Mathematics Unit Planning in a PLC at Work®, Grades PreK-2. Timothy D. Kanold
State University of New York, and a master’s of education degree specializing in K–8 mathematics leadership from George Mason University.
To learn more about Jennifer Deinhart’s work, follow her at @jenn_deinhart on Twitter.
Nathan D. Lang-Raad, EdD, is a speaker, author, and consultant. He is the chief education officer at WeVideo. Throughout his career, he has served as a teacher, assistant principal, university adjunct professor, Solution Tree consultant, and partner with The Core Collaborative. He was director of elementary curriculum and instruction for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, as well as education supervisor at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. He speaks at both local and national professional conferences and is the cofounder of Bammy Award–nominated #LeadUpChat, an educational leadership professional learning network (PLN) on Twitter. Nathan is also the cofounder of #divergED, a Twitter chat focused on divergent thinking and innovations in education. He is a Google Certified Educator, Microsoft Innovative Educator, and 2016 Apple Teacher, and he serves on the board of the Student Voice Foundation and the International Literacy Association Task Force.
Nathan is the author of Everyday Instructional Coaching, The New Art and Science of Teaching Mathematics, coauthored with Robert J. Marzano, and WeVideo Every Day. He is currently writing a book titled The Teachers of Oz, coauthored with Herbie Raad.
He has written several blog posts that have been featured on the EdTech K–12, Corwin Connect, Education Week, K–12 Blueprint, and the Solution Tree Blog.
Nathan received a bachelor of arts degree in general science-chemistry from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, a master of education degree in administration and supervision from the University of Houston-Victoria, and a doctorate of education degree in learning organizations and strategic change from David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee.
To learn more about Nathan’s work, follow him on Twitter at @drlangraad.
Matthew R. Larson, PhD, is an award-winning educator and author who served as the K–12 mathematics curriculum specialist for Lincoln Public Schools in Nebraska for more than twenty years, where he currently serves as associate superintendent for instruction. He served as president of the NCTM from 2016–2018. Dr. Larson has taught mathematics at the elementary through college levels and has held an honorary appointment as a visiting associate professor of mathematics education at Teachers College, Columbia University.
He is coauthor of several mathematics textbooks, professional books, and articles on mathematics education, and was a contributing writer on the influential publications Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All (NCTM, 2014a) and Catalyzing Change in High School Mathematics: Initiating Critical Conversations (NCTM, 2018). A frequent keynote speaker at national meetings, Dr. Larson’s humorous presentations are well known for their application of research findings to practice.
Dr. Larson earned a bachelor’s degree and doctorate from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he is an adjunct professor in the department of mathematics.
To learn more about Matthew R. Larson’s work, visit @mlarson_math on Twitter.
Nanci N. Smith, PhD, is currently an associate professor of mathematics and education at Arizona Christian University and part-time consultant and featured conference speaker in the areas of mathematics, curriculum and assessment, differentiated instruction, and mathematics professional learning communities. Her work includes professional development in forty-seven U.S. states and nine countries. She has taught courses at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels.
Nanci is author of A Mind for Mathematics: Meaningful Teaching and Learning in Elementary Classrooms and Every Math Learner: A Doable Approach to Teaching With Learning Differences in Mind, Grades K–5 and Grades 6–12. She is coauthor of A Handbook for Unstoppable Learning. She is the consultant, designer, and author of the Meaningful Mathematics: Leading Students Toward Understanding and Application DVD series and developed a National Science Foundation–funded CD and DVD professional development series for middle school mathematics teachers. She has published various chapters in the areas of differentiation, effective mathematics instruction, curriculum design, and standards implementation and has given interviews for online publications and National Public Radio. She has been a featured speaker for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics national conference as well as numerous other conferences in the United States and abroad.
Nanci received her PhD in curriculum and instruction, mathematics education, from Arizona State University. She is a National Board–certified teacher in Adolescence and Young Adulthood/Mathematics. Her passions are her family, especially her grandchildren, travel, and knitting. To learn more about Nanci’s work, follow @DocNanci on Twitter.
To book Sarah Schuhl, Timothy D. Kanold, Jennifer Deinhart, Nathan D. Lang-Raad, Matthew R. Larson, or Nanci N. Smith for professional development, contact [email protected].
Introduction
By Timothy D. Kanold
At the heart of our work as teachers of mathematics for grades preK–2 is developing student self-efficacy. Student self-efficacy references students’ belief in their capability to learn the mathematics you need students to know by the end of each grade and as they prepare for upper elementary standards.
But what exactly does a preK–2 mathematics student need to know by the end of each unit of study throughout the school year? And, more important, how does a preK–2 teacher develop his or her personal self-efficacy to adequately plan for and then deliver those mathematics units of study to students?
I have been trying to answer this question throughout my entire professional life.
In 1987, I coauthored my first mathematics textbook (a geometry book for students who found mathematics a difficult subject); it was my first real experience in taking a wide body of content for the complete school year and breaking the standards down into reasonable chunks for every teacher and student to learn.
As I eventually expanded my textbook writing to include K–12 mathematics students and teachers, I realized these manageable chunks of content could vary in time length from twenty to thirty-five days, and these periods often had names like units or chapters or modules. I also realized just how hard it is to address a set amount of content in a specific, set time period in the early elementary grades, where the wide range of student readiness to learn mathematics provides a remarkable challenge and a need for standards to be spiraled within the curriculum throughout the early grades (meaning students work on some standards throughout the year or for longer periods of time–often to a benchmark or using daily routines).
As you know, mathematics is a vertically connected curriculum, and units of study at each grade level cannot be taught in random order; the units must exist in the right place and the right time in the mathematics story arc for each grade level, each year. There is an order to the flow of your preK–2 mathematics content story. And as preK–2 teachers, your understanding of the how and why of the content trajectories across these grades builds the foundations critical for future mathematics success in later grades.
During the work our team of mathematics authors and teachers do across the United States, we have observed elementary school mathematics programs in which focused unit planning provides your best chance of success. This book is designed to help you with the planning process for each unit of study and provide a model framework for you to use each day.
Sarah Schuhl, lead author of the unit-planning books in the Every