5th Grade Math Resources for CCSS 5.NBT.6

5.NBT.6: Find whole-number quotients of whole numbers with up to four-digit dividends and two-digit divisors, using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models.

UNPACKED EXPLANATION: 4 digit by 2 digit division with strategies that involved an understanding of place value relationships (as in moving that decimal place to the left and right), understanding that division is the opposite of multiplication, and understanding the properties of the operations involved. Finally, students should have the ability to explain their calculation visually. 

WHAT THE PARCC WILL EXPECT: I'm not sure if many teachers out there have looked in depth at what the PARCC has to offer, but I have to say that I'm not very impressed in a lot of ways. If you look at this standard, it's really sophisticated in what it expects out of students. Not just the ability to divide, but the ability to elaborate on their calculation and process is important. Well, then there's the PARCC question, here's a screenshot of what the PARCC asked for 5th graders to do:

Yep, here it is. The point I'm trying to make here is if you go to the depth of understanding that 5.NBT.6 asks of you to go with your students, they'll have no trouble handling the low level, low quality type of question being asked of them on the PARCC assessment (I know that's a fairly brutal and straightforward critique, but that's how it is with this).

PARENT HELP: I discussed having parents help with basic multiplication and division practice at the beginning of the school year in my 5th Grade Math Resources for CCSS 5.NBT.5 post, and will elaborate on that here. 

If you set aside the initial.... six weeks or so of the school year for parents to help their children at home reinforcing basic multiplication and division facts, it can save you a lot of time in the classroom. I haven't met a 5th grade teacher in the all the world who doesn't lament the fact that a good percentage of their students don't walk through the door on the first day with fundamental math facts down, mainly multiplication facts and standard algorithm, as well as the ability to divide with the standard algorithm. So here's some resources that can be utilized for that purpose:

BASIC SKILL PRACTICE:

• ROCKET MATH: Rocket Math offers 1 minute timings (you can read more on that in my 5.NBT.5 post under basic skill practice). Here are some division sheets in ORIGINAL FORMAT and in NEW FORMAT. 
• GAMES:
• Fun 4 the Brain Division Games: A great listing with some pretty neat games that practice basic division facts. 
• Math Playground Division Games: Some neat games that will help kids in need of a little practice.
• WORKSHEETS: 
• Math aids.com listing: I like the offerings here, lots of great basic division practice. 
• Math drills.com listing: You can't go wrong here, there are tons of choices.
• Common Core Sheets listing: Again, tons of choices and variations available here. 

ADDRESSING 5.NBT.6 WITH RIGOR, SYSTEMATICALLY: Once students have basic division facts down (fact families basically), and can function within the standard algorithm, it's time to start talking about how to handle those remainders. By 5th grade, they shouldn't just be putting an "r" and writing the remainder next to it, they should either take that remainder and make a fraction with remainder in the numerator and divisor in the denominator, or continue on by using a decimal in the quotient (I like my students to keep going to the thousandths place if necessary). 

Long division with the remainder as a fraction

Long division with decimal remainders

DIVISION WITH FRACTIONAL REMAINDERS:

• WORKSHEETS:
• Math aids.com: Why go elsewhere when it's right here.
• Dads worksheets.com: Tons of results here, there are many possible worksheets you can use.

DIVISION WITH DECIMAL REMAINDERS: (there are some options at the links immediately above this as well)

• Math is fun.com example: Kids can open this on an iPad or computer to get a very detailed example on how this works. 
• Khan Academy Dividing Completely to Get Decimal Remainder: I used this lesson in my class to some good results, it was a flipped lesson and students really understood what he was showing them.

5th Grade Math Resources for CCSS 5.NBT.5

5.NBT.5: Fluently multiply multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.

UNPACKED EXPLANATION: What more is there to say here? Multiply using the classic method known as the standard algorithm. The key here is the world "fluently," which means students need to be able to do this quickly and with skill. 

