The instructional materials reviewed for enVisionMATH California Common Core Grade 3 partially meet expectations that supporting work enhances focus and coherence simultaneously by engaging students in the major work of the grade. Supporting standards/clusters are sometimes used to support major work of the grade and often appear in lessons with few connections to the major work of the grade.

Throughout the series, supporting standards/clusters are typically taught in isolation and rarely connected to the major standards/clusters of the grade. Students can often complete problems aligned to supporting work without engaging in the major work of the grade. The following examples illustrate missed connections in the materials:

• In Topic 5 Lesson 5-5, students find patterns by using 10 as a factor when multiplying one-digit numbers by 10, which is aligned to the supporting standard 3.NBT.3. In the Visual Learning Animation, the teacher is informed to prevent misconceptions by reminding the students about the commutative property of multiplication and the concept that a whole number times a multiple of 10 would have the same product as a multiple of 10 times a whole number. The Visual Learning Animation is aligned to 3.OA.9 and does not simultaneously engage students with the work of 3.NBT.3.
• In Topic 14 Lesson 14-10, students create or identify equal areas within a figure with unit fractions. The supporting standard 3.G.2 has a natural connection with the major work cluster 3.MD.C, where students understand concepts of area. 3.MD.C is not supported in lesson 10 when students use centimeter grid paper to create equal areas and determine the new unit fraction within a rectangle without engaging in finding the actual area of the rectangle.
• In Topic 16 Lesson 16-5, students create scaled bar graphs and determine the scale. The supporting standard 3.MD.3 has a natural connection with the major work cluster 3.OA.A where students multiply and divide to solve problems. 3.OA.A is supported in lesson 5 when students use multiplication to determine scale; however, division is not addressed.

Examples that illustrate connections in the materials include:

• In Topic 2 Lesson 2-7, supporting cluster 3.NBT.A connects to the major cluster 3.OA.D when students solve addition and subtraction word problems within 1,000 by writing equations to represent and check the reasonableness of their solution.
• In Topic 9 Lesson 9-1, students determine if a figure shows equal or unequal parts and names the fraction if appropriate. Guided Practice questions 1-4 state, “In 1-4, tell if each shows equal or unequal parts. If the parts are equal, name them.” The supporting standard of 3.G.2 is used to enhance the focus on the major work standard 3.NF.1.
• In Topic 16 Lesson 16-4, students create a pictograph from given information. Problem Solving question 13 states, “Marisol is making a pictograph to show plant sales. There were 35 plants sold in June. How many symbols should Marisol draw for June?” The supporting standard of 3.MD.3 is used to enhance the focus on the major work standard 3.OA.3.

The instructional materials for enVisionMATH California Common Core Grade 3 partially meet expectations for the materials being consistent with the progressions in the standards.

The instructional materials do not clearly identify content from prior and future grade levels and do not use it to support the progressions of the grade-level standards.

Prior and future grade-level work is not clearly identified within each lesson. For example:

• In Topic 1 Lesson 1-1, the Teacher Edition lists the standards 3.NBT.1 and 3.NBT.2 as the focus of the lesson. Students read and write numbers to 1000 using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form. This is prior grade-level content aligned to 2.NBT.3.
• In Topic 1 Lesson 1-2, the Teacher Edition lists the standard 3.NBT.1 as the focus of the lesson. Students locate and write numbers on a number line. This is prior grade-level content aligned to 1.NBT.1.
• In Topic 1 Lesson 1-3, the Teacher Edition lists the standard 3.NBT.1 as the focus of the lesson. Students fill in missing numbers on number lines. Students do not round numbers to the nearest 10 or 100. This is prior grade-level content aligned to 1.NBT.1.
• In Topic 1 Lesson 1-7, the Teacher Edition lists the standard 3.NBT.1 as the focus of the lesson. Students find all possible combinations of a given set of numbers. This is future grade-level content aligned to 7.SP.8.
• In Topic 3 Lesson 3-3, the Teacher Edition lists the standard 3.NBT.2 as the focus of the lesson. Students use base-10 blocks to solve problems and then write the solution using the standard algorithm. This is future grade-level content aligned to 4.NBT.4.
• In Topic 3 Lesson 3-4, the Teacher Edition lists the standard 3.NBT.2 as the focus of the lesson. Students add three or more two-digit and three-digit numbers using the standard algorithm. This is future grade-level content aligned to 4.NBT.4.
• In Topic 6 Lesson 6-8, the Teacher Edition lists the standard 3.OA.3 as the focus of the lesson. Students find all possible combinations of data or objects. This is future grade-level content aligned to 7.SP.8.

Some of the lessons include a section in the Teacher Edition called, Link to Prior Knowledge. The Link to Prior Knowledge poses a question or strategy that has previously been learned for students to connect to the current lesson. The Link to Prior Knowledge does not explicitly identify standards from prior grades. For example:

• In Topic 10 Lesson 10-4, the Link to Prior Knowledge states, “What do you already know about number lines? Sample answer: The numbers are greater as they move to the right.” The publisher does not connect this prior knowledge to a specific prior grade level.

The instructional materials attend to the full intent of the grade-level standards by giving all students extensive work with grade-level problems.

The majority of lessons within the 16 topics focus on and provide students with extensive opportunities to practice grade-level problems. Within each lesson, students practice grade-level problems within Daily Common Core Review, Practice, Reteaching, Enrichment, and Quick Check activities. For example:

• In Topic 3 Lesson 3-7, the Teacher Edition lists the standard 3.NBT.2, Fluently subtract within 1,000 using strategies and algorithm based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction, as the focus of the lesson. Students subtract three-digit numbers while explaining how to use place-value blocks. Independent Practice Question 9 states, “Use place-value blocks or draw pictures to subtract. 347-263 = ___”
• In Topic 7 Lessons 7-1 and 7-2, the Teacher Edition lists the standard 3.OA.2, Interpret whole-number quotients of whole numbers, as the focus of the lesson. Students interpret whole-number quotients of whole numbers through equal shares and partitioning. In lesson 7-2, Guided Practice question 2 states, “15 tennis balls, 3 balls in each can, How many cans?”
• In Topic 15 Lesson 15-1, the Teacher Edition lists the standard 3.MD.2, Measure and estimate liquid volumes and masses of objects using standard units of grams (g), kilograms (kg), and liters (l). Add, subtract, multiply, or divide to solve one-step word problems involving masses or volumes that are given in the same units, as the focus of the lesson. Students choose an appropriate unit and tool, estimate, and measure in milliliters and liters. Students identify objects that hold about a milliliter and liter.
• In Topic 16 Lesson 16-6, the Teacher Edition lists the standard 3.MD.3, Solve one- and two-step “how many more and how many less problems” using information presented in scaled bar graphs, as the focus of the lesson. Independent Practice problem 9 states, “How many more people voted for gymnastics than for jogging?”

The instructional materials contain a Common Core State Standards Skills Trace for each topic that can be found in the Printable Resources section of the Program Resources Document. This document contains the grade-level standards for each topic and the standards from previous and future grade levels that are related to the standards focused on in the specified topic. The document states the specific topic numbers from previous and future grades to which the grade-level standards are related.

• In Topic 3, the skills list the standard 3.NBT.2 as the focus of the topic. This standard is linked to a Looking Back list where it lists the standard 2.NBT.5 as the focus in Topic 8 within the Grade 2 instructional materials. The standard 3.NBT.2 is also linked to a Looking Ahead list where it lists the standard 4.NBT.4 as the focus in Topic 4 within the Grade 4 instructional materials.