3rd Grade - Gateway 1
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Focus & Coherence
Gateway 1 - Meets Expectations | 92% |
|---|---|
Criterion 1.1: Focus | 2 / 2 |
Criterion 1.2: Coherence | 4 / 4 |
Criterion 1.3: Coherence | 7 / 8 |
The instructional materials reviewed for JUMP Math Grade 3 meet expectations for Gateway 1. The instructional materials meet expectations for focus within the grade by assessing grade-level content and spending the majority of class time on the major work of the grade. The instructional materials meet expectations for being coherent and consistent with the Standards as they connect supporting content to enhance focus and coherence, have an amount of content that is viable for one school year, and foster coherence through connections at a single grade.
Criterion 1.1: Focus
The instructional materials reviewed for JUMP Math Grade 3 meet expectations for not assessing topics before the grade level in which the topic should be introduced. Above-grade-level assessment items are present and can be modified or omitted without significant impact on the underlying structure of the instructional materials.
Indicator 1a
The instructional materials reviewed for JUMP Math Grade 3 meet expectations for assessing grade-level content. Above-grade-level assessment items are present but could be easily omitted or edited without a significant impact on the underlying structure of the instructional materials. Probability, statistical distribution, similarity, transformation, and congruence do not appear in the assessments. Examples of grade-level assessment items include:
- Student Resource, Assessment & Practice Book 1, Unit 6, MD3-7, “Use skip counting to find the area.” (3.MD.7b)
- Student Resource, Assessment & Practice Book 2, Unit 3, OA3-59, Item 2: “Draw the missing apples in the box. Then write the missing number in the smaller box.” (3.OA.4)
- Teacher Resource, Sample Unit Tests and Quizzes, Unit 1, Item 5a, “Which shapes are polygons? Hint: a polygon is a shape with straight sides.” In Items G3-1 through G3-9, students identify polygons. (3.G.1).
- Teacher Resource, Sample Unit Tests and Quizzes, Book 1, Unit 8, Quiz, Item 1, “Put an equal number of cookies on each plate. Draw dots for the cookies and circles for the plates. a. 12 cookies 3 plates; b. 8 cookies 4 plates” (3.OA.3)
- Teacher Resource, Sample Unit Tests and Quizzes Book 1, Unit 6, Quiz, Item 4, “Write an addition sentence for the perimeter.” (3.MD.8)
- Teacher Resource, Sample Unit Tests and Quizzes Book 2, Unit 4, Test, Item 5, “There are 58 fiction books and 63 non-fictioni books in the library. a. Estimate the number of books in the library; b. Find the exact number of books in the library.” (3.OA.8)
The following are examples of assessment items that are aligned to standards above Grade 3, but these can be modified or omitted without compromising the instructional materials:
- Teacher Resource, Sample Unit Tests and Quizzes Book 2, Unit 1, Quiz, Item 1 a, b, c, d, “Use a piece of paper to decide which sides are equal. Draw hash marks to show equal sides. Mark the right angles. Name the polygon.” Students are given polygons. Identifying right angles is a Grade 4 standard. (4.G.2)
- Teacher Resource, Sample Unit Tests and Quizzes Book 2, Unit 1,Quiz, Item 1 a, b, c, “Mark parallel sides with arrows. Label the shape as a ‘trapezoid,’ ‘parallelogram,’ or ‘neither.’” Students are given different polygons. Parallel sides is a Grade 4 standard. (4.G.1)
- In Teacher Resource, Sample Unit Tests and Quizzes, Book 2, Unit 1, Quiz, Item 3, students are given a table and four different shapes, and they write “yes” or “no” in the columns. One of the columns states, “Has right angles.” (4.G.2)
- Teacher Resource, Sample Unit Tests and Quizzes, Book 2, Unit 1, Test, Item 3 a, b, c, “Mark the parallel sides with arrows. Label the shapes as ‘parallelogram,’ ‘trapezoid,’ or ‘neither.’ Students are given three polygons. Parallel sides is a Grade 4 standard. (4.G.1)
- In Teacher Resource, Sample Unit Tests and Quizzes, Book 2, Unit 1, Test, Item 4, students are given a table with polygons and compare the shapes. One of the rows asks, “Number of right angles” (4.G.2) and “Number of pairs of parallel sides.” (4.G.1)
Criterion 1.2: Coherence
Students and teachers using the materials as designed devote the large majority of class time in each grade K-8 to the major work of the grade.
The instructional materials reviewed for JUMP Math Grade 3 meet expectations for students and teachers using the materials as designed and devoting the majority of class time to the major work of the grade. Overall, instructional materials spend approximately 77 percent of class time on the major clusters of the grade.
