My math program Math Expressions has carefully designed classroom environments for learning specific concepts.  In kindergarten and early first grade, these involve manipulatives that children move to make numbers or relationships.  There are some manipulatives for every grade.  Children describe what they see, compare and contrast what they and others make, and learn vocabulary and concepts as they interact with this manipulative learning environment.  Children also make math drawings at all grade levels, often using the special large MathBoards that contain specific grade-level learning supports.  Because many schools will have to do some or all teaching remotely during the 2020/21 school year, we need to have digital versions of these learning environments in which children can move things and make things and draw. As in the classroom, the teacher needs to see what all children are making so that feedback is possible, and the teacher can select examples to discuss with all children.  Supporting teachers as much as possible to orchestrate a Nurturing Math Talk Community in the classroom is vital for student and teacher emotional and conceptual functioning. 

 

Therefore, I worked with two experienced Math Expressions teachers, Robyn Decker and Shannon Kiebler, who have worked with many districts supporting teachers in developing and using a Nurturing Math Talk Community in the classroom.  The Daily Routines in Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 and the Quick Practices in all grades Kindergarten through Grade 6 are crucial for building complex and central math concepts and for creating a sense of community as children engage in these practices together.  It is difficult to do these without the posters and manipulatives used in the classroom.  Therefore, we created digital slide decks in Google Slides for teachers to use in leading these Daily Routines and Quick Practices remotely.  Student Leaders can also lead these as in the classroom with the physical materials.  The teacher can give the link to the Quick Practices to particular students to be the Student Leader and tell them what slide(s) to use.  The Student Leader shares their screen and has the mic on so that all students can see and hear the Student Leader lead the Quick Practice or Daily Routine.

 

Students also need the special large Math Expressions MathBoards that contain specific grade-level learning supports and the grade-level manipulatives including the strategy/fluency cards.  These manipulatives and cards can be given to students to use at home for remote teaching.  But it is a bit difficult for the teacher to see what a student is doing, and for younger students, it requires organization and help with the manipulatives.  So we also made the crucial grade-level manipulatives on Google Slide decks and made the Math Expressions MathBoards on Jamboards, a free app from Google that has a good writing function. 

 

This is a research-based website that I developed for everyone, not just for users of Math Expressions.  Anyone is welcome to use these Remote Teaching Materials.  And please visit other parts of my website including the Teaching Progressions, which are 22 hours of visual and verbal explanations of the learning paths in the Common Core State Standards organized by math domain and using the research-based visual supports in Math Expressions.

 

Check back occasionally for new information. For example, we now have Pre-Kindergarten Teaching, Home Activity, and Daily Routine Google slide decks that you can access by using the link below.  New materials will be posted as they are ready, so also occasionally check the MASTER chart reached with the link below.

 

Take care of yourself as well as your students during this challenging year.  Karen Fuson

 

You can see the file with the description of all of these Remote Teaching Materials and the links to get to these materials by

CLICKING HERE

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Then move your cursor at the bottom of the file to get the picture of the arrow and computer at the right; then click on that arrow and computer to download the file.