Go Figure: Math And The Common Core By Marilyn Burns

The article Go figure : Math and the Common Core by Marilyn Burns described and gave examples of the problem solving strategies that students go through with common core standards. The article began with the author sitting at the dinner table with her grandchildren. Her grandson asked her how long ago she had written a particular book. She proceeded to ask him to tell her, and she then described the thinking process and strategies he used to come up with the answer. He decomposed numbers and then added numbers back together to obtain an answer. Her granddaughter and husband used a very different strategy and it happened to also be the one she used to come upon her answer. She mentioned that as teachers it is important to stop and listen to a child explain their answer because there are multiple ways to obtain it.
The standards for mathematical practice and the standards for mathematical content. The mathematical practice referred to the eight math standards that are taught in each grade. The standards for mathematical content are much greater in quantity and varied among grade levels. They are broken down into domains and consist of numerous standards under each one. The combination of both the standards and content were said to be essential for Common Core to be successfully implemented into the classroom. The author mentioned that a student's numerical reasoning skills should be assessed to help meet the standards. The student needed to be able to describe and demonstrate the way they obtain an answer and not just write down an answer on paper. Real life examples such as being able to figure out how much an item of clothing would be if it were on sale and making sure that enough time was allowed to arrive at an appointment were provided. The ability to compute things mentally was described as a skill that was necessary and developed based off the content and