Prepared by: Ganga, PHSS

To orient the teachers on the principles and processes of the Reformed Mathematics Curriculum and the Content of New Class III Curriculum Orient teachers to new strategies of certain topics as opposed to earlier teaching methods to stress on the conceptual development and understanding Familiarize the teachers on the way continuous assessment should be carried out so that it helps students to develop problem solving, reasoning, communicating, connecting and representing skills. Teachers can share examples of good practices so that others can adopt them.

The old curriculum was content laden. It had gaps in progression especially between class 3 and 4, and 10 and 11. It focused more on procedural steps such as applying formulas, and neglected conceptual understanding. The contexts for the presentation of the concepts were largely foreign, especially Indian. The new curriculum addressed the above needs such as ensuring that the contents are age appropriate; that there is a natural progression from one class to the next; that the presentation of the concepts are done through relevant contexts, including national, international, and scientific; that it incorporates international best practices, in terms of teaching and assessment.

CONTENT STANDARDS

PROCESS STANDARDS

Number and Operations Algebra Geometry Measurement Data Analysis and Probability

Problem Solving Reasoning and Proof Communication Connections Representations

1.1 Class 3 - Strand A Numbers 1.2 Class 3 - Strand B - Operations 1.3 Class 3 - Strand C - Patterns 1.4 Class 3 - Strand D - Measurement 1.5 Class 3 - Strand E - Geometry 1.6 Class 3 - Strand F - Data Management 1.7 Class 3 - Strand G - Probability

There are basically two types of assessment, depending on what you do with them: formative assessment and summative assessment.
Formative assessment is observation to guide further instruction; and the observation is not normally measured, or its measurement is not recorded to grade students. It is also called assessment for learning. Various ideas and techniques of formative assessment for class 3 have been provided in an integrated manner within the textbook, Understanding Mathematics, Textbook for Class 3. Further, formative assessment should be carried out in a continuous manner through the means of direct observation and interaction with the students as you teach them and assignment and correction of home works.

Summative assessment is used to determine a mark or a grade for students. It is also called assessment of learning. The assessment discussed here pertains to the summative assessment of the students in class 3. The summative assessment of students in class 3 is to be done through the following means: Interview-based Performance Task (for Continuous Summative Assessment) Homework (for Continuous Summative Assessment) Chapter Tests (for Continuous Summative Assessment) Half-yearly Examination Annual Examination

Interview-based Performance Task (For Continuous Summative Assessment) An Interview-based Performance Task is a small task, usually a hands-on one, which the teacher gives a student to do. This allows the teacher to see if the student understands certain concepts and can perform the associated mathematical skills. The task should be interactive, and carried out in an informal setting. For the detailed information and samples of Interview-based Performance Task, please refer the teachers guide for Class 2 (Understanding Mathematics, Teachers Guide for Class 2).

The teacher should conduct at least one Interview-based Performance Task for the students on one of the chapters during Term I and another one during Term II. The setting of the task and the marking criteria for the Interviewbased Performance Task could be adapted from the samples provided for the chapters in the teachers guide for class 2 (Understanding Mathematics, Teachers Guide for Class 2). The marks obtained should then be converted to 10% for each of the Interview-based Performance Tasks conducted during each term for entering into the student progress report card.

Homework (For Continuous Summative Assessment) Homework should be assigned to the students on a regular basis. However, care should be taken not to overload the students with too much of homework. Also, the homework should be checked with proper feedback provided to the students in a timely manner. The teacher should check at least two times each students homework during each of terms. The teacher can devise his/her own marking scheme for the homework. The marks for the homework during each term should be converted to 5% for entering into the student progress report card.

Chapter Test (For Continuous Summative Assessment) A chapter test could be conducted at the end of teaching a chapter. It should be carried out during one of the class periods. The total marks obtained by a student for the chapter tests during each of the terms should be converted to 15% for entering into the student progress report card.

Half-yearly Examination The question paper for the half-yearly examination should be set out of 15 marks, with a writing time 1 hour. The paper should not be divided into any sections. There could be a total number of 15 to 20 questions in the paper. The questions should be simple and clear set from the content chapters covered up to the point before the examination. The questions should be similar to the ones included in the textbook, Understanding Mathematics, Textbook for Class 3. Some of the students may require help with explanations of the questions during the examinations, which should be provided.

Annual Examination The question paper for the annual examination should be set out of 25 marks, with a writing time 1 hour. The paper should not be divided into any sections. There could be a total number of 15 to 20 questions in the paper. The questions should be simple and clear covering the entire syllabus. The questions should be similar to the ones included in the textbook, Understanding Mathematics, Textbook for Class 3. Some of the students may require help with explanations of the questions during the examinations, which should be provided.

Weighting and the Student Progress Report Card The scores from the above five areas of summative assessments will then be used to generate the Student Progress Report Card. The weighting among them is as given in the table below:

Term I Interview-based Performance Task (For CA) Homework (For CA) Chapter Test (For CA) Half-yearly Examination Annual Examination 10%

Term II 10%

5% 15% 15%

5% 15% 25%

Total

45%

55%

The total CA marks obtained before the halfyearly break, depending on the number of chapters covered by then, should be converted to be out of 30%, to be entered in the Student Progress Report Card. The CA marks after the half-yearly break should be converted to be out of 30% in a similar manner. This gives a total of 60% for the CA for the entire year. The 15% for the Half-yearly Examination and the 25% for the Annual Examination are straight forward as the examinations would be set for a maximum of 15 and 25 marks respectively.