Rational Numbers

A Unifying Theme of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

This 4-day workshop engages teachers across grades 4 – 14 as learners while modeling fully the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP) that are at the heart of the CCSS.

Participants have opportunities to deepen their understanding of the mathematics of rational number. They work as independent problem solvers and in small collaborative groups within a classroom environment that fully models the SMP. In addition to doing and learning mathematics, participants have professional articles to read and synthesize each evening, with group discussions of the articles held each morning.  The workshop is designed so that teachers have opportunities to learn important mathematics and to experience and examine characteristics of an optimal learning environment. This second in a series of four workshops provides educators with an opportunity to more fully understand number theory while continuing to prepare them to fundamentally restructure their classrooms

This 4-day workshop is designed to develop and deepen participants’ understanding of rational number and improve their numerical reasoning skills specifically with regard to the following:

• number theory including order of operations, and properties of number,
• equivalency with fractions, decimals and percent,
• computation with fractions and decimals,
• representing computation with rational numbers geometrically,
• Apply understanding of operations of whole numbers to operations with fractions and decimals,
• the nature of learning and characteristics of an optimal learning environment, and
• ways of assessing mathematical understandings.