WHAT THE PARCC WILL EXPECT: The PARCC practice test that is currently out there has three problems that are 5.NBT.5. This is a 36 question test, so realizing that a full 8% of this test is based on this one standard, that should show us all that this is a HUGE standard. Of course, this shouldn't be a surprise. The ability to multiply fluently is a foundational math skill, and should be something students are practicing and reinforcing all year long.

The PARCC practice problems are: 

463 x 1,945 =

371 x 2,584 =

625 x 847 =

So, considering that this is a huge standard, let's discuss a few approaches: 

PARENT HELP: Multiplication and division with the standard algorithms are HUGE HUGE HUGE skills that can't be taught in a two or three week period. They need constant practice throughout the year. One way I like to do this is by involving parents. From the beginning of the school year, I send home multiplication and division practice as homework for the first few months. This gets parents involved, because even though many parents struggle to help their kids with the more rigorous CCSS based math stuff, they can provide support when it comes to multiplying and dividing. I also try to focus on basic skill checks through the first few months. Too many 5th graders don't have their basic multiplication facts down, so let's hit this standard from bottom to top.

BASIC SKILL PRACTICE:

• ROCKET MATH: If you don't know what Rocket Math is, it's 1 minute timings that students try to complete and move up a rocket chart. Teacher directions are HERE, and the timing sheets are HERE (the classic ones that I use because they're the ones my school has, and some newer ones that I don't like as much but they are out there HERE). These are good to send home, and have parents do the timings at night for practice, and then do some timings in class. I have a good system going with these and can do a full timing, and have everything put away within 3 minutes. It's good and quick practice for basic skills, which are necessary. Students can't multiply fluently if they're constantly doing multiplication on their fingers.
• Games: I could list literally thousands of different basic fact games, but instead, just go to Google and search for basic multiplication fact games and you'll see for yourself. I'm going to focus on a few of the best here. 
• Multiplication.com Games: A large collection of games that reinforce facts. I put this link up on my classroom webpage for students to use at home.
• Times Table Games: A decent listing of some basic facts games.
• Worksheets: Here's some basic facts worksheets to get you started.
• Tons of sheets in one pdf file.
• Create your own basic facts worksheets at The Math Worksheet Generator.
• Worksheet Works worksheet generator:  Good stuff here!

ADDRESSING 5.NBT.5 WITH RIGOR: Let's move beyond basic skills into mastering this skill and really starting to push students abilities with the standard algorithm.

• Mr. Maffesoli.com Listing: Mostly 2 x 2 multiplication worksheets in pdf format. 
• Internet for Classrooms.com Listing: Has 2 x 2, 2 x 3, 2 x 4, etc. 
• Mathaids.com Worksheet Builder: Build some algorithm based problems here and download as pdf. 
• Mathdrills.com Worksheet Listing: Many worksheets that address the standard algorithm. 
• CCSS Math Internet Resources: Worksheets, videos, interactives, etc.
• WORD PROBLEMS:
• Mr. Nussbaum Story Problems: 10 examples exist here. 
• A few rigorous multi-step multiplication word problems
•  Multi-step Multiplication word problems from superteacherworksheets.com: It's usually not a free site but this is a free pdf.
• Math-aids.com build your own two step multiplication problem pdf sheet.
• Helping with math.com listing: Some decent and challenging word problems exist here.
• Full module from engageny.org: Do a 5.NBT.5 search in this pdf and find a great listing of some highly rigorous problems, some warm ups, and even some rubrics and scoring samples.
• Lessons for Learning: A large pdf document provided by the Public Schools of North Carolina, I found some great and rigorous word problems here.

5th Grade Math Resources for CCSS 5.NBT.4

5.NBT.4: Use place value understanding to round decimals to any place.

UNPACKED EXPLANATION: Round decimals to either tenths, hundredths, or thousandths, although strategies and skilled learns should apply to any place.

