Cardinal Pacelli’s math program is committed to the rigor and high-quality math standards that is necessary for students to be successful in mathematics from K-8th grades. My Math, the curriculum used for K-4, provides the rigor, personalization, and student engagement students need to be successful, specifically in number sense and in problem solving in mathematics. Students will be exposed to models and math tools that will allow them to explore mathematics to provide methods of understanding that encourage students to adopt the strategies that makes the most sense to them and to enhance critical thinking in mathematics.
Fifth through eighth grades implement the Big Ideas program written by renowned authors Dr. Ron Larson and Dr. Laurie Boswell. Big Ideas Math: Modeling Real Life is a research-based math series. Students are engaged through rich exploration and in-class problem solving techniques. Cohesive and consistent progressions enable the student to make connections between mathematical concepts and real-life experiences aiding the student to understand the practicality and importance of each concept and grow in their problem-solving skills. Each lesson has a learning target and success criteria allowing the student and teacher to remain focused on the learning goal throughout the lesson and chapter. This curriculum also includes Algebra I for qualifying students. This curriculum utilizes a research-based, balanced instructional approach that includes both discovery learning and direct instruction lessons. Additionally, this curriculum allows enriching performance tasks enabling mathematically advanced students to participate in math studies outside of the classroom.
The knowledge and skills students need to be prepared for mathematics in college, career, and life are woven throughout the mathematics standards. With the exceptional curriculum Cardinal Pacelli has in place, we are confident that we will provide the rigorous course work to produce effective and successful math leaders for 21st Century learning.