Welcome Back!

Here we go! Tomorrow, August 28th, 2012 will be the first day of school for the 2012-13 school year. This year there are a lot of exciting changes to the Elementary Math Curriculum.

Report Cards in grades 1-5 will have multiple categories for grades for the first time in years. These categories will match the CCSS domains aligned with each grade. Kindergarten will have a report card insert in the first marking period for the first time in quite a while too.

Curriculum wise, there have been significant changes to grades K-2. Lessons have been moved and or deleted from each grade and additional lessons have been designated to fill the void from content that is necessary in order for SPS to be aligned with CCSS. K-2 will also see the first installment of SBFs and DFAs, these are Skill Building Focus Days and District Formative Assessments respectively. Many of these exact changes will occur for grades 3-5 in 2013-14, a committee will be put together during the year for teachers who are interested in participating, look for the job posting on the SPS website.

Assessments in grades K-2 have also been revised. The scoring has change, all questions are being considered mastered or not mastered, there are no more weighted questions (ie: question 8 worth 5 points, question 10 worth 2 points, etc.). Assessments have also been aligned to the CCSS. The Mid-Year and EOY assessments in grades 1 and 2 have been removed and replaced with the DFA. The DFA will be administered once a marking period to check on students abilities to master the major clusters of the CCSS.

Finally, this year I plan to introduce the opportunity for teachers gather and share their work with other teachers from the respective SPS buildings. Stay tuned for information regarding these gatherings as well as information about all upcoming events and changes. You can also keep up to date by following SPS Elementary Math on twitter @SPSMathK5 and by joining the Edmodo (www.edmodo.com) group SPS Elementary Math.