Math teachers in Maryland analyzed a Core-aligned fourth-grade math performance task from PARCC, reports Liana Heitin on Ed Week. Several were surprised at how much it required.
Teachers listed what students need to know and be able to do to solve the problem:
The definitions of perimeter and area
How to find perimeter and area
The definition of a square mile
The properties of a rectangle
How to solve for an unknown in a perimeter
Multiplication (up to multi-digit)
Addition and subtraction (up to multi-digit)
Some might need division, depending on how they approached the problem.
And everyone will need reading and writing skills.
Students earn credit for finding the missing side length, for finding the area of the park, and for calculating the final number of deer. They also can get partial credit for each piece if they make minor calculation errors. That means the problem must be scored by a person, not a machine.
Here are some fifth-grade math questions released by New York. (Here are third- through eighth-grade questions for English and math.)
The next one involves the (gasp!) metric system.
Could I have solved these in fifth grade? I think so.