Iowa Core Curriculum - ....Communication

Thanks for visiting the Iowa Department of Education's Iowa Core Curriculum website! Here are a few tips about the site and how to make your visit easier.

Left-hand Side: Navigation
One way users can navigate the site is by using the menu on the left side of the page. This menu includes the five content areas (literacy, mathematics, science, social studies and 21st century skills) included in the Iowa Core Curriculum.

Select a content area from the menu on the left side of the page.
Select a choice from the second level of navigation, which will automatically appear.
Choose a "grade " or "grade span" to see the specific results for that "grade" or "grade span."

The essential concepts and skills of the Iowa Core Curriculum are presented in grade spans, while the content standards and performance standards are listed for selected individual grades. Only the "grades" or "grade spans" where information is available will be listed in the dropdown menu on the left side of the page. Once a "grade" or grade span" is selected the results of the request will be listed in the center of the page.

If the resulting items have additional details available an icon will appear next to the items in the list. Click on the icon to reveal the details for individual items listed or select "View All" to see all of the details for the whole list. It is also possible to "Collapse All" the list items.

The site also provides breadcrumb navigation at the top of the central area of each page. The purpose of the breadcrumb is to show how pages are categorized on the site allowing users to retrace their steps.

Right-hand Side: Search
The right side of the page is devoted to searching the site content in a way the user determines. The content of the site can be searched in one of two ways

a combination of content areas, disciplines, and grades or
keyword(s).

The content filter and the keyword search functions work independent of each other. Users cannot use the two ways of searching the site at the same time. If a user enters any information into the keyword search box it will disable the content filter fields. To re-enable the user needs to delete the content in the keyword text field.

Printing

To print individual pages of the site, select the print button located in the upper right side of the page.
For the content areas of literacy, mathematics, and science, a complete document containing all of the information is available by clicking the download button in the upper right side of the page. Documents for social studies and 21st century skills will be added as they become available.

Questions about the Iowa Core Curriculum
Use the Contact Us link at the bottom of the page for a listing of Department and AEA contacts working with the Iowa Core Curriculum.

Website Feedback
Use the Website Feedback link at the bottom of the page to provide feedback or report problems experienced fining information on the Iowa Core Curriculum website.

Still need help?
Email Lisa Albers at lisa.albers@iowa.gov for additional help.

Search:

Content Areas:

Discipline:

Grade:

Keyword(s):

Home

Mathematics

Essential Skills

Communication

All students should be able to:

Organize and consolidate their mathematical thinking through communication
Communicate their mathematical thinking coherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and others
Analyze and evaluate the mathematical thinking and strategies of others
Use the language of mathematics to express mathematical ideas precisely

Changes in the workplace increasingly demand teamwork, collaboration, and communication. To be prepared for the future, students must be able to communicate mathematical ideas effectively. As students interact with their classmates, teachers, and others, opportunities arise for exchanging and reflecting on ideas; hence, communication is a fundamental element of mathematics learning. Listening to others' explanations gives students opportunities to develop their own understandings. Students should be able to formulate ideas to share information or arguments to convince others. As students develop clearer and more-coherent communication (using verbal explanations and appropriate mathematical notation and representations), they will become better mathematical thinkers. (Adapted from NCTM, 2000)

Implications for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Communication should be addressed throughout curriculum, instruction and assessment. The curriculum materials used in a classroom should reflect this emphasis on communication by providing lessons that promote student-to-student, student-to-teacher, and teacher-to-student communication. Instructional practices should provide opportunities for students to communicate with each other as they study mathematics in the classroom. Teachers should act as facilitators for learning, encouraging student discourse. In doing this, students should be encouraged to explain their thinking and listen to each other as they solve problems.

"Students who have opportunities, encouragement, and support for speaking, writing, reading, and listening in mathematics classes reap dual benefits: they communicate to learn mathematics, and they learn to communicate mathematically. à Students need to work with mathematical tasks that are worthwhile topics of discussion. Procedural tasks for which students are expected to have well-developed algorithmic approaches are usually not good candidates for such discourse. Interesting problems that 'go somewhere' mathematically can often be catalysts for rich conversations." (NCTM, 2000, p. 60)

The students' ability to communicate is vital to assessing their mathematical understanding. Students' understanding should be assessed through the use of good questions that promote the need for communication among students. Assessments in the mathematics classroom should include open-ended questions as well as peer and self-assessment. Assessments should ask students to describe and explain mathematical concepts and methods in multiple ways (with multiple representations) to demonstrate deep understanding.