to show their work conceptually on the Calculator Inactive portion of the test. It is up to the teacher to look to see if the students are using the strategies correctly and base instruction upon what they observe.