Big Ideas Math programs use a Universal Design for Learning to create a fun and innovative program that uses hands-on activities and scaffolded instruction. This allows for balanced lessons with built-in Response to Intervention that appeal to students and teachers alike.
Learning targets and success criteria help to focus student learning and make learning visible to teachers and students. Explorations help students develop a growth mindset by engaging them in productive struggle, leading to conceptual understanding.
With a strong emphasis on problem solving in the classroom, students can transfer their mathematical knowledge to new concepts and apply their understanding to real-life situations. Through practice and problem solving, students become more comfortable with the problem-solving process to become strategic mathematical thinkers.
"Differentiation is huge because in my class I have one kid who is here, and I have one who is at like a 3rd grade level. So having that differentiation option and the resources that are attached online or in the book is huge."
"I always look at her notes before we start any lesson, because, that's what they're there for. She's the expert on it, and sometimes she'll think of something I didn't, and so let me try it to see how it works."
"Since we started using it we have noticed our math scores have really gone up. So it seems it's really working. Obviously you have to be able to teach it, so it's not just the program, but giving us the right tools to use has definitely helped opposed to what we were using before."
"Not going to lie, Math has not always been my favorite, but since we started using Big Ideas Math I'm looking forward more every day to teaching math because I know I have a good resource that's going to get my kids excited."
"I absolutely love the Dig In portion because it's always like a fun activity that gets the kids interested in what we're going to do. As a teacher it's nice that that is there to get them involved and excited no matter what type of learner you have, so we really like to dig in."
"It's not scripted in a way that says 'this is what you have to say' or it's not going to work. It's really nice to have that flexibility because for one kid it might work this way but for another kid that way or language isn't going to work. I love how there are multiple different strategies but by the end the kid can pick which works best for them."
"And with all of the different levels of practice that it lets them do starting with Laurie's Notes and that dig in, then follows that 'I do, you do, we do model,' their confidence has grown because they know we're going to start our whole group, if I can do that then they ask "can I do it myself?" So by the time we're done they literally want to go 'look what I can do, I can't wait to go home and show somebody what I can do!'
Dewey L. Carter Elementary School
"It gives each lesson or chapter a structure. So for first grade, structure is really important, they thrive on consistency. Laurie puts it in a certain order because she knows it works. So that consistency throughout the lesson has helped a lot with students staying engaged because they know what's coming next."
"They love how they are kind of woven throughout the chapters. They go and look for them, they go "what are Newt and Desi going to tell us this time?" They absolutely love it, so we've seen a lot of improvements in their interest in math, because they really like the characters. They like that it doesn't use names in the problems, it says you or your friend, or your teacher, so it helps them see themselves more in the problem as opposed to when it uses a name that they're not familiar with. Because then it helps that they can read it more, because in first grade they can't read names really well but they can read 'you' and 'the teacher.' So our students have absolutely loved it.
"Last year was such a good experience, I've been teaching, this is my 26th year. And I can honestly say it's more closely aligned than any textbook I've ever used in my 26 years of teaching, as far as standards are concerned."