ABSTRACT
At the root of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics are the eight Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP), describing “varieties of expertise that mathematics educators at all levels should seek to develop in their children” (CCSSI 2010, p. 6). As students learn skills and strategies for performing calculations, they must also acquire skills and strategies for proving how they can reason, communicate, represent and make connections as they solve mathematical problems. Unlike many of the previous state standards used by school districts around the nation, the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics include specific standards for students at the Kindergarten level. This provides opportunities for teachers to instill problem solving skills at an early age which can set the foundation for critical thinking in mathematics throughout the elementary grades. Students in Kindergarten, first and second grade may have difficulty understanding the language of the eight SMP as they are written in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Teachers can get together with colleagues within their school or district to rewrite each SMP in student-friendly language. One example of how the SMP can be rewritten for students in Kindergarten through second grade is shown in Table I.1. Introducing students to mathematical problems can be challenging considering students in Kindergarten and first grade are at early stages of learning to read, write, add and subtract. One way teachers can facilitate the teaching of word problems is to use children’s literature as the context. In this way, teachers can show illustrations from the book, use characters from the story and discuss any unfamiliar vocabulary before or during the presentation of the book. When teachers incorporate children’s literature into mathematics, opportunities arise for young children to see math in their own lives. If they see how characters in a story use math to solve problems, they can better understand how people around them use math to solve everyday problems. The use of literature can also facilitate problem solving by presenting a common language and structure for the teacher and students to use while they engage in the math content. Each chapter in this book is dedicated to one of the eight SMP with examples of how activities based on children’s literature can be used as a way to apply essential aspects of each standard. The activities are all based on the
Standards for Mathematical Content in Kindergarten through fifth grade. Teachers do not have to start with Chapter 1 but should use activities from any chapter that would be relevant for their current students. Kindergarten, first and second grade teachers might focus on one SMP a month or may just choose a few on which to focus for the year. Third through fifth grade teachers could build on their students’ knowledge of the SMP from previous grades, focusing on one or two each month, while helping their students connect the ideas reflected in each SMP so they are not viewed in isolation.
