Implementing the Mathematical Practices

Implementing the Standards for Mathematical Practices does not need to be a daunting task. It also doesn’t require purchasing any new materials or resources. Rather, it is a shift for educators to learn about, identify and allow students to put into practice. Now, that doesn’t mean that it won’t require any work. There is work to be done here and unfortunately, the work is never finished. Implementing mathematical practices is something that can be learned and relearned over and over again.

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Notice the use of  the word “implementing” rather than the word “teaching”. This is because the Standards for Mathematical Practices are not standards to be taught to students, they are what the students should be doing. The Standards for Mathematical Practices are how the students engage in the experience that is  provided to them while teaching the mathematics standards.

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Mathematical practices are also not something that can, or should, be done all at once. The goal in the classroom is not for all students to complete all eight mathematical practices before they leave the room. Instead, the teacher has one or two practices in mind as they plan a lesson. Educators create experiences that will allow students to practice and possibly achieve them. It is also probable that practices that weren’t planned for will come up throughout the learning experience so teachers will need to remain flexible. In order to have the skills necessary to allow for this flexibility, teachers need time to dive into each of the practices so that when one naturally comes up in a lesson, they can use it as a teachable moment.

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To help educators dive into the eight mathematical practices before the 2022 Minnesota Mathematics Standards are fully implemented, they can refer back to the articles written by the Math Team here at Resource Training and Solutions. The eight Standards for Mathematical Practices articles are listed below and can be accessed by clicking on each.. Within those articles are information about the standards, ways to implement it into the classroom, question stems and picture books to use along with a few other resources to dive into.

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‍Standard 1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them

Standard 2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively

Standard 3: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others

Standard 4: Model with mathematics

Standard 5: Use appropriate tools strategically

Standard 6: Attend to precision

Standard 7: Look for and make use of structure

Standard 8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

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There are additional resources already created that include information on all eight mathematical practices that may be useful. Christina Tondevold of Building Math Minds created a Cheat Sheet for the Mathematical Practices that is very helpful. Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) created a guide for the Standards for Mathematical Practices specifically focused on the teaching of fractions. This resource could be helpful for upper elementary, lower middle school teachers. There are also websites specifically dedicated to the Standards for Mathematical Practices such as EDC’s Illustrations and Achieve the Core’s Implementing Standards for Mathematical Practices. All of these resources are a great starting point for a deep dive into the eight Standards for Mathematical Practices.

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Sara VanDerWerf, MDE, will also be hosting a final webinar to wrap up the eight mathematical practices on April 2nd, 2025 at 7:00 AM which you can find by registering here. You can also find the previous webinars at the MCTM Youtube channel.

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If you’d like more information, support, or guidance on developing a better understanding of the Mathematical Practices, please reach out to our Math Team here at Resource Training and Solutions.

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Mindy Strom

Math Lead

Email: mstrom@resourcecoop-mn.gov

Phone: (612) 505-7997

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Megan Klaphake

Math Coach

Email: mklaphake@resourcecoop-mn.gov

Phone: (218) 770-0026

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References:

^{SanGiovanni, J. (2019). Using the mathematical practices effectively in the classroom. https://www.mheducation.com/unitas/school/explore/research/reveal-math-using-mathematical-practices-effectively-classroom.pdf} 

^{Illustrative Mathematics. (2014, February 12). Standards for mathematical practice: Commentary and elaborations for K–5. Tucson, AZ. Retrieved December 29, 2018 from http:// commoncoretools.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Elaborations.pdf}

^{Flynn, M. (2017). Beyond answers: Exploring mathematical practices with young children. Stenhouse.}