Common Core State Standards
3-5 Mathematics
M&M Share
1. Carefully open your bag of M&Ms.
2. Without looking, take out one M&M.
3. Starting with the person wearing the most blue,
share with your group based the M&M color
prompts below:
•Red – something about your
summer
•Orange – something about your family
•Brown – something you are looking forward to
•Blue – a dream, a wish, or a goal
•Green – something your group should know
about
•Yellowyou
– your “favorites”
M&M Math
• Sort your M&Ms by color.
• Arrange your M&Ms into “bars” to visually compare
amounts.
• Using graph paper, create a bar graph to illustrate this
comparison.
• Now discuss the following questions with your elbow
partner:
– How many reds and greens do you have altogether?
– Compare the two colors you have the most of. How many
more _____________ do you have?
– Compare your blue and orange. Which do you have fewer (or
less) of? How many fewer (or less)?
M & M Math (continued)
•Now combine your M & M data
with a partner.
•Use a “scaled “legend and graph
your combined totals of M & Ms.
•Answer questions guided by
teacher.
Measurement and Data – MD
Look at your MD Standards.
What do you think?
What Makes These Math
Standards Different? P. 3

Fewer, focused standards -- with clarity & specificity. No more
“mile high and inch deep.”

Coherence – William Shmidt and Richard Houang (2002) have said
that content and curricula are coherent if they are “articulated
over time as a sequence of topics and performances that are
logical and reflect, where appropriate, the sequential or
hierarchical nature of the disciplinary content from which the
subject matter derives.” In other words, what and how students
are taught should reflect not only the topics that fall within a
certain academic discipline, but also the key ideas that determine
how knowledge is organized and generated within that discipline.

Designed to equip students to be college and career ready and
globally competitive.
5th grade math question taken from the Mississippi
Curriculum Test Second Edition (MCT2) Practice
Test:
Kendra bought trays of flowers to
plant in her front yard. Each tray
contained 6 flowers.
Which could be the total number of
flowers she bought?
A. 63
B. 160
C. 266
D. 312
Question taken from the exam given at Year 5 in
Sweden:
Carl bikes home from school at four o’clock. It takes
about a quarter of an hour. In the evening, he’s going
back to school because the class is having a party. The
party starts at 6 o’clock. Before the class party starts, Carl
has to eat dinner. When he comes home from school, his
grandmother, who is also his neighbor, calls. She wants
him to bring in her post before he bikes over to the class
party. She also wants him to take her dog for a walk,
then to come in and have a chat. What does Carl have
time to do before the party begins? Write and describe
below how you have reasoned.
Key Advances
Focus and coherence
•
•
Focus on key topics at each grade level.
Coherent progressions across grade levels.
Balance of concepts and skills
•
Mathematical understanding* and procedural skill are equally important.
*Mathematical Understanding = Ability to justify, in a way appropriate to the student’s mathematical
maturity, why a particular math statement is true or where a particular mathematical rule comes from.
*“Processes and Proficiencies”
Mathematical practices
•
Foster reasoning and sense-making in mathematics. Build on NCTM process standards of
problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, representation, and connections…
AND on adaptive reasoning, strategic competence, conceptual understanding, procedural
fluency, and productive disposition.
*Conceptual understanding = comprehension of math concepts, operations, and relations.
*Procedural Fluency = skill in carrying out procedures flexibly, accurately, efficiently, and appropriately.
*Productive Disposition = habitual inclination to see math as sensible, useful, and worthwhile.
College and career readiness
•
Level is ambitious but achievable.
8 Standards for Mathematical Practice
P. 6-8
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in
solving them.
– Use concrete objects and pictures to help solve
problems.
– Check answers using a different method.
– Continually ask themselves, “Does this make
sense?” and make adjustments when it doesn’t
make sense.
2.
Reason abstractly and quantitatively.


3.
Creating a coherent representation of the problem
and being able to explain it
Attending to meaning , not just the computation
Construct viable arguments and critique
reasoning of others.


