The instructional materials for Common Core Coach Suite Grade 3 partially meet expectations that supporting work enhances focus and coherence simultaneously by engaging students in the major work of the grade.

Throughout the Common Core Suite of books, standards are mostly taught in isolation from other standards. Each lesson focuses on one standard without referencing connections to major work. Additionally, the teacher edition does not provide explicit connections from supporting work to major work; however, some natural connections are made.

Examples of supporting standards not connected to major work:

• 3.NBT.2 Adding and subtracting within 1,000 is addressed in Common Core Coach Lesson 11, Common Core Support Coach Lessons 5, 6, 11, 15, and 16, and Common Core Performance Coach Lessons 12-14. However, there is no connection to solving two-step word problems using the four operations (3.OA.8).
• 3.G.2 Partitioning shapes into equal parts is addressed in Common Core Coach Lesson 28 and Common Core Performance Coach Lesson 32, but neither lesson connects to understanding a fraction as a whole partitioned into equal parts (3.NF.1).

There are some connections made in the lessons; however, these connections are not explicit, and there is no indication of the connections for the student or teacher. For example:

• Common Core Coach Lesson 12 Using Place Value to Multiply by Multiples of 10 addresses multiplying one-digit numbers by multiples of 10 (3.NBT.3). The lesson uses determining an unknown number in a multiplication or division problem (3.OA.4) and the relationship between multiplication and division (3.OA.7). Common Core Performance Coach Lesson 10 Multiplying by Multiples of 10 as well as Lesson 15 further connect the properties of operations (3.OA.5).
• Common Core Coach Lesson 21 Measuring Length to the Nearest 1/2 Inch and 1/4 Inch and Lesson 22 Representing Data with Line Plots address using rulers with fractional values (3.MD.4). Both lessons connect length to understandings of fractions as equal parts of a whole (3.NF.1) and representing fractions on a number line (3.NF.2). Common Core Support Coach Lesson 17 Line Plots and Common Core Performance Coach Line Plots Lesson 26 support and extend understandings of these concepts.

The instructional materials for Common Core Coach Suite Grade 3 partially meet expectations for the materials being consistent with the progressions in the standards. Two components of the suite develop according to the grade-by-grade progressions in the standards, and most content from prior or future grades is clearly identified and connected to current grade-level work. However, the materials do not provide students with extensive work with grade-level problems, and the materials do not meet the full intent of the standards.

Examples of how the materials develop according to grade-by-grade progressions and identify content from prior or future grades, relating it to grade-level work:

• The Common Core Coach Teacher Edition contains a progressions chart at the start of each of the five domains, which show the connections between prior and future learning to the current grade-level standard being developed in each lesson. The Teacher Edition states that these connections also appear in the Student Edition on a visual roadmap of the domain progressions, showing “...how new content builds upon previous grade levels and domains, and connects to future domains.”
  • Domain 2 for Number and Operations within Base Ten, Understanding Place Value (2.NBT.1) connects with Grade 3 Lesson 10 Using Place Value to Round Whole Numbers (3.NBT.1), Lesson 11 Using Place Value to Add and Subtract Whole Numbers (3.NBT.2), and Lesson 12 Using Place Value to Multiply by Multiples of 10 (3.NBT.3). In turn, these three Grade 3 lessons connect to Grade 4 Lesson 3 Problem Solving: Multi-Step Problems (4.OA.3), Lesson 8 Rounding Whole Numbers (4.NBT.3), and Lesson 9 Adding and Subtracting Whole Numbers (4.NBT.4).
  • Domain 3 for Number and Operations – Fractions, Lesson 14 Representing Numbers in a Fraction Line (3.NF.2) connects to Representing Whole Numbers on a Number Line (2.MD.6), and progresses to Grade 4 Lesson 25 Problem Solving Measurement (4.MD.2), Lesson 28 Using a Line Plot to Solve Problems (4.MD.4), and Lesson 13 Comparing Fractions (4.NF.2).
• Common Core Support Coach contains lessons that begin with a “Plug In” section, which reviews prior foundational standards. The “Power Up” section includes a grade-level standard that will support the work of the target standard for the lesson. These two are connected in the “Ready to Go” section, which provides students opportunities to work problems using the scaffolded support. Examples include:
  • Lesson 7 Understanding Multiplication supports students working with the concept of multiplication (Common Core Coach Lesson 1) (3.OA.1). The “Plug In” draws on previous work with equal addends and arrays with up to five rows and up to five columns (2.OA.4), the “Power Up” reviews skip counting (2.NBT.2), and the “Ready to Go” practice provides opportunities for students to use multiple ways in which to interpret products of whole numbers and build the concept of multiplication (3.OA.1).
  • Lesson 13 Telling Time supports students struggling with time (Common Core Coach Lesson 17) (3.MD.1). The “Plug In” reviews telling time in a.m. and p.m. to the nearest five minutes (2.MD.7), the “Power Up” reviews addition and subtraction of two digit numbers (3.NBT.2), and the “Ready to Go” practice provides opportunities for telling and writing time to the nearest minute, for measuring time in intervals, and for solving word problems involving addition and subtraction of time intervals in minutes (3.MD.1).

