Curriculum

Math

by Anne Shadwick

All of these curricula have been developed based on the national standards, field-tested for numerous years, and validated with studies and research. This research and development has been funded by the National Science Foundation.

The following curricula materials have been chosen by our teachers
and specialists and are currently being used for training and professional
development sessions:

Elementary Math
Growing With Mathematics
Representative:Molly Musson
Phone:913-814-3993
E-mail:mollymusson@kc.rr.com
Description:

The GROWING WITH MATHEMATICS program reflects current cognitive and social theories of early mathematics learning. In particular, the program views children as active learners who construct their own mathematical understandings through interacting with their environment and their peers. A special feature of the GROWING WITH MATHEMATICS program is the emphasis on asking questions that encourage students to think critically.

Elementary Math
Everyday Math
Representative:Molly Musson
Phone:913-814-3993
E-mail:mollymusson@kc.rr.com
Description:

Beginning in kindergarten, Everyday Mathematics helps children make the transition from intuition to concrete operations, and to abstractions and skills with symbols. The program in Grades 1 - 6 continues to develop these links so that by sixth grade, students will have the foundation they will need for algebra, geometry, and data analysis courses. Everyday Mathematics also seeks to increase the time spent on mathematics learning by integrating it into other subject areas and by infusing mathematics into both the ongoing daily routines of the classroom and into those transitional moments that occur during every school day.

Middle School Math
MATH Thematics
Representative:Bill Pallucca
Phone:816-333-9057
E-mail:bill_pallucca@hmco.com
Description:

Middle School MATH THEMATICS is based on the field-tested version of the STEM Project curriculum. An interactive, theme-based approach to middle school mathematics Middle Grades MATH THEMATICS combines skills instruction and practice with interactive activities. Extra practice, frequent review, and highlighted mathematical terms reinforce key concepts and skills. Easy-to-use labs engage students and present math in real-world contexts without requiring time-consuming preparation. This unique balance of traditional mathematics with exploratory exercises helps teachers improve the basic skills of their students and motivate them to learn while keeping lesson preparations manageable. With this flexible, complete curriculum, Middle Grades MATH THEMATICS gives students and teachers many ways to put math into action.

Secondary Math
Contemporary Mathematics in Context (CORE PLUS)
Representative:Greg McBill
Phone:1-800-382-7670
E-mail:gmcbill@tribune.com
Description:

The "Contemporary Mathematics In Context" curriculum materials are designed to promote active, collaborative learning and group work for two important reasons. First, collaborative learning is the most effective method for engaging all the students in a class in the learning process. Second, practice in cooperative learning in the classroom is practice for real life: students develop and exercise the same skills in the classroom that they need in their lives at home, in the community, and in the workplace. Each course of "Contemporary Mathematics In Context" features "strands" of algebra and functions, geometry and trigonometry, statistics and probability, and discrete mathematics. These four strands are connected within units by fundamental ideas such as symmetry, recursion, function, data analysis, and a curve-fitting. The strands also are connected across units by mathematical habits of mind such as visual thinking, recursive thinking, searching for and describing patterns, making and checking conjectures, reasoning with multiple representations, inventing mathematics, and providing convincing arguments. The strands are linked further by the fundamental themes of data, representation, shape, and change. Important mathematical ideas are continually revisited through this attention to connections within and across strands, enabling students to develop a robust understanding of mathematics.

Secondary Math
Math Connections
Representative:Cheryl Deese
Phone:773-685-4443
E-mail:cdeese@its-about-time.com
Description:

MATH CONNECTIONS is an exciting, challenging, standards-based curriculum for secondary mathematics. MATH CONNECTIONS is a unified approach that blends traditional mathematical topics around common thematic threads; it is for ALL students. It is flexible enough to reach out in new ways to a broad spectrum of students' talent, abilities and interests; it makes a concerted effort to accommodate a variety of learning styles; it treats basic technological tools available in the world of work; and it focuses on problem solving and reasoning in a way which emphasizes that mathematics is primarily about asking your own questions and looking for patterns, rather than finding someone else's answer and calculating numbers.