WHAT THE PARCC WILL EXPECT: The PARCC Practice Tests question for 5.NBT.4 tests students ability to round decimals without a given context (without telling them "round to the tenths place," etc.). The actual problem is:

The PARCC does this quite a lot. There are 6 numbers that can be dragged, meaning that two numbers will be left behind, so the traditional test taking strategies, especially process of elimination, won't be as effective here (although it still helps). Students will need the ability to do exactly what's laid out above, to be able to match numbers to their rounded counterparts, and do it without context.

RESOURCES: I'll focus on resources that cover all the components of this skill. You'll likely want to start with doing a lot of rounding with context, and eventually move to the more rigorous side of this standard.

• ROUNDING WITH CONTEXT:
• Short explanation before some rounding of specified digits
• 4 page packet that rounds with context
• Mathworksheetland.com lesson outline: It's all context based rounding here. 
• Massive listing of worksheets from internet4classrooms.com: Tons and tons of context based rounding sheets, I mean TONS.
• Assessment for 5.NBT.1-4: Actually some decent problems here.
• GAMES
• Rounding decimals soccer
• Scooter Quest
• ROUNDING WITHOUT CONTEXT: There's not a lot out there for rounding decimals that leaves no context. My advice here is to look at the PARCC problem above and craft some problems that are similar to it, this ensures students are getting rigorous problems that make them problem solve and think. I highly recommend going to that level if possible,
• Performance assessment task from insidemathematics.com: Look through this document for a few rigorous problems with scoring rubrics. They could be used for practice or even incorporated into assessments. 
• Iowa released test items: Released items from the old NAEP test that are now aligned to CCSS (interstingly enough, a lot of these problems were originally meant for 7th and 8th graders). Search the document (ctrl+f) for 5.NBT.4.

5.NBT.4 VIDEO:

5th Grade Math Resources for CCSS 5.NBT.3

5.NBT.3:  Read, write, and compare decimals to the thousandths.

(a) Read and write decimals to thousandths using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form, e.g., 347.392 = 3 × 100 + 4 × 10 + 7 × 1 + 3 × (1/10) + 9 × (1/100) + 2 × (1/1000).

(b) Compare two decimals to thousandths based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.

First of all, this standard has two parts. We will first focus on part (a) of the standard:

5.NBT.3a

UNPACKED EXPLANATION: To put it as simple as possible, this part of standard 3 asks students to write the expanded form of numbers, fractions included to represent tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. 

WHAT THE PARCC WILL EXPECT: Just like 5.NBT.2, there are no performance tasks for 5.NBT.3 (a or b). So, the best approach to take here is to use these standards to prepare students for the more rigorous work that lies ahead later on in the NBT domain. If your students can accurately write standard, word, and expanded form of numbers that go to thousandths, they'll be fine on this standard. It really is a simple one that can be tied to some other standards as well.

RESOURCES: Again, this will be fairly straight forward. If you teach in sequence (and there's really no reason you shouldn't with this domain, it's already laid out that way), then your students will already have a good understanding of place values in the base ten system, making this the next step.

• Adjective/Noun Theme: As someone who has been through a full round of Intel Math training, I fully believe in and utilize many of their strategies, including adjective/noun theme. The a/n theme has been around long before Intel, but is very conceptual and powerful when students learn to utilize it. HERE is a document that explains adjective/noun theme in the four operations. And HERE is another document on adjective/noun theme with decimals. The basic premise here is that numbers are adjectives that describe nouns. You can't add together two unlike nouns (you can't add together 4 dogs and 2 cats without some sort of combining of nouns). So if it's 45 hundredths + 8 tenths, we have to do some converting to get 45 hundredths + 80 hundredths, and then we add the adjectives to get 125 hundredths. It's a simple yet effective way of teaching this stuff that is conceptual and leads to long term retention of learning. 
• Some worksheets and pdfs:
• mrmaffesoli.com 5.NBT.3a worksheets: A listing of some great 5.NBT.3a worksheets, there's quite a few here.
• Common Core Sheets: There's a pretty large listing here.
• Internet 4 Classrooms 5.NBT.3a: Wow, there's TONS here. 
• GAMES:
• Mathman: A Sheppard Software game, very simple and straight forward Pacman style game that reinforced expanded form, although it might not go as far as decimals. It's good practice for kids struggling with their expanded form of numbers. 
• Fruit Shoot: Another Sheppard Software game. If you play the harder levels it's a spot on match for 5.NBT.3a.
• Walk the Plank: A game from mathforchildren, it's funny and kids enjoy it.

