GuidetoUnpackingtheCommonCoreStandards Whatdoesunpackingmean? Unpackingthestandardsmeans,breakingdowntheStateStandardintotheknowledgeandskillsstudents needinordertofullymeetthestandard.Thishelpsteachersandcurriculumdesigners,closelyalignclassroom instructionandlearningopportunitieswiththerigorfoundwithinthestandardsthemselves. Howdoyouunpackthestandards? Step1:Identifythestandardyouareworkingwithfromthestatedocument.

Example from Common Core Standards for Mathematics, Kindergarten, Operations and Algebraic Thinking: 3. Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1)

Step2:Identifywhatstudentsneedtoknowinordertoreachthisstandard.Nounswithinthestandard usuallyhelpclarifywhatstudentsneedtoknow.
Example from Common Core Standards for Mathematics, Kindergarten, Operations and Algebraic Thinking: 3. Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1)

Studentswouldneedtoknowthefollowing: thateverynumberismadeupofsmallerparts whatitmeanstodecomposeanumber whatnumberscombinetocreatenumberslessthanorequalto10 whatpairsmeans thatnumberscanbebrokendowninmanydifferentways whatobjectsareavailableformanipulation whatitmeanstorecordananswer whatamathpicturewouldlooklike whataplussignrepresents whatanequalsignrepresents whatanequationis Step3:Identifywhatstudentsneedtobeabletodoinordertoreachthisstandard.Verbswithinthestandard usuallyhelpclarifywhatstudentsneedtobeabletodo.
Example from Common Core Standards for Mathematics, Kindergarten, Operations and Algebraic Thinking: 3. Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1)

Studentswouldneedtobeabletodothefollowing: breakanumberdownintosmallerparts(decompose) useobjectstoshowthisdecomposition drawpicturestoshowthisdecomposition findmultiplewaystobreakdownanumberintosmallerparts recorddecompositionindrawingform recorddecompositioninequationform

Step4:Identifytheenduringunderstandingsorbigideasandessentialquestionswithinthestandard.These aretheconceptsorgeneralizationsthatstudentscantransferortakewiththemoutsideofyourclassroomor thiscontentarea.

Example from Common Core Standards for Mathematics, Kindergarten, Operations and Algebraic Thinking: 3. Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1)

EssentialQuestions/EnduringUnderstandings: Canyoubreaksomethingbigintosmallerparts?Istheremorethanonewaytogettoananswer?Is theremorethanonewaytoshowananswer?Istheremorethanonewaytowriteanumber? Thereisalmostalwaysmorethanonewaytogettoananswer,andyoucanshowyouranswerina varietyofways.Therearemanywaystoformanumber.Youcanshowanumberthroughpictures, numbers,words,etc. Whatdoyoudoonceyouveunpackedthestandards? Step5:Alignclassroominstructionandlearningopportunitieswiththeknowledgeandskillsfoundwithinthe standard.Providestudentswithopportunitiestonotonlylearntheknowledgeandskillsatabasiclevel,but applyandusetheknowledgeandskillsinauthenticsituations.Onlythencanyoubeassuredthatstudents havemasteredthefullstandardasseeninthestatedocument.