Indicator 1b
Instructional material spends the majority of class time on the major cluster of each grade.
The instructional materials reviewed for JUMP Math Grade 3 meet expectations for spending the majority of class time on the major work of the grade. Overall, approximately 77 percent of class time is devoted to major work of the grade.
The materials for Grade 3 include 17 units. In the materials, there are 168 lessons, and of those, 18 are Bridging lessons. According to the materials, Bridging lessons should not be “counted as part of the work of the year” (page A-56), so the number of lessons examined for this indicator is 150 lessons. The supporting clusters were also reviewed to determine if they could be factored in due to how strongly they support major work of the grade. There were connections found between supporting clusters and major clusters, and due to the strength of the connections found, the number of lessons addressing major work was increased from the approximately 104 lessons addressing major work, as indicated by the materials themselves, to 116 lessons.
Three perspectives were considered: the number of units devoted to major work, the number of lessons devoted to major work, and the number of instructional days devoted to major work including days for unit assessments.
The percentages for each of the three perspectives follow:
- Units – Approximately 74 percent, 12.5 out of 17;
- Lessons – Approximately 77 percent, 116 out of 150; and
- Days – Approximately 77 percent, 128.5 out of 167.
The number of instructional days, approximately 77 percent, devoted to major work is the most reflective for this indicator because it represents the total amount of class time that addresses major work.
Criterion 1.3: Coherence
Coherence: Each grade's instructional materials are coherent and consistent with the Standards.
The instructional materials reviewed for JUMP Math Grade 3 meet expectations for being coherent and consistent with the Standards. The instructional materials connect supporting content to enhance focus and coherence, include an amount of content that is viable for one school year, and foster connections at a single grade. However, the instructional materials contain off-grade-level material and do not relate grade-level concepts explicitly to prior knowledge from earlier grades.
Indicator 1c
Supporting content enhances focus and coherence simultaneously by engaging students in the major work of the grade.
The instructional materials reviewed for JUMP Math Grade 3 meet expectations that supporting content enhances focus and coherence simultaneously by engaging students in the major work of the grade. When appropriate, the supporting work enhances and supports the major work of the grade.
Examples where connections are present include the following:
- 3.G.A supports the major work of 3.NF.A and 3.MD.C. In Teacher Resource, Part 2, Unit 2, Lessons NF3-2 and NF3-18, students use partitioning of geometric figures to support the understanding of fractions and area.
- 3.MD.3 supports major cluster 3.OA.A. In Teacher Resource, Part 2, Unit 9, Lesson MD3-48 has students interpret data and solve multiplication and division problems using that data, and in Lesson MD3-49, students read and draw scaled picture graphs and solve problems based off of the graphs.
Indicator 1d
The amount of content designated for one grade level is viable for one school year in order to foster coherence between grades.
The instructional materials reviewed for JUMP Math Grade 3 meet expectations for having an amount of content designated for one grade level that is viable for one school year in order to foster coherence between grades. Overall, the amount of time needed to complete the lessons is approximately 167 days, which is appropriate for a school year of approximately 140-190 days.
- The materials are written with 17 units containing a total of 168 lessons.
- Each lesson is designed to be implemented during the course of one 45 minute class period per day. In the materials, there are 168 lessons, and of those, 18 are Bridging lessons. Bridging lessons have been removed from the count because the Teacher Resource states that they are not counted as part of the work for the year, so the number of lessons examined for this indicator is 150 lessons.
- There are 17 unit tests which are counted as 17 extra days of instruction.
- There is a short quiz every 3-5 lessons. Materials expect these quizzes to take no more than 10 minutes, so they are not counted as extra days of instruction.
Indicator 1e
Materials are consistent with the progressions in the Standards i. Materials develop according to the grade-by-grade progressions in the Standards. If there is content from prior or future grades, that content is clearly identified and related to grade-level work ii. Materials give all students extensive work with grade-level problems iii. Materials relate grade level concepts explicitly to prior knowledge from earlier grades.
The instructional materials reviewed for JUMP Math Grade 3 partially meet expectations for being consistent with the progressions in the Standards. Overall, the materials address the standards for this grade level and provide all students extensive work with grade-level problems. The materials make connections to content in future grades, but they do not explicitly relate grade-level concepts to prior knowledge from earlier grades.
The materials develop according to the grade-by-grade progressions in the Standards. Content from future grades is not always clearly identified but often related to grade-level work. The Teacher Resources contain sections that highlight the development of the grade-by-grade progressions in the materials, occasionally identify content from future grades, and state the relationship to grade-level work.
