Introduction

Planning the MathematicsProgramPlanning plays a critical role in the development of an effective mathematics program.The teacher is the best judge of students’ prior knowledge, learning, and cultural needs,and of the appropriate use of available resources. Integrating the mathematical needsof students with curricular requirements calls for thoughtful decision making, andsuch decision making benefits from planning on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis.Included in this process should be decisions about how to organize planning aroundbig ideas [see the section ”Focus on the Significant Mathematical Concepts (”BigIdeas”)” in Chapter 2: Principles of Mathematics Instruction] and how to provideproblem-solving learning opportunities that allow students to explore these big ideasin depth. Using big ideas as a focus helps teachers to see that the concepts representedin the curriculum expectations should not be taught as isolated bits of informationbut rather as a connected network of interrelated concepts. Other factors to beconsidered in such decision making and planning include the following:• the characteristics and needs of students, including developmental levels, preferredlearning styles, attitudes, levels of English proficiency, and cultural backgrounds;• the four categories of knowledge and skills listed in the achievement chart onpages 22–23 of The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8: Mathematics, 2005: Knowledgeand Understanding, Thinking, Communication, and Application;• the three instructional approaches recommendedin the report of the Expert Panel on Early Mathand the report of the Expert Panel on Mathematicsin Grades 4 to 6 in Ontario: guided mathematics,shared mathematics, and independent mathematics(see Chapter 4: Instructional Approaches);• the five strands of the mathematics curriculum intowhich the curriculum expectations are organized(Number Sense and Numeration, Measurement,Geometry and Spatial Sense, Patterning and Algebra,and Data Management and Probability);• the big ideas in each of the strands (e.g., quantityin the Number Sense and Numeration strand) andthe expectations that cluster around the big ideas;47