Welcome and thank you for bringing the Illustrative Mathematics (IM) curriculum into your classroom. This Course Guide is meant to serve as a reference for you throughout the year. In it, you can learn more about problem-based teaching and learning, how a typical lesson is meant to flow, assessment guidance, dependencies between units, and more. You’ll also find information specific to the course, such as the scope and sequence for the year and the glossary, to help with planning.
To help orient you to the general structure of the course, here are some helpful insights:
- Each course contains nine units. Each of the first eight units is anchored by a few big ideas in grade-level mathematics. The last unit in each course is structured differently, and contains optional lessons that help students apply and tie together the big ideas from the year.
- Units contain 11–25 lesson plans. Each of the first eight units has a diagnostic assessment for the beginning of the unit (Check Your Readiness) and an End-of-Unit Assessment. Longer units also have a Mid-Unit Assessment.
- Each lesson plan is designed to fit within a class period that is at least 45 minutes long. Some lessons contain optional activities that provide additional scaffolding or practice for students. Use these at your own discretion.
- Each lesson includes information about Materials to Gather and Materials to Copy prior to the start of the lesson. As specified in Materials to Copy, photocopy and cut up for students ahead of time the sets of cards or slips of paper required for activities written in card-sort, matching, and information-gap formats.
- A classroom with a digital projector is recommended.
- Teachers and students can access the curriculum in either print or digital format. Students can work solely with printed workbooks or pdfs. Alternatively, if all students have access to an appropriate device, then they can look at the task statements on that device and write their responses in a notebook. If students access the materials this way, support them in keeping the notebook carefully organized so that they can revisit their work later.