We are excited to announce that St. James will be implementing think!Mathematics in our K-5 classrooms next year. Think!Mathematics is a Singapore math curriculum designed to “deliver meaningful math instruction that allows ALL learners to explore and link concepts together.” In our yearlong search for a new math curriculum, we researched and reviewed programs that would get our students excited about math while preparing them for 21st century competencies such as collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication and metacognition. We wanted a program that followed a CPA (concrete – pictorial – abstract) approach to learning with a focus on building conceptual understanding. The think!Mathematics curriculum checked all of these boxes.
A key component of the think!Mathematics program is the use of “low floor – high ceiling” anchor tasks at the beginning of each math lesson. These open-ended tasks encourage students to think critically and provide for differentiation, allowing students to work at their own level of math development and take ownership of their learning. Another integral part of the think!Mathematics program is the emphasis on continuous professional development for teachers. In a few weeks, the primary author of the program, Sarah Schaeffer, will be spending two days at St. James working with all of our math teachers. Plans are in the works for additional professional development opportunities with Sarah throughout next year as well. The adoption of the think!Mathematics curriculum is one of the exciting initiatives in store for St. James next year.
Click the button below for more information and a video featuring educators from other schools who have used the program.
- Donna Lamonte, Assistant Head of School
