Primary Math US 4A Home Instructor Guide

SKU
024006
ISBN
9781887840934
Grade 4
Neutral
Medium Teacher Involvement
Multi-Sensory
Other Materials Optional
Sequential
Teaching Method
Traditional
Teacher-centered curriculum commonly used in classrooms that may include a text, teacher manual, tests, etc.
Charlotte Mason
A methodology based on the work of a 19th century educator who maintained that children learn best from literature (Living Books), not textbooks.
Classical
A methodology based on the Latin Trivium (three stages of learning), including the grammar stage (memorization and facts), logic stage (critical thinking), and rhetoric stage (developing/defending ideas).
Unit Study
A thematic or topical approach centered around one topic that integrates multiple subject areas.
Montessori (Discovery)
A methodology based on the work of a 20th century educator that emphasizes student and sensory-driven discovery learning and real-life applications.
Other
Other methodologies
Religious Content
Secular
Contains content contrary to common Christian beliefs (i.e. evolution).
Neutral
Avoids religious or theoretical topics or presents multiple viewpoints without preference.
Christian/Religious
Faith-based or including instructional religious content.
Learning Modality
Auditory
Learns through listening, talking out loud or reading out loud.
Visual
Learns through seeing, prefers written instructions and visual materials.
Kinesthetic/Tactile (Hands-On)
Learns through moving, doing and touching.
Multi-Sensory
Curriculum that employ a variety of activities/components.
Presentation
Sequential
Curriculum progresses through well-defined learning objectives. Emphasizes mastery before moving to the next topic.
Spiral
Topics and concepts are repeated from level to level, adding more depth at each pass and connecting with review.
Conceptual/Topical
Focus is on the “why,” often with a unifying concept as well as specific skills; coverage may be broader.
Teacher Involvement
Low Teacher Involvement
Student-led materials; parent acts as a facilitator.
Medium Teacher Involvement
A mix of teacher-led time and independent student work.
High Teacher Involvement
Teacher-led lessons; may utilize discussions, hands-on activities and working together.
Additional Materials Required
No other materials needed
Everything you need is included.
Other Materials Required
There are additional required resources that are a separate purchase.
Other Materials Optional
There are additional resources mentioned or recommended but are not absolutely necessary.
Consumable
Consumable
Designed to be written in; not reusable.
Non-Consumable
Not designed to be written in; reusable.
Our Price
$20.00
Description

If you're looking for a little more help on how to teach Primary Math, these support guides are just what you need. Each guide provides a suggested teaching schedule, detailed notes to the instructor referencing specific course book pages, games and activities, complete textbook and workbook answers, step-by-step solutions for all word problems, and mental math pages. Suggested games and activities may require additional materials, such as a base-10 set, multilink cubes, hundred chart, etc. Currency replacement pages (depicting U.S. money) are also included. Guides for all levels can be used with both the Singapore and U.S. editions, although you may need to make minor adjustments for level 2B. ~ Anh

Publisher's Description of Primary Math US 4A Home Instructor Guide

This guide is meant to help instructors using Primary Mathematics 4A when teaching one student or a small group of students. It should be used as a guide and adapted as needed.

It contains:

  • Objectives
  • Notes to the instructor, providing added explanation of concepts
  • Instructional ideas and suggested activities
  • Game ideas to reinforce concepts from the corresponding textbook pages and learning tasks
  • Homework assignments
  • Answers and solutions to all the learning tasks, workbook exercises and reviews and textbook practices and reviews

Included is a suggested weekly schedule and pages for mental math (in the appendix). Practices and reviews in the text can, for the most part, be done independently by the student. Some can be used as part of the lesson. Since some of the practice questions are challenging, they provide good opportunities for discussion . The mental math pages can be used as worksheets, but they are not meant to be done orally. Students should be able to see the problems. They can be used any time after they are referenced in this guide and can be used more than once.

This guide can be used with both the U.S. edition and the third edition of Primary Mathematics. Items specific to either edition, such as different answers, different page numbers, and different exercise numbers, are clearly indicated. U.S. spellings are used in this guide, and answers involving number words use the current U.S. convention of reserving the word "and" for the decimal and not using it in number words for whole numbers.

Category Description for Singapore Math Programs

Countries around the world first became interested in Singapore's math curriculum when results of the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) were published in 1995. Conducted by the International Study Center at Boston College, achievement tests in both math and science were administered to students in over 40 countries. Students from Singapore ranked highly in mathematics achievement: 1st in the fourth, seventh, and eighth grade levels and 2nd at the third grade level. Results for the U.S. were disappointing: 10th in the third grade, 11th in the fourth grade, 23rd in the seventh grade, and 27th at the eighth grade level. In a follow-up study in 1999, Singapore again ranked 1st in eighth grade math achievement while U.S. eighth graders ranked 19th. Although a first place ranking does not necessarily imply the best program, something about Singapore's math program was working.

"Singapore Approach Math" is a general term referring to a type of mathematical instruction (i.e. curriculum) developed from a syllabus designed by Singapore's Ministry of Education in the 1980s. There were a number of revisions and the 3rd edition was the last edition used in Singapore. The good test scores were associated with this material and all of our Singapore Approach Math programs are based primarily on the 3rd edition although it is no longer available for sale. Components from different editions are not interchangeable but a student can move between the editions in-between levels.

