Episode 38 - Look for and Make Use of Structure

When the standards came out, most teachers went to the grade level standards to find out what they needed to teach for their grade level.  Many people skipped the Standards for Mathematical Practice. These are 8 standards that describe how students should interact with mathematics at all grade levels, thus they were not inside each grade level because we should be doing them at all grade levels. Math Practice #7 is Look for and Make Use of Structure and that is where you can find mention of patterns.  One of my favorite books about the Standards for Mathematical Practice is Beyond Answers by Mike Flynn. I love this book because it’s written for primary grades teachers and gives lots of examples of young kids working on these big mathematical practices.  It’s so cool to read. In Chapter 7, Mike talks about Math Practice #7: Look for and Make Use of Structure and he relates it to the movie the Matrix (which I’ll admit I’ve never actually watched).Get all the info here: buildmathminds.com/38