Mathematics

Grades 5-8 Middle School Curriculum for Math is designed to strengthen the topics developed developed in grades K-4.  Students in Grade Five continue the work of unit design done by teams of educators in the past four years utilizing research by the Dana Center located at the University of Texas and many resources from the Eureka Math Program.  Grades 6-8 are working on a locally developed curriculum supported by resources from the Glencoe Math Program by McGraw-Hill.  Newer units of study supported by Open-Up Resources are under currently  development. Individual units may be modified at a building level to address ongoing, project based learning opportunities.  The Beverly curriculum is aligned to the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework and districtwide common assessments provide us the data to adjust instruction and personalize learning opportunities for our students. Each classroom and grade level incorporate the following elements as part of their mathematics instruction.

Conceptual Development

Conceptual understanding and visual learning are at the core of our primary mathematics instruction. Conceptual understanding is knowing more than isolated facts and methods. The successful student understands mathematical ideas, and has the ability to transfer their knowledge into new situations and apply it to new contexts.

Problem-Solving

Solving problems goes beyond mathematics presented as word or story problems. Problem solving is the act of finding a solution when a method for solution is not obvious. It can be story problems or simply open-ended questions. Our math curriculum embeds opportunities for problem based learning and performance based tasks to challenge and develop the critical thinking skills of our students.