As I lead students to deepen their math understanding, we travel a one layer at a time pattern. I watch students complete their work. We use multiple models and strategies to learn and apply each concept. Then students practice and practice some more. You can't rush this process much, but you can deepen it so that there are multiple layers of understanding to gain as students reach in and learn more.
We started with whole numbers, moved to decimals, and then onto rounding and computation as we study place value. We continue to match this work with relevant numbers and concepts that connect to other areas of the curriculum such as numbers from population statistics and space study. The learning is good and it's all about putting the time and energy into our work right now so everyone moves forward with greater skill, concept, and knowledge.
