Making Math Make Sense LOWER SCHOOL’S NEW MATH CURRICULUM FOCUSES ON STUDENT-CENTERED, DISCOVERY-BASED LEARNING, DRIVING HOME CONCEPTS AND DEEPENING MATHEMATICAL THINKING FOR STUDENTS.
G
iven a hexagon-shaped cookie, third graders in Anna Tobia’s class can tell you exactly how many friends you can split it with. Using foam blocks shaped like various polygons, they’ll show you that you can halve the cookie, and share two trapezoid-shaped pieces, or split it into three rhombuses, or even six triangles. Or, if you’re feeling hungry (and not quite so generous), you can save half of the cookie for yourself, give a third to someone else, and someone else a sixth. While the cookie metaphor is fun, visual, and tactile, the third graders, of course, are also learning
24
AGNES IRWIN MAGAZINE
SUMMER 2021
about equivalent fractions. “As they explore independently, the blocks reinforce what they know about shapes and help them connect concepts and build bridges between different kinds of math,” Tobia explained. In essence, she said, “They’re no longer doing math in isolation.” That kind of bridge-building is exactly what Investigations 3, the Lower School’s new math curriculum, aims to do. Piloted with a geometry unit in spring with a full rollout planned for September, the goal of Investigations “is to develop mathematical thinkers with deep number sense,” said Lower School Learning Specialist Rebecca Harrison. Through hands-on, engaging games and student-led activities, students develop both computational fluency and mathematical reasoning skills. “It gives kids agency — instead of teaching procedures that kids can use to get the right answer without knowing at all what they’re doing or what it means, Investigations
