I just received this email from one of the bright young teachers in my district:
I am just trying to get ready for the year that is quickly approaching! What do I do if a group of my 5th graders are at the 2nd grade level in math, according to their scores from last year’s Spring MAP testing? I remember teaching a class of 5th graders my first year of teaching and feeling very overwhelmed because the skills that were supposed to be mastered were not. Do you think teaching at a too high level will be good for these students at the 2nd grade level in math? Does this make sense?
I wondered what advice the readers of this blog would give her? We use the Everyday Math Curriculum that is spiral in concept development.
I’ll post my response too, but I’m interested in your thoughts as there are many newer teachers that are facing this problem. Please share.
