Math at Bridge
“The only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics.”
- Paul Halmos
Our goal at Bridge Boston is to engage more students in more math more often. We know students cannot truly learn math by listening to the teacher talk about it - students must be active participants in the exploration and discovery of math concepts.
k2 - 3rd grade math
In grades K2-3, 60-90 minute math blocks are set up in a station model so all students engage with their teacher in a small group math lesson. The small group allows for more extensive use of manipulatives, more consistent student participation, more robust dialogue and debate for students, and simplified method for teachers to evaluate exactly how their students are doing. While one small group is engaged in the daily lesson, other small groups are practicing and applying newly acquired skills, engaged with personal iReady lessons, building fluency through games, or working on spiral review of grade level concepts. The workshop rotation allows for every student to engage with the teacher in their daily math lesson.
4th - 8th grade math
In grades 4-8, student engagement and participation are built into our Match Fishtank curriculum. Every lesson opens with a series of anchor problems for classes to solve together, guided carefully by teacher inquiry and problem solving. Students are given opportunities to draw from previous lessons and experiment with new ideas to come to a consensus on the most efficient, effective way to solve problems accurately. Anchor problems build upon one another, increasing in difficulty as students gain confidence with new ideas. The problem sets that follow give students an opportunity to engage independently with the material while the teachers monitor student progress.
Math curriculum
Our K1 classes use the Focus on K1 curriculum, which includes lessons from the Building Blocks curriculum. K1 students participate in small group math instruction focusing on early numeracy skills in subitizing, number recognition, one-to-one counting, cardinality, and recognizing greater & lesser quantities. Grades K2-2 use Eureka Math (Great Minds) and grades 3-8 use Match Fishtank. Both Eureka and Fishtank are standards based programs, and both are highly rated by EdReports for math instruction.
Diagnostic Screenings
We use iReady diagnostics three times each year to gather data about our students’ proficiency in four key areas: Number & Operations, Algebra & Algebraic Thinking, Measurement & Data, and Geometry. Concurrently, we administer a fluency assessment that targets the Standards for Numbers and Operations for each grade. These diagnostic results are shared with families so we can work in partnership to increase student achievement in math.
Small group instruction
An intervention block is built into each grade level schedule. Grade level teams work with the instructional leadership team and our data specialists to construct small groups of students who would benefit from targeted instruction on a particular skill or math domain. These small groups typically meet 3-4 times weekly for six weeks and student progress is closely monitored. At the end of each cycle, students are assessed and plans are adjusted to meet student needs.
To learn more about Math at Bridge, contact our 2nd - 4th Grade Dean of Coaching & Intervention, Di CullenMoore, or Maggie O'Connor, our 8th Grade Math Lead Teacher.