5.NBT.3a VIDEO: This is a Khan Academy video that discusses expanded form with multiplication, pretty much as stated in the CCSS. 

5.NBT.3b

UNPACKED EXPLANATION:  Compare two decimals to thousandths using inequalities (<, >, =). 

WHAT THE PARCC WILL EXPECT: Again, this standard is not included on PARCC practice exams. This is a pretty important standard for students to master, however, because it allows them to show mastery over comparing decimals, understanding place value, and even the ability to properly complete inequalities. So let's just go from there.

RESOURCES:This standard is almost identical to the inequalities standard that many states already had in place before the Common Core, so anything you, as a teacher, already have prior to CCSS (if you didn't trash it) would work great here. Here's a few online resources:

• orglib.com questions library for 5.NBT.3a and b: There's not a lot of questions here, but what they do have are to the point and would probably be what it would look like on PARCC. 
• Collection of lessons from mathworksheetland.com for 5.NBT.3b (some 3a stuff is in here as well).
• mrmaffesoli.com 5.NBT.3b worksheet resource page: Yet again, some great resources. Go ahead and bookmark this site, it's golden for everything CCSS.
• Common Core Sheets: Same as above for 3a. Good stuff, with many different versions of worksheets available. 

GAMES:

• Balloon Pop: A simple yet great game for ordering decimals. It's a challenge, but students are sure to enjoy it.
• AAA Math Comparing Decimals: It's more like an online practice test than a game, but it really works well. 

5.NBT.3B VIDEO:

5th Grade Math Resources for CCSS 5.NBT.2

5.NBT.2: Explain patterns in the number of zeros of the product when multiplying a number by powers of 10, and explain patterns in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10. Use whole-number exponents to denote powers of 10.

UNPACKED EXPLANATION:  This one is fairly straight forward. This standard is commonly known as "the powers of 10," so keep that in mind. It's all about base 10 and understanding that you're multiplying by ten each time you move to the next larger place value, with an understanding of the opposite function of adding a 0, which is removing a zero, while understanding conceptually that removing a 0 means the decimal point has moved a place to the left. Finally, exponents are a great way to have students denote these relationships, and starts building upon skills they'll use a lot further on down the road.

WHAT THE PARCC WILL EXPECT: The PARCC Practice Test site does not have specific problems for 5.NBT.2, but when looking closer at this standard, students will need to be familiar with problems that resemble the following:

• 34 x 10,000 =
• 90,000 ÷ 30 =
• 0.00034 x 10,000 =
• Check out this collection of videos from LeanZillion that explains the entire process of powers of 10.

RESOURCES

• First off, a lot of the things I referenced in my post for 5.NBT.1 are relevant to this standard as well. So check that out: 5th Grade Math Resources for CCSS 5.NBT.1.
• Some practice problems at Orglib.com: This is a great site where you can make an account, build tests from a bank of questions, and even track student results. It's one of the closer things I've found that can mimic the PARCC assessment. 
• Even though it's in my last post, this is a spot on activity for this standard:
• Place value cups (click the link for instructions): This simple activity is very concrete for kids, and if you keep a few handy, they're good for reference later in the year for students who didn't retain everything they learned during the teaching of 5.NBT.1.
• Powers of 10 Yahtzee: Although I linked to the Google Doc here, I'll go ahead and explain this game in my own words: 
• Power of 10 Yahtzee should be played in pairs. Students should already have an understanding of exponents and how to navigate a place value chart. Each player is going to roll the dice. Whatever number player A rolls they will put it as an exponent to the base number 10 (if they roll a 4, they will be finding the product of 10 to the power of 4, or 10,000). Then player B goes. They do this 5 times, and add up their totals, whoever has the highest total wins. A more rigorous extension of this game for the advanced student would be to have each student roll two dice (preferably different colored dice would work), and have one color be the base number and the second be the exponent). 
• IXL Listing of Problems that Fit the Standard
• The following listing is for worksheets:
• Mathworksheetland.com 5.NBT.2 Listing: A great starting point. Why make your own worksheets when there's already practice stuff out there. If you know how, you can send these right to an iPad and have kids do some practice there, or print them out.
• Mrmaffesoli.com Printables: I use these, good stuff for sure.