Although Common Core Coach and Common Core Support Coach are consistent with the progressions, Common Core Performance Coach does not support the progression of the grade-level standards and does not identify connections to prior knowledge or future work. There is no explicit guidance to show development of the progressions in any of the lessons. For example:

• In Equivalent Fractions Lesson 18, students work with understanding two fractions as equivalent (3.NF.3a) and recognizing, generating, and explaining equivalent fractions using a visual fraction model (3.NF.3b). Guidance is not provided for students or teachers as to how this will connect to future work with comparing fractions with different numerators and denominators (4.NF.2) or adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators (5.NF.1).

The instructional materials for Common Core Coach do not attend to the full intent of the grade-level standards and do not provide students extensive work with grade-level problems. For many standards, only one lesson is devoted to meeting the full intent of the standard. This does not provide students with extensive practice with grade-level problems. For example:

• 3.OA.1 is addressed in Lesson 1.
• 3.OA.4 is addressed in Lesson 5.
• 3.OA.7 is addressed in Lesson 7.
• 3.OA.9 is addressed in Lesson 9.
• 3.NF.1 is addressed in Lesson 13.
• 3.MD.5, 3.MD.6 are addressed in Lesson 23.

Common Core Support Coach and Common Core Performance Coach provide additional support intended for students needing interventions or additional work with concepts and skills. While these components contain some standards that are not addressed to the full intent of the grade-level standard, including standards that are considered major work of the grade, most lessons do not contain sufficient practice for students to engage in extensive work with grade-level problems.

Examples of standards not addressed in Common Core Support Coach:

• “Determine the unknown whole number in a multiplication or division equation relating three whole numbers.” (3.OA.4)
• “Apply properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide.” (3.OA.5)
• “Express whole numbers as fractions, and recognize fractions that are equivalent to whole numbers.” (3.NF.3c)
• “Recognize area as an attribute of plane figures and understand concepts of area measurement.” (3.MD.5)
• “Recognize area as additive. Find areas of rectilinear figures by decomposing them into non-overlapping rectangles and adding the areas of the non-overlapping parts, applying this technique to solve real-world problems.” (3.MD.7d)

Examples of standards not addressed to the full intent of the grade-level standard by not giving students extensive work with grade-level problems include:

• Common Core Support Coach Equivalent Fractions, Lesson 3 is the only lesson devoted to the major work of equivalent fractions. (3.NF.3)
• Common Core Support Coach Division Facts, Lesson 10 addresses five standards surrounding strategies and fluency in division (3.OA.1, 3.OA.2, 3.OA.3, 3.OA.6, 3.OA.7). There are 13 practice problems presented.
• Common Core Performance Coach Multiplication and Division Facts, Lesson 7 addresses 3.OA.7 but does not provide practice for students to become fluent in multiplication and division as required by the standard. No additional lessons are provided within Common Core Performance Coach to help students develop this required fluency.
• Common Core Performance Coach Understanding Area, Lesson 28 addresses 3.MD.5a, 3.MD.5b, 3.MD.6, and 3.MD.7a, which together make up most of 3.MD.C, major work for Grade 3. There are 9 practice problems for students to work in the lesson. Area of Figures, Lesson 29 addresses 3.MD.7a more in-depth; however, there are no additional lessons that address three of the four standards being cited across the two lessons.

The instructional materials for Common Core Coach Suite Grade 3 partially meet expectations that materials foster coherence through connections at a single grade, where appropriate and required by the standards. Materials are clearly shaped by domain headings but do not connect two or more domains or clusters.

Common Core Coach Suite contains three components: Common Core Coach, Common Core Support Coach, and Common Core Performance Coach. Lessons in Common Core Coach and Common Core Performance Coach are grouped by domain. CCSSM standards alignment can be found in the Table of Contents of the Teacher Edition for each component of the suite. Most lessons in the suite address one standard.

Examples of lessons in Common Core Coach shaped by domain headings include:

• Domain 2: Number and Operations in Base Ten: Lesson 10 Using Place Value to Round Whole Numbers (3.NBT.1).
• Domain 3: Number and Operations - Fractions: Lesson 16 Understanding Fractions (3.NF.1).
• Domain 5: Geometry: Lesson 28 Relating Fractions to Area (3.G.2).

Overall, the materials miss important natural connections. Examples include:

• Common Core Coach Lesson 20 Bar Graphs and Lesson 25 Bar Graphs (3.MD.3) do not connect to multiply and divide within 100 (3.OA.7). In Common Core Performance Coach Lesson 24 Picture Graphs connects 3.MD.3 to 3.OA.7.
• Common Core Coach Lesson 23 Understanding Area, Common Core Support Coach Lesson 19 Area of Rectangles, and Common Core Performance Coach Lesson 28 Understanding Area address 3.MD.5a, 3.MD.5b, and 3.MD.6, but none of these lessons connect to representing and solving problems involving multiplication and division by having students determine an unknown whole number (3.OA.4).