Investigations

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Investigations
By Sarah

In the school district where I teach we use the Investigations series. This was also the series that I was taught in my math methods classes in college. I really like using the Investigations series. AS posted eariler
it is standards based math. It is very hands on using lots of manipulatives and math games to teach concepts. I still do supplemental math to reinforce basic math skills. Investigations never directly teachers math sentences (i.e. + or -) so I teach them in line with the Investigations series. It is very big in to solving problems many different ways using pictures, numbers and words.

There is also an assessment book for each grade level that can be bought with the series. It helps with report cards and keeping grades. Alot of the assessment in the younger grades is based upon observations and grading on a rubric. I use a rubric to grade all the math stuff and my kids are very familiar with it. There are some lessons in Investigations which I choose to skip because my kids are not ready for it (such as surveys). My district gives us a timeline for each book and an order, but I switch it around depending on my class. I do get to every book. There are no student text books. Most everything is done with games or handouts (at least in Grade One). I make the game, laminate and keep it for each year so I have them on hand. It would be very hard to each if your district does not have all the materials for each grade. Most grades require blocks, and cubes and counters etc. I would look in to making sure that they adopted the whole series, not just the books. Without the manipulatives it would be very difficult to teach the lessons. There are also classroom routines or 10 minute math depending on the grade in the books. These are simple amth routines to fit daily in to your schedule. One such routine is the calender and weather graphing. I use the old math series (Addison-Wesley) for supplemental homework and skills because parents at my school want to see these things coming home. I also play around the world with math facts. If you are interested I have some lesson plans typed up from my student teaching using the Investigations series I have Grade 5 and Grade 1 and I can e-mail them to you if you would like. You can send me an e-mail and let me know. If you need any additional information please let me know!
Sarah