Families

Welcome to the CMP website for families!

The CMP curriculum development has been guided by our single mathematical standard:

All students should be able to reason and communicate proficiently in mathematics. They should have knowledge of and skill in the use of the vocabulary, forms of representation, materials, tools, techniques, and intellectual methods of the discipline of mathematics, including the ability to define and solve problems with reason, insight, inventiveness, and technical proficiency.

 

CMP is a problem-based mathematics curriculum. This means that mathematical concepts are embedded in interesting contextual problems. As students explore a series of connected problems, they develop understanding of the embedded important mathematical ideas. In class, students solve mathematical problems. The class usually begins and ends with the teacher leading class discussions. During class, students work in small groups, pairs, or individually to solve the problem. The teacher monitors students as they work, makes informal assessments of student understandings, and adjusts their teaching based on the information gathered.  Students gather data, share ideas, look for patterns, make conjectures, develop strategies, and create arguments to support their reasoning and solutions. Students ask questions, reflect on their individual and collaborative work, make suggestions for improvements, and in the process make their own sense of the ideas being studied. Analyzing and critiquing the reasoning of others helps students strengthen their own understanding.

 

With the aid of the teacher, students abstract powerful mathematical ideas, skills, and problem-solving strategies. Students record their learning of mathematical ideas, procedures, and vocabulary in notebooks. The notebook becomes a valuable resource for students with notes, vocabulary explanations, and worked examples for future reference. CMP students are developing mathematical habits of mind: solving problems, reflecting on solution methods, examining why the methods work, comparing methods, generalizing methods, and relating methods to those used in previous situations.