Constructing a Math Framework

As a school year wraps up, a new one begins...at least in our teacher brains.  We spend the summer reading and researching, planning and creating in order to be ready for our new students in the fall.  This reflection is an important piece of our growth as professionals.  I shared last week my building has spent the last couple months constructing a literacy framework.  As the year wrapped up in my K-2 school, we decided we needed to reflect upon practices and HOW we were actually teaching the math standards.

This discussion led us to the decision that a math framework was needed.  The goal:  To be more vertically aligned with instruction and vocabulary, while using best practices to teach the Common Core standards. 

Since we are departmentalized, we have a Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade math teacher.  Plus the Title I teachers that push in.  As a team, we decided our math classes is broken down into three sections: whole group (number of the day routine and Number Talks), guided math (focused standard lesson), and independent stations (games, apps, and Tier 2 intervention groups).  Here is an example:

The best practices for each component of the day were also defined:

As we worked on the framework, the standards were analyzed.  The team determined the standards were being hit on a daily basis through "number of the day" routines and the ones that needed to be more explicitly taught in a guided math format.

We did this analysis vertically and discussed how the skill level would gradually increase through the year.  This was very eye opening to us because there are so many standards that are being hit every.single.day! Making our curriculum calendar was much more manageable with this information.

Along with discussing the HOW of our math instruction.  We talked about the language we wanted to be using across the building.  A page with these common terms was started.  But we all attend a PD next week on Mathematical Practices and Number Talks; therefore, we have a feeling this page will grow :)

Is this a document that you would use or that you have in your building?