Materials Adaptation
Find instructions and recommendations on how to adapt your existing materials to better align to college- and career-ready standards.
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Reaching New Heights
A Framework for Examining Cognitive Complexity in Mathematics
Classroom Strategies, Materials Adaptation, Research and Reflections, Standards-Alignment Information, Tools and Resources
Top Posts of 2019
Read the most popular posts of the year!
Math Instructional Routines: Creating Opportunities for Students With Disabilities to Grapple with Grade-Level Math
How Routines for Reasoning can support all students to engage with the mathematical practices
Classroom Strategies, Materials Adaptation, Research and Reflections, Standards-Alignment Information, Tools and Resources
2019 Blog Contest
Creating Equity in the Classroom
Designing and Integrating a Grade 3 Assessment on Fractions
A Q&A With Raven Redmond and Jennifer Ahearn
Developing the Math Language Routines
Foster Student Participation Through Building Math Language, Practices, and Content
Classroom Strategies, Materials Adaptation, Research and Reflections, Standards-Alignment Information, Tools and Resources
Top Blog Posts of 2018
Here are our top 25 most-visited posts of 2018.
Choosing Text Excerpts for Close Reading
A teacher's recommendations for how to select text excerpts that make students love reading
Part 3
Wit & Wisdom: Implementation Dos and Don’ts
Lessons learned from teachers who've implemented the curriculum
The Connection Between Math Materials and Assessment
What happens when curricula and summative assessments don't match?
enVisionmath 2.0: Focusing the K-5 Mathematics Curriculum
The process and the documents one district designed to support alignment of their curriculum to the standards.
Making enVisionmath 2.0 Work
An Introduction to Adapting enVisionmath 2.0 K-5
Three Ways You Can Improve Your Math Textbook Tomorrow
A mathematics specialist shares quick adaptations you can apply to any textbook to quickly improve it to better serve students.
Part 2
Using Curriculum to Send Essential Messages to Students
How Wit & Wisdom Supports English Language Learners
Part 1
Inside Implementation of Wit and Wisdom
Bringing complex content and instruction into a high-needs school district
Three APPS to Support Students with Special Needs
Helping All Kids Grapple with Grade-Level Content
The Many Positive Uses for Assessment
Three ways to use assessment for good
High-impact strategies for teaching writing with evidence at the high school level
An interdisciplinary PLC develops common strategies and rubrics to support student writing.
Materials Adaptation, Research and Reflections, Standards-Alignment Information, Tools and Resources
The Instructional Practice Toolkit: An Introduction
Learn how the Instructional Practice Toolkit can help teachers make connections between planning, instruction, and student outcomes.
Creating Professional Learning for Eureka Math
Approaching year three of implementation, a math interventionist describes how her district has supported teachers in using the curriculum
Part 10
Students JUMP at the Opportunity to Learn
Building confidence with JUMP Math’s guided discovery approach.
Designing content-infused, year-round professional learning in math
A math specialist illustrates the importance of providing ongoing professional development centered on quality programming.
Finding Our Way in Fluency – A School’s Journey to Strengthen Math Fluency Instruction
A personal story of how educators built their knowledge of mathematics fluency from the ground up, and identified creative ways to help their students master fluency expectations
Part 9
Eureka Math – A View from Second Grade
An honest reflection on Eureka Math's strengths and challenges
Part 8
A Third Grade Teacher’s Perspective on Eureka Math
What does Eureka look like in the classroom?
Part 7
Empowering Primary Math Teachers
How one school moved from contention to ownership of their math curriculum
Lessons Learned after Teaching without a Textbook
A high school teacher explores the lessons learned after moving away from a textbook-based curriculum.
Part 6
Math in Focus: The Search for an Aligned Math Program
One district’s implementation of a new elementary math program
Part 5
Navigating the Spiral in Mathematics Textbooks
A classroom teacher and curriculum coordinator describe how they used the spiral design of their textbook to help them focus on creating coherent instruction.
Part 4
Using an EdReports Review to Improve My Math Curriculum
A 5th grade teacher explains how she made small adjustments to improve the Everyday Math Curriculum after identifying its weaknesses.
The Essential Elements of an ELA Curriculum
Standards co-author Susan Pimentel explains how the elements of a high-quality ELA program contribute to student learning. She pinpoints where many current programs are missing the mark.
Part 3
Everyday Math Kindergarten Tips
A kindergarten teacher explains how she adapted some of the Everyday Math Daily Routines to challenge her students more.
Building a New Curriculum from Existing Materials
Public Prep Charter Schools created a new curriculum based on their teachers’ recommendations. Can you?
Introduction to EdReports
Identifying excellence in instructional materials
Getting to Know Mini-Assessments
Learn about free, high-quality mini-assessments for math and literacy.
Part 2
Everyday Math: Small Routines Build Bigger Understanding
A Kindergarten teacher dives into Everyday Math and finds ways to make minor Routines into Major Work of the Grade practice
Which text set approach is right for you?
Compare the features of popular text set sources
Putting Focus into Practice: The Case of Word Problems in Grades K–2
Standards co-author Jason Zimba explains how word problems can build understanding of addition and subtraction.
Materials Adaptation, Research and Reflections, Standards-Alignment Information, Tools and Resources
Training Materials for the ELA/Literacy IMET
New training modules on the IMET’s Non-Negotiables and Alignment Criteria
Supplementing Your Curriculum with Knowledge-Building Text Sets
Discover why text sets work and how to use them to build student knowledge
Classroom Strategies, Materials Adaptation, Research and Reflections, Standards-Alignment Information
Part 2
Adapting Journeys Common Core
A veteran Journeys user shares recommendations to improve basal lessons and better support teachers and students.
Materials Adaptation, Research and Reflections, Standards-Alignment Information, Tools and Resources
Part 2
Piloting New Curriculum Options with Educators
Learn about OUSD’s piloting process and find out what teachers thought of three popular ELA/literacy programs
Supporting All Learners with Complex Texts
Strategies to scaffold instruction of Standards-aligned, complex texts
Classroom