Activity: Curriculum Audit: Does EnVision Math Align to the Common Core Standards

Description: I worked with other kindergarten teachers from amilton County to audit
the EnVision math program as a way of determining whether or not it aligned to the
Common Core State Standards! If we found that the program did not align to the
standards then we wrote supplemental lessons that would meet the standards that were
missing!
"hat went well#
$he team was made up of five kindergarten teachers from various schools within the
County and one District level math coach who was a seasoned kindergarten teacher!
$here was over %&& years of com'ined kindergarten e(perience within the group! $his
was a definite advantage since there was a lot of e(pertise within the group!
Another advantage was that the group was very organi)ed and it was a group that had
worked together for many years! $his allowed us to hit the ground running! "e did not
have to take time to 'uild relationships or get to know the organi)ation system! Everyone
knew what role each person would hold! $he fact that the group was organi)ed also
helped 'ecause it allowed them to audit the series effectively and efficiently! Checklists
were used and everything was cross referenced to make sure that standards were
ade*uately 'eing addressed and that they were 'eing addressed with rigor! $his was a
key point that the group was looking for and this is ultimately what went the 'est
throughout this process! "hile we were looking to see that standards were 'eing taught
within the EnVision curriculum+ we wanted to make sure that there was a certain level a
rigor within those lessons!
"hat did not#
It 'ecame overwhelming, -nce we got going we reali)ed that there were so many
standards that were missing and that so many of the ones that were present were missing
the level of rigor that we were looking for that the pro.ect 'ecame overwhelming! "e
were una'le to complete the task in the amount of time that we had set aside and
additional time had to 'e given to this pro.ect!
"e found that %/0 of the te(t did not align to the standards and therefore re*uired
supplemental lessons to 'e written! $hese supplemental lessons re*uired additional time
to 'e put in from the group and it will also put a strain on the classroom teacher since
they will have to make copies+ create resources+ etc! All of these factors add additional
stress to the Curriculum Auditors+ as well as the classroom teachers!
1iven the chance to do it again+ how would you do it 'etter#
I really do not think we could have done the audit any differently other than to stay more
focused during the actual work time 2'ut we are human and everyone gets off task at
some point3especially in the summer 4! owever+ the main pro'lem and I think that
the one thing that the County and the State reali)ed is that they should have deferred the
te(t'ook adoption one more year! If given the chance to do it again+ the State should
have deferred the math adoption one more year so that we could have adopted the
Common Core addition that was coming out the following year since that edition would
have 'een 'etter aligned and would not have re*uired so many supplemental lessons!
Common Core State Standard
5ey Ideas and Details
CCSS!Math!Content!5!C!C!0 6 "rite num'ers
from &78&! 9epresent a num'er of o'.ects with
a written numeral &78& 2with & representing a
count of no o'.ects!4
E(amples of the standard:
-'.ective: Children will recogni)e and write the
numerals that descri'e the *uantities %+ 8+ and 0!
$ask: Children will count the stars and then trace
num'ers %70!
:urpose: Students are practicing counting and
writing num'ers %+ 8+ and 0!
2enVision Math $opic ;7<ero to =ive+ p! >;4
CCSS!Math!Content!5!C!C!; 6 ?nderstand the
relationship 'etween num'ers and *uantities@
connect counting to cardinality!
a! "hen counting o'.ects+ say the num'er
names in the standard order+ pairing
each o'.ect with one and only one
num'er name and each num'er name
with one and only one o'.ect!
'! ?nderstand that the last num'er name
said tells the num'er of o'.ects
counted! $he num'er of o'.ects is the
same regardless of their arrangement or
the order in which they were counted!
c! ?nderstand that each successive
num'er name refers to a *uantity that is
one larger!
-'.ective: Children will recogni)e and write
numerals that descri'e *uantities ; and >!
$ask: Students will count o'.ects and write the
num'er that is represented!
:urpose: Students will practice counting ; and >!
E(tension that will help teach 5!C!C!;!c 6
$eacher will ask the students to represent a
num'er that is one larger than the num'er that is
given!
2enVision Math $opic ; 6 <ero to =ive+ p! >A4
CCSS!Math Content! 5!C!C!> 6 Count to
answer Bhow many#C *uestions a'out as many
as 8& things arranged in a line+ a rectangular
array+ or a circle+ or as many as %& things in a
scattered configuration@ given a num'er from
%78&+ count out that many o'.ects!
-'.ective: Children will use o'.ects to represent
and count the *uantities ; and >!
$ask: Students will count the o'.ects in each
group! $hey will then color the 'o(es to show
how many oranges!
:urpose: Students will practice counting ; and >!
E(tension: $he teacher will need to provide
additional images that show o'.ects in various
configurations!
2enVision Math $opic ; 6 <ero to =ive+ p! >D4
CCSS!Math Content! 5!C!C!D 6 Identify
whether the num'er of o'.ects in one group is
greater than+ less than+ or e*ual to the num'er
of o'.ects in another group+ e!g!+ 'y using
matching and counting strategies!
-'.ective: Children will recogni)e and identify a
group of o'.ects that is % fewer or 8 fewer than
another group!
$ask: Students will color o'.ects to show a group
of % or 8 more or fewer!
:urpose: Students will learn how to compare
groups of o'.ects!
E(tension: $he teacher will need to ask the
students to identify which group is greater than+
less than+ or each to another num'er!
2envision Math $opic ; 6 <ero to =ive+ p! DA4
9eference:
Common Core State Standards Initiative! 28&%84! 9etrieved from
http://www!corestandards!org/Math/Content/5/1
Envision math: $opic 87position and location! 28&%84! ?pper Saddle 9iver+
Eew Fersey: :earson Education+ Inc!