Are you wondering which instructional approaches for math intervention can positively impact student learning? The new Mathematics Intervention Toolkit focuses on effective instructional practices for teaching students in grades 3–6 who have mathematics difficulties. REL Northeast & Islands created this toolkit to support educators in implementing the evidence-based recommendations from the What Works Clearinghouse practice guide, Assisting Student Struggling with Mathematics.
The toolkit offers free, high-quality resources, including a professional learning course for math intervention teachers. The toolkit and course introduce practical strategies and hands-on instructional routines that teachers can immediately apply to build students’ mathematical understanding and increase engagement.
Michelle Sirois, a math interventionist at Milford Public Schools in Massachusetts, is one educator who recently completed the course. During a webinar, Emily Fagan, one of the toolkit developers, spoke with Michelle about her experience taking the course and implementing its recommendations with students.
In Part 1 of this blog series, we share an edited version of their conversation. In Part 2, we will feature Emily Fagan’s conversation with Emily Veader, lead mathematics coach (K–5) at Arlington Public Schools in Massachusetts.
Let’s start by hearing about your background and role.
Michelle: Sure. I have been teaching math for 13 years and am one of two math interventionists in our school of about 1,000 students, grades 3 to 5. I spend part of my day co-teaching in classrooms and part of my day working with small intervention groups of up to six students. The frequency of our intervention sessions varies by grade level, ranging from two to four 30-minute sessions per week.
What did you find useful about the course?
Michelle: This professional development course, for a variety of reasons, was one of the best I've ever taken. Everything that we learned could be easily incorporated into my intervention lessons. The course is not linked to a particular curriculum, and the tools, resources, and instructional routines can be incorporated into any lesson or curriculum.
The cyclical structure of the course was really helpful to my learning. We started a module by doing some independent work in the online component. Then we gathered at a PLC [Professional Learning Community] meeting where we learned a routine together. Next, we had a few weeks to try that routine before reporting back on our experiences at the next PLC. This learning cycle held me accountable for trying out the routines with my students.
How have you been applying the evidence-based strategies and routines from the course with your students?
Michelle: When I was taking the course last year, it really aligned well, because we were also working to revamp our intervention cycles for each grade level. This timing enabled my colleague and I to implement the strategies and routines into our lessons for each cycle of intervention. This year, we’ve been able to revise our cycles to incorporate even more of the strategies and routines.
The strategies that are shared in this course are best practices for intervention, but honestly, I think they’re also just best practices for teaching math.
How we integrated the strategies and routines from the course really depended on the content that we were teaching. For example, in fourth grade we've been working to help students use a benchmark strategy to compare fractions. We’ve found that incorporating the number line routine from the course has really helped our students to use benchmark numbers like ½ and 1 when they're comparing fractions. In this routine, you have a large number line either on the floor or on a desk, and students estimate where to place a fraction. Before they place any fraction, we always start with a reasoning question like “Would this fraction be greater than a half or less than a half?” By continually asking these questions, we're really anchoring on the idea of what a benchmark fraction is and how to use it for comparison.
In what other ways have students benefited from your implementation of ideas evidence-based strategies from the course?
Michelle: An important research recommendation we’ve incorporated is a focus on mathematical language. Each routine from the course integrates sentence frames to allow for student talk and a vocabulary chart focused on the important mathematical language. One key difference for me with the sentence frames from the course is that they are designed for use in partner conversation. So, when students are working in partnerships, it wasn't just a frame for one person talking, but there was always a frame for how the other person was going to respond. I've found that this has increased my students’ [math] talk in the classroom and their abilities to express their math ideas. I have found that these mathematical language structures within the routines are also very helpful for English language learners.
Many of the routines include manipulatives, and these tactile experiences help students with sense-making. Just this afternoon, we were doing a routine using fraction tiles to represent fraction inequalities. At the end, one of the girls said, “This was actually kind of fun.” Students really enjoy the hands-on experiences.
I've found that this has increased my students’ [math] talk in the classroom and their abilities to express their math ideas.
Because many of the routines focus on creating representations (such as modeling a math problem with manipulatives or a drawing), it has become a norm in my math intervention class that everyone is going to share their thinking with a representation. I find that using representations and the ability to revise their work have helped my students build confidence in their math ideas.
In what ways has the course impacted your professional learning?
A major benefit of the course was that it gave me a fresh set of ideas to incorporate into my planning and teaching for a variety of mathematical content. When you've been teaching for a while, some things can sometimes get a little stale. It was wonderful to have all kinds of new ideas that could be implemented pretty quickly into my own practice. As educators, when we're trying something new, it can sometimes be a little scary, but trying out the routines together in a safe learning community allowed us to be vulnerable.
Everything that we learned could be easily incorporated into my intervention lessons.
As a result of being in this course, I have really increased the variety of lesson structures that I use to engage students in content. The strategies that are shared in this course are best practices for intervention, but honestly, I think they’re also just best practices for teaching math. I mentioned that part of my day I spend co-teaching, and I've found that these routines can also be incorporated into a classroom as well.
To learn more about the toolkit and Michelle’s experiences, watch the webinar, Mathematics Intervention Toolkit: High-Quality Resources for Professional Learning on Effective Practices in Grades 3–6.
To begin using the toolkit, visit the Mathematics Intervention Toolkit page.
