“All right, let’s say together the learning statements for today. Ready readers!” said Ring Elementary School teacher Mary Moran to her second-grade students.

“I can model place value using number disks. I can tell the value of a number,” read the class together.

“Great readers! Now, let’s read our problem for today. ‘How many packages of 10 cookies can Collette make using 124 cookies? Then, how many cookies does she need to complete another package of 10?’ Students what do we do next?”

“Read, draw and write!”

“That’s correct. We carefully read the problem and see there are actually two problems and two answers we need to solve. Then, we draw our answers on our whiteboards and finally, we write the answer in the form of a sentence.”

Moran worked with her students on a math module focusing on extending the students’ learning of place value. In first grade, students learn place value of 10s. In second grade, they extend their learning to 100s. In Moran’s classroom, students learned that they need 12 sets of 10s to make 12 packages. They also learned that they have four ones left over and they will need six more cookies to make another package of 10.

“I like learning math this way because you get to solve the problem but I get to draw a picture of it and write a sentence too. It makes it easier for me to see how I can get the answer,” said Ring second-grader, Adam Kubera.

Students work on the problem independently while Moran circles the room helping and answering specific questions. Once students are done, Moran, with the help of student leaders, leads the class through the steps of solving the problem. Place value is only one math goal for second graders. They also learn to build fluency with addition and subtraction, use standard units of measure, and describe and analyze shapes.

As part of the district wide professional development initiative, Moran and all elementary school teachers were given access to Eureka Math videos to help them better understand and teach the common core math modules. The videos, led by the authors of the Common Core modules, guide teachers through each math modules so they know, before they teach the module to the class, what they will look like and the goals of the modules. This summer, JPS also offered grade level workshops where, for example, second-grade teachers learned specifically about what they would be teaching, guidance on how to teach, and opportunities to ask questions and get answers about the math modules.

“The in-service opportunities, as well as, the Eureka video series have been instrumental in helping us prepare our daily lessons to develop each child’s math thinking and skill level,” said Moran.”