2013 Conference Proceedings - University of Nevada, Las Vegas

diverse learners were made so that teachers can use the existing curricula to meet the needs ofstruggling students.FindingsThe main objectives of the project were (a) to examine the affordances provided within theexisting curriculum and pedagogy and (b) to discuss and recommend further supports that couldbe put in place at the whole class level and for supplementary instruction that the strugglinglearners were receiving.A common feature of the elementary and middle school curricula in the observed classes isthat students were often engaged in solving problems having multiple solutions, including thosewith more than one outcome as well as those with more than one approach to reaching ananswer. Furthermore, students in both classes were expected to collaborate and engage inexperiences from which conceptual understanding was developed. Utilizing different strategies,comparing and contrasting methods, and making connections between approaches allowedstudents more access to solve and make sense of problems and provided opportunities to makemathematical generalizations. Communicating through concrete, pictorial, oral, and writtenforms required students to transmit, receive and reflect on shared information to begindeveloping their own understandings of the mathematics.In the first grade class, where the curriculum is designed for instruction to be more studentcenteredrather than teacher-centered, supports were often aimed at helping students learn to belearners. The teacher guided students, both implicitly and explicitly, on how to work with others,how to reason, how to ask questions, how to discuss with a partner, how to speak in front of theclass, how to listen thoughtfully, and how to see from multiple points of view through thecontext of the problems they were solving.During one observation, the first graders were paired to work on a task involving a springscale to develop their understanding of unit and, with their partner, were first directed to explorehow the spring scale worked. One student, identified as a subject of the Phase 2 case studyobservation, initially took possession of the materials and began exploring independently. Theteacher, noticing this behavior among other pairs as well, reiterated that students were to sharethe material with their partners. The observed student then gave the spring scale to his partnerand began to shout out some of his observations. The teacher reminded him individually thatstudents were expected to discuss the observations with their partners. The student then spoke toProceedings of the 40 th Annual Meeting of the Research Council on Mathematics Learning 2013 201