Vocabulary

I'll list a few sites that have good 5.NBT.2 vocabulary. I can't really even begin to say how important it is to teach students not only what academic vocabulary words mean, but how to use them in context. There's a lot of power in having students state their reasoning academically that goes beyond testing and helps reinforce the ideas they're learning about.

• A great pdf at what's a great go to resource for vocabulary, duplinschools.net. 
• UEN.org resource file with vocabulary.

5.NBT.2 Video

The first two videos are of Khan Academy explaining both multiplying and dividing by powers of 10:

Multiplying by Powers of 10

Dividing by Powers of 10

Lastly, the STEM teacher in me can't resist putting up this video that explains what exponential growth is really all about in a scientific regard. I give to you now, Cosmic Voyage, narrated by Morgan Freeman:

5th Grade Math Resources for CCSS 5.NBT.1

5.NBT.1: Recognize that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents in the place to its left.

UNPACKED EXPLANATION: We're basically talking about place value, with an explicit focus on what it means to move up a place and down a place. Within this domain, students will be expected to work with numbers from billions to thousandths. A big pitfall here is to start adding and subtracting these numbers together. The reality here is an understanding of the place value system, and what it means concretely to move between the place values.

WHAT THE PARCC WILL EXPECT: The PARCC samples are taken directly from the PARCC Practice Tests website.

The sample for 5.NBT.1 is as follows:

When you click on the drop down "Choose..." box, you're given something similar to the following:

Primary Sources: The Perfect Fit for Informational Texts in the Common Core

I've been focusing a lot lately on informational texts as we move towards the Common Core adoption that is pretty much going into full swing next month, and with good reason. The informational text / literature split is very important moving forward, and failure to give it its proper due and focus heavily on it might actually cost you your job a few years down the road, it IS essential.

At the beginning, I focused a lot on resources. Where can I find informational texts? Are there resources out there for how I can use them properly in my classroom? I've already done some posts about this (see: Informational Text Free Digital Resources and The Informational Text Revolution).

Now, I'm starting to think about the connection to other subject areas (another major key in the CCSS). I've always considered myself a social studies teacher. Yes, I'm an elementary school teacher who teaches, and does a pretty darn good job of teaching, all subject areas. BUT, social studies, especially history, has always been my primary passion, and as my instruction in social studies has evolved to the point of students doing multiple research based projects, presentations, and doing some deep, relevant, technology and personally driven learning about history, geography, sociology, and economics, I've thought about how this all fits the CCSS.

I'm going as far as to say that implementing the CCSS in social studies might be the most exciting part of the CCSS adoption for me personally... well, it's actually pretty close between that and the changes it demands of math instruction from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade.

Social studies instruction is already built for informational text. Honestly, I think most of us in the elementary grades might not go deep enough with our instruction, or with student expectations when doing research, but that's not really the point here.

The point here is simple: Primary sources. The more I've been thinking on this subject and studying it, the more I am convinced that 5th grade students can read and analyze primary sources, and it's exciting. Some of the primary examples I've seen of implementing the CCSS in 5th grade involve reading and analyzing the Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech, and other great primary sources.