Construct arguments using concrete objects,
drawings, diagrams, and actions
Listen to the arguments of others, decide
whether they make sense, and ask questions to
clarify or improve arguments
4.
Model with mathematics.

5.
6.
7.
8.
Apply mathematics to solve problems in
everyday life (i.e., writing an addition equation to
describe a situation)
Use appropriate tools strategically.
Attend to precision.
Look for and make use of structure.
Look for and express regularity in repeated
reasoning.

Notice mathematical patterns and repetition
Design and Organization
Standards for Mathematical Content/Practices
• K-8 standards presented by grade level
• Organized into domains that progress over
several grades
• Related objectives are “clustered” together
• Grade introductions give 2–4 focal points at
each grade level
Design and Organization (P. 5)



Content standards define what students should understand
and be able to do
Clusters are groups of related standards
Domains are larger groups that progress across grades
Design and Organization
Grade Level Overviews
Let’s Get Familiar with Abbreviations
CC = Counting & Cardinality (K)
OA = Operations & Algebraic Thinking
NBT = Numbers & Operations in Base Ten
NF = Numbers and Operations -- Fractions
MD = Measurement & Data
 G = Geometry
How do we reference the standards in lesson plans?
Let’s Practice! 
3. OA. 4
4.NBT. 2a
G.5.3
What are the
implications for
classroom
teachers?
Frequent Use of
Manipulatives
Learning
Takes Place in
Small, Flexible
Groups
Planning for Common Core
Math Lessons/Instruction
How will I
provide for
small group
instruction?
What part of
the standard
will I teach?
How will I use
manipulatives?
K-2 Update
K
Number Core – Numbers & Operations in Base Ten –
Counting & recognizing to 100, comparing within 10,
counting sets to 20, joining & separating situations
(combined sets), etc.
1st
Number Core – Numbers & Operations in Base Ten –
Adding & Subtracting whole numbers within 20 (add to,
take from, put together, take-apart), compare situations
to develop meaning for +/-, Add within 100, Subtract
multiples of 10, Apply properties of operations as
strategies to add and subtract, Determine unknowns,
extend counting sequence to 120
2nd
Extend Base 10 – counting in 5s, 10s, multiples of 100 and
ones. Use and understand to 1000 using base 10.
FLUENTLY +/- within 20
How do I unpack the standards?
• Circle verbs.
• Underline nouns and noun phrases.
• Bullet.
Thoughts About Multiplication
The CORE is Building the Concept Progressively—
It’s more about the process, not the memorization, in K-2.
Students need a strong number core to make sense of the patterns in
multiplication and to be able to apply prior learning for new strategies.
• KINDERGARTEN:
K.CC.1: Count to 100 by ones and tens.
• FIRST GRADE:
• 1.NBT.2c and 1.NBT.4: Working with multiples of ten.
• SECOND GRADE:
• 2.OA.3, 4: Work with equal groups to gain foundations for
multiplication
3rd-4th-5th – REFLECT ON YOUR STANDARDS
Spend the next __ minutes thinking about the standards for the grade you teach.
Record the 1 you want extra discussion on (on sticky note).
OA – Operations & Algebraic Thinking
NBT – Numbers & Operations in Base Ten
NF – Numbers & Operations – Fractions
MD – Measurement & Data
G – Geometry
Final Thoughts
1. K-2 is implementing CCSS for RLA and Mathematics 2011-2012, AND 3-5
can expect implementation for 2012-2013.
2. How can 3-5 teachers “get ahead of the curve” next year?
 Small Group Math Instruction
 Speaking/Listening/Writing About Mathematics – Strategies,
Explanation of Processes – Mathematical Understanding
 Focus on Fluency – of Processes and Computation
 Increase Problem-Solving – through experiences interesting to and
relevant to the uniqueness of your class
 FREQUENT (DAILY) USE OF MANIPULATIVES