Primary Math US (1-6) is an adaptation of the 3rd edition for use in the U.S. Although a small amount of content (division of fractions) from the 2nd edition was added back into the US edition, it is almost identical to the 3rd edition. The US edition adds sections for U.S. customary measurements and uses U.S. spelling and conventions. We expect this edition to be available indefinitely. ©2003

Primary Math S/E (Standards Edition) (K-6) was adapted to meet the pre-Common Core CA math standards. An additional amount of content (probability, data analysis, negative numbers, coordinate graphing) from the 2nd edition was added back in and topics were rearranged but it is similar to the US edition. Cumulative Reviews at the end of each Unit and practice sets within each unit were added. Textbooks are in color. ©2008 This edition includes Earlybird Kindergarten Math.

Primary Math CC (Common Core) (K-5) is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and is another adaptation of the 3rd edition. Only minor changes were made to the scope and sequence. Unit Reviews are no longer cumulative and Practices were removed although some of the content was incorporated into the lessons. ©2014 Includes Earlybird Kindergarten Math CC. This edition will be available for the foreseeable future.

Primary Math 2022 Edition (K-5) is a completely new revision retaining all the excellent teaching methods of the earlier Primary Math programs. Incorporating both cumulative assessments and challenging problem solving, mastery learning is emphasized. The scope and sequence is similar to previous editions and topics are aligned to state and national standards. ©2021-2022

New Elementary Math (7-8) is a no-frills program based on an older Singaporian program and covering integrated algebra and geometry. It's considered a sequel to the Primary Math programs.

Math in Focus (K-8) was developed by Great Source (a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) in conjunction with Marshall Cavendish (the original publisher in Singapore). Although the basic instructional sequences are similar and the content is very close to the SE, material added to the most recent editions brings it into alignment with CC. Math in Focus has a more American look and "feel." ©2010, 2014

View the Singapore Approach Math Comparison Chart.


Category Description for Primary Math U.S. Edition (Gr. 1-6)

I'll admit, my initial reaction to this program was skeptical. The textbooks are thin and have a straightforward, no-nonsense appearance. Texts switch from full-color to two-toned pages after second grade, and all workbooks are printed in black and white. After spending a great deal of time evaluating the program's contents, however, my opinion has improved considerably. Primary Math uses a concrete-to-pictorial-to-abstract approach to teaching. Concrete illustrations are incorporated heavily in the early grades, gradually giving way to more abstract representations so that math is learned meaningfully. The program builds strong problem solving, critical thinking, and computational skills through well-chosen practice problems.

Each grade consists of two semester sets to be completed in one year. For example, the complete first grade curriculum requires the 1A and 1B textbooks (non-consumable) and the 1A and 1B workbooks (consumable). Workbook assignments are directly correlated with each textbook. Small arrows, usually located in the lower left hand corner of a page, specify when to pause in the text and what exercise number to complete.

Brief teacher's instructions are provided in each textbook's preface, which I highly suggest reading. Although the pace of the course really depends on the individual student, 2-3 pages in the text is usually enough for one day's lesson. To effectively use the textbook, the teacher should study the examples ahead of time in order to determine the best way to verbally explain a concept to the student. Teacher-student or student-student discussions are an important part of this program. Unfortunately, the text doesn't tell you how to facilitate discussions. Fortunately, there are now Teacher Guides and Home Instructor Guides available for all levels.

Both the Teacher Guides and the Home Instructor Guides include answers to the textbook and workbook problems. Both of these publications help teachers understand the course material and provide suggestions to help you introduce concepts. As a general rule, the TGs are more oriented to the classroom while the HIGs are more geared to working one-on-one with a student. However, both provide detailed lesson plans. The TGs have daily lesson plans while the HIGs provide teaching segments indicating the number of weeks to spend per unit. A significant difference between the two is that the HIGs have a sidebar column that shows assignments complete with answers and often solutions. Assignments in the TGs are listed within the lesson plans and all answers are in the back of the book. Also included in the appendix of each are mental math worksheets and some teaching helps. Answers (but no solutions) to the U.S. edition textbooks and workbooks are also available in separate answer key booklets. For convenience, we have put together sets for each grade and semester that include the text, workbook and HIG.

TGs and HIGs both include lists of suggested manipulatives and materials. (please see our Singapore Math Manipulative category at the end of the Singapore Math section.

Extra practice sets are included in all textbooks, except first grade. These problem sets are optional and should be done only after the workbook exercises for that section have been completed. Cumulative review sections are also incorporated into the text, although not on a daily basis like Saxon. Review sections are also included in each workbook. Although these problem sets are optional, I would strongly suggest completing the extra practice. Some of the review sets are quite lengthy, and you might want to consider devoting a day's lesson to review whenever a longer set arises. I suspect a key factor to this program's success in Singapore is that students are both motivated and expected to practice their math skills through homework and optional problem sets use is strictly up to the teacher, although Primary Math tends to emphasize mental calculations.

While some believe that Primary Math contains "just the right amount of practice", others believe not enough is provided. For students who feel they need more practice to really "own" a concept or skill, a variety of supplements, specifically designed to complement Primary Math, are available.

Compared to Saxon Math, Primary Math encompasses a narrower scope. While Saxon Math covers coordinate graphing, negative numbers, square roots, and probability, these topics are omitted from Primary Math and are not covered until New Elementary Math. The smaller scope, however, allows the program to emphasize the basics. Primary Math focuses on the four arithmetic operations (using whole numbers, fractions, and decimals), perimeter, area, volume, angles, quadrilaterals, symmetry, time, length, weight, money, graphs, and algebraic expressions (introduced in 6th grade). Saxon Mathmoves a bit slower introducing Algebra in Math 87. Miquon, which only covers grades 1-3, correlates very well with Primary Math.


Details
More Information
Product Format:Softcover Book
Brand:Avyx
Grade:4
ISBN:9781887840934
Length in Inches:10
Width in Inches:7.5
Height in Inches:0.5
Weight in Pounds:0.894
Videos
This product doesn't have a video
Reviews
Product Q&A