846.Resource, McNamara, Milestones Math Prep Project (M2P2) Grade 6 (2021)

Documents:

1) List of Standards/Prerequisites tied to Grade-Level Curriculum Maps 

2) Spiral Assessments with three levels of questions (Basic, Proficient, and Advanced) for each math learning standard  {Note: Each student should master both the Basic & Proficient levels.} 

3) a more detailed supplementary document (Best of the Rest) which  provides for each prerequisite at least one assessment example and for each standard an additional assessment example

Purposes: 1) to bring clarity and depth to each standard 

2) to provide organized, open-source example questions at higher levels  of thinking (DOK 2 and DOK 3) for immediate classroom application and discussion points for teacher reflection and discussion

How will these materials help teachers?

Understanding by Design (“UbD”) is a backwards-planning approach in which one looks at an outcome- in this case, preparing students for a summative assessment and establishes performance assessments to help frame both curriculum units and classroom instruction. The Strategy to Success = Creating a game plan for facilitating student understanding; in other words, if the endzone is the goal, then purposely put in place those steps that need to be taken in order to help the student get there.

UbD is the key to understanding how these materials should be used:

1) Start with the Spiral Assessment as a pre-assessment and then follow up with the Best of the Rest as a source of exemplars for additional practice at DOK 2/DOK 3.

2) Students must be fluent at the Prerequisite level first- mastering the standards won’t ever happen if the foundational pieces aren’t solid.

3) Seeing the evolution of an idea (vertical alignment) is also important- in most cases, the same concept seen at the next grade level is only slightly more difficult.