So with that in mind, I'm going to just throw some information and resources out there that I think can benefit all of us. I'll be listing a quick description of each of these multiple links:

These first links are to research articles, and other descriptions of the importance of primary sources within the CCSS:

• Common Core and ELLS: Key Shifts in Language Arts and Literacy : A quick article that lays out the shifts in moving to the Common Core. It very clearly shows how informational texts and primary sources fit within it all.
• Engaging Students With Primary Sources : A quick blog post from a social studies teacher that quotes the CCSS and clearly explains how primary sources fit in the standards and the classroom.
• Guidelines for Using Primary Sources in the Classroom : A pdf document from The National World War II Museum
• Primary Sources: At the Heart of the Common Core Standards : A great quick article on the Library of Congress website that makes it pretty clear how important primary sources are.
• Five Strategies to Infuse Common Core State Standards With Social Studies Instruction : A great little article that really got me thinking about how I'm going to use primary sources in my own classroom.
• Teaching With Primary Sources Journal : That's right, there's a whole journal on this topic. Check out this pdf, it's powerful stuff. 

Finally, I'm going to end with some resources that can be used with students, or can get you thinking more about using primary sources in your classroom:

• Teaching With Documents, Lesson Plans : From the National Archives website, there's some decent lessons here that really help when developing your own lessons. A good place to start.
• Using Primary Sources in the Classroom : A great pdf document from the Library of Congress that lists some great lesson ideas and some examples.
• Primary Sources for the Classroom : A pdf document from the state of Tennessee that might be my favorite of everything I've listed here. There's some stuff I want my students to read and take to heart as they start researching.
• Library of Congress Common Core Teacher Resource Center : If you don't know about this, wake up! This huge listing of resources can't be ignored. I've been referring to it often. It's growing daily, and there are tons upon tons of great things there, not just for primary sources, for ALL the Common Core.
• Evaluating Sources : Another pdf document, this one is helpful and I think your smarter 5th graders could handle without too many problems.

The Informational Text Revolution: CCSS and the Changes We All Face

This blog is already structured around subjects (the easiest way to reach those subjects is by clicking the name of the subject in the logo at the top of the page). These subjects are laid out by the way I teach them in my classroom... correction the way I taught them in my classroom. The incoming Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will surely have an impact on that.

Now, the CCSS doesn't change the fact that in 5th grade I teach American history and geography. CCSS doesn't change the fact that, here in New Mexico, Social Studies is still covered by the New Mexico Standards and Benchmarks (those standards for Social Studies are available HERE).

The CCSS, after all, cover English Language Arts and Mathematics. An article put out by the New York Times on December 13, 2012 titled Fiction of Non-Fiction? Considering the Common Core's Emphasis on Informational Text asked if the focus on informational texts within the CCSS is detrimental to student learning and love of reading. The article also has a great resource, a quick little questionnaire that can be given to students to see how much they read outside of fictional literature (the answer: probably not much). I know that I'm guilty of having certain books I like to read every year (The Castle in the Attic, The Giver, Holes, and The Lightning Thief to name a few). Well, "the CCSS deemphasizes reading as a personal act and emphasizes textual analysis" (Calkins 2012). And before I dig too deep here, I'm going to just say that the CCSS for literature and informational text are the same, so I'm going to leave it at that.

When it comes to all these informational texts, as I said previously in the post titled Informational Text Free Digital Resources: Gearing up for the Common Core, it's not a matter of many of us going in a direction with literacy that we've never gone before, it's just a more mindful approach to the usage of some strategically chosen texts, and for students to not only be exposed to various texts, but to know their interests and steer them towards informational texts that pique their interests. Also, we have to be mindful of the fact that there is a different between reading for a fact hunt and reading to gain understanding and comprehension of an idea.

BUT, this doesn't mean that informational text reading just becomes about student interest and leave it at that. The research shows that students need to be reading for 90 minutes per day optimally, and that is actual holding a book in their hands reading time (Allington 2005). That's a lot. I usually give my students 25-35 minutes per day of individual reading, and the vast VAST majority of that reading is fiction based literature.

