Shifting to the Common Core Mathematics (Grades 4-5)

Shifting to the Common Core provides teachers with classroom strategies and activities to help students achieve greater depths of knowledge, including how to . . .

1. sort out information they receive in text and graphical presentations;
2. judge information and test it for reliability;
3. create information and organize it in new forms.

Standards correlations and model answers help teachers assess students’ comprehension of these important deeper-thinking skills.

Students in grades 4–5 will learn to . . .

• explore and thoroughly use the mathematical problem-solving process;
• use known/unknown analysis to understand mathematical prompts;
• identify constants and variables in each situation;
• sort out formulas to determine which apply;
• recognize patterns and reasoning in mathematical expressions;
• use mathematical modeling to predict calculated values;
• judge and critique mathematical reasoning;
• argue for specific problem-solving approaches;
• create new mathematical expressions in order to solve problems;
• model word problems and real-world situations using mathematics.

By developing these deeper-thinking skills, students improve their comprehension in mathematics and across the curriculum, raise their grades, and increase their success on Common Core assessments.