Common Core Sense ~ Moynihan

Common Core Sense: Tapping the Power of the Mathematical Practices

Christine Moynihan


The Standards for Mathematical Practice provide an excellent foundation for encouraging students to think, reason, and persevere like mathematicians. Many elementary school teachers, however, face a challenge unpacking these practices and figuring out how to implement them in their classrooms.

Christine Moynihan wrote Common Core Sense: Tapping the Power of the Mathematical Practices with the goal of making the practices more explicit, learnable, and accessible. Moynihan shows what each practice might look, sound, and feel like in the classroom using the four-part GOLD framework:
*G - Go for the goals. What are the major purposes of the practice?
*O - Open your eyes & Observe. What should you see students doing as they utilize the practice? What should you see yourself doing?
*L - Listen. What should you hear students saying as they utilize the practice? What should you hear yourself saying?
*D - Decide what you need to do in order to make the most of the practice.

This timely text devotes one chapter to each practice. The consistent framework of the book, similar in structure to Moynihan's Math Sense, provides an easy way to learn, assess, and deepen your own understanding of each practice-to mine the GOLD.