- At the beginning of each unit, This Unit in Context provides a description of connections to concepts that have been taught previously and that will occur in future grade levels. For example, This Unit in Context from Unit 8, Operations and Algebraic Thinking: Division, of Teacher Resource, Part 1, describes how "in Kindergarten students were introduced to addition as an 'adding to' or 'joining' problem and to subtraction as a 'taking away' problem (K.OA.1)." Connection to future content is also stated such as "Students in this grade will restrict their knowledge of division to include only situations without remainders. Remainders will be introduced in Grade 4, when students find whole-number quotients and remainders with up to four-digit dividends and one-digit divisors (4.NBT.6)."
The materials give all students extensive work with grade-level problems. The lessons also include Extensions, and the problems in these sections are on grade level.
- Whole class instruction is used in the lessons, and all students are expected to do the same work throughout the lesson. Individual, small-group, or whole-class instruction occurs in the lessons.
- The problems in the Assessment & Practice books align to the content of the lessons, and they provide on-grade-level problems that "were designed to help students develop confidence, fluency, and practice." (page A-57, Teacher Resource, Part 1)
- In the Extensions sections of the lessons, students get the opportunity to engage with more difficult problems, but the problems are still aligned to grade-level standards. For example, the problems in Teacher Resource, Part 2, Unit 5, Lesson MD3-12 engage students in drawing hands on clocks to show time, but these problems still align to 3.MD.1.
The instructional materials do not relate grade-level concepts explicitly to prior knowledge from earlier grades. Examples of these missing explicit connections include:
- Every lesson identifies Prior Knowledge Required even though the prior knowledge identified is not aligned to any grade-level standards. For example, Teacher Resource, Part 2, Unit 8, Lesson MD3-41 identifies that students "can compare numbers or things using the words ‘more’ and ‘less’."
- There are 20 lessons identified as Bridging Lessons; most of these lessons are not aligned to standards from prior grades but state for which grade-level standards they are preparation. Teacher Resource, Part 2, Unit 1, Lesson G3-1, which has students identifying polygons and shapes that are not polygons, is preparation for 3.G.1.
Indicator 1f
Materials foster coherence through connections at a single grade, where appropriate and required by the Standards i. Materials include learning objectives that are visibly shaped by CCSSM cluster headings. ii. Materials include problems and activities that serve to connect two or more clusters in a domain, or two or more domains in a grade, in cases where these connections are natural and important.
The instructional materials reviewed for JUMP Math Grade 3 meet expectations for fostering coherence through connections at a single grade, where appropriate and required by the Standards. Overall, the materials include learning objectives that are visibly shaped by CCSSM cluster headings.
Overall, units are organized by domains and are clearly labeled. For example, Teacher Resource, Part 1, Unit 1, Operations and Algebraic Thinking: Number Patterns and Teacher Resources Part 1 Unit 5 Operations and Algebraic Thinking: Multiplication are shaped by the Operations and Algebraic Thinking domain. Throughout the course, all standards are addressed, and within lessons, goals are written that are shaped by the CCSSM cluster headings.
The instructional materials do include some problems and activities that serve to connect two or more clusters in a domain. Instances where two or more clusters within a domain are connected include the following:
- In Teacher Resource, Part 1, Unit 4, Lesson OA3-17, students skip count by 2s and 4s and identify patterns in skip counting. This lesson connects 3.OA.A, 3.OA.C, and 3.OA.D.
- Teacher Resource, Part 1, Unit 4, Lesson OA3-24, connects 3.OA.A and 3.OA.B. Students use arrays to model multiplication.
- Teacher Resource, Part 2, Unit 3, Lesson OA3-63, connects 3.OA.A, 3.OA.B, and 3.OA.C. Students write multiplication and division equations to find the number of rows, the number of columns, or the total number of items in an array given the other two pieces of information.
- Problem Solving, Lesson OA3-2, connects 3.OA.B, 3.OA.C, and 3.OA.D. Students identify patterns in multiplication charts and use the distributive property to understand the pattern.
The instructional materials also include problems and activities that connect two or more domains in a grade, in cases where these connections are natural and important. Instances where two or more domains are connected include the following:
- In Teacher Resource, Part 2, Unit 2, Lesson NF3-2 connects 3.NF and 3.G. In this lesson, students work with fraction memory cards. Students identify unit fractions by counting the number of equal parts in a whole.
- In Teacher Resource, Part 2, Unit 5, Lesson MD3-18, 3.MD and 3.OA are connected. In this lesson, students use multiplication to find elapsed time.