Big Ideas Parent Letter

September 2016

Parent/Guardian(s):

We would like to welcome you to the Big Ideas math series, which is in the first year of implementation for 6-8 grades at Carroll Middle School.  The series was recently purchased after the Math Team spent months studying math curriculum, learning new math strategies, and evaluating a variety of textbooks that led to a textbook pilot during the 2015-16 school year.

We want to take this opportunity to share the philosophy behind the Big Ideas series:

1. Closely aligned to the Iowa Core.
2. Research-based.
3. Curriculum has depth and rigor.
4. Allows students to look at math concepts rather than topic-based.  For example:  Understanding that multiplication is how many groups of something (4 x 5 is four groups of five) rather than just memorizing a fact without developing understanding.  
5. More opportunity for discovery.
6. Higher order thinking problems.
7. Emphasis to explore, question, explain, and persevere.

We want to highlight a few features from the series:

1. Printed materials available for students.
2. Website with a variety of learning resources that includes interactive digital resources & an on-line textbook.
3. Lesson Tutorial Videos.
4. Skills Review Handbook worksheets.
5. Family & Community Involvement letter in each chapter, allowing parents to take an active role in their child’s math education.  

The implementation is a new endeavor for our students and math teachers.  We recognize that the Big Ideas resources will have different expectations from the previously used resources, which may reveal some gaps in content.  Know that we will continue our commitment to ensure student success as we implement the new math series.  

We hope the new series will offer our students an opportunity to think at higher levels, to increase student learning, and to provide curriculum-implementation consistency from 6th to 8th grade.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments, feel free to email me at cheiman@carrolltigers.org or by phone at 712-792-8020.  

Thank you.

Cory J. Heiman

CMS Dean of Students