Math Unit Launches

In this section, teachers have the opportunity to reflect on two or three key standards from the unit to gain a better understanding of what students will be expected to know and do. First, teachers read and analyze the language of the standard, comparing their reflections to those provided by the Fishtank Math team. Then, teachers solve related problems from the post-unit assessment and watch a short problem analysis video (like this example from 4th Grade Unit 5) that highlights key connections between the problem and the standard.

In this section, teachers investigate one or two Big Ideas which encompass many of the key concepts and skills of the unit. Teachers begin by drawing connections to the unit standards and identifying where the Big Ideas appear in the Lesson Map. Short videos accompany each Big Idea to illustrate the development of the Big Idea concept using selected Anchor Tasks and Target Tasks.

At the end of each Big Idea video, teachers have the opportunity to consider the implications for upcoming instruction and make a personalized action plan based on what they've learned.

In this final section, teachers zoom out and look at the related content that students study before and after the unit. Teachers dig into the progression of concepts, using Fishtank and other resources to help identify the foundational content that the unit builds from, and future standards that it’s building toward.