In the coming weeks, I will be laying out how to get started in the reading and writing classrooms (or at least how I will start), including how to assess student readiness and reading levels quickly and efficiently, and how to teach thematically (using The Lightning Thief and teaching Greek Mythology simultaneously for example). I will also be revisiting my units for Social Studies and Science, and focusing them on informational text and writing based approaches. It should be a fun time, but in the end, I feel that it will better prepare me (and anyone who finds these resources and uses them) for what lies ahead.

So stick around, bookmark my page, and come back soon. I'm already getting everything lined up, I just don't like to post things until they're finished. Look for more tomorrow!


WORKS CITED:

Allington, Richard, 2005. What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research Based Programs, 2d ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Calkins, Lucy, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman, 2012. Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Common Core Changes

My early summer lay off isn't exactly over (it's been four weeks since my last post), but I do feel that I'm ready to start posting my Common Core (CCSS) units fairly soon. To provide a little background, here in New Mexico, at least here in Las Cruces, grades K-3 adopted the CCSS this past school year. Grades 4-12 will be adopting this upcoming school year. I know many states have already been there for a few years, but this is my first big experience with it all.

Before I jumped right in and started putting up lessons, ideas, units, assessments, etc. that are CCSS aligned, I wanted to make sure I sufficiently understood what the CCSS is all about. I've attended (and facilitated) a number of workshops and trainings this summer, and have also been reading Pathways to the Common Core, a great book that makes it easier to digest these changes in the literacy and writing classrooms.

Now that I've got a good idea of the direction I'll be going to one last math training today. I attended a few earlier this week about math pacing guides, and this one today is about CCSS and our new math series, Pearson enVision. There will be some changes to my page here. What I'll be doing is re-aligning my units for the CCSS. I will not take down my old units and lessons, but will be attempting to include CCSS resources in them, even the science and social studies one. I will be attempting to re-do those units to reflect both the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) standards that haven't been mandated in New Mexico, but are definitely coming, and the National Science Education Standards (NSES), which are also not mandated but help tie together my lessons to a broader focus.

I will begin posting these units this weekend, as well as some ideas on how to setup instruction in the various subjects according to the CCSS while addressing rigor, relevance, and a much greater depth of learning.

I'm excited about this shift to the CCSS, I think it will really force teachers to demand more of themselves and their students, and will pay off in the long run. Like anything else that is mandated in education, there are pitfalls and things to make you shake your head. But I've decided that, as it relates to the CCSS, there's not much value in complaining, we're all in this together (quite literally, all states with the exception of Texas, Virginia, and Alaska... and Minnesota in math, have adopted the CCSS, you can see that for yourself on this In the States graphic).

I hope you'll come back and be able to utilize some of what I put up here. Thanks!

5th Grade Common Core Cumulative Assessment and Practice Packet

My students are currently gearing up for some end of the year assessments, and these assessments are rather important to 5th graders, because their scores influence their placement in middle school classes. Obviously, my students see the value in doing their best, so they asked for a cumulative review to get them ready.

Now, even though we're not technically "on" the Common Core (CCSS) until next year, our districts formative assessment, the Discovery test, is CCSS based. So for that reason, and to fill in any gaps, I searched far and wide for a cumulative review, and boy did I find some good stuff!

But, instead of listing a ton of resources, I wanted to focus on one in particular that my students are using, and are thankful that they have.

Off at the Bridges Math Learning Center website, I found this fantastic pdf file titled:

FIFTH GRADE ASSESSMENTS AND SCORING CHECKLISTS, COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

This document is 41 pages in length. I was able to narrow it down to 22 pages of things my students are going to review. So I edited down this pdf file. I want to stress that all credit for this document goes to the Bridges Math Learning Center.

My edited version of this pdf (the 22 page version) can be accessed HERE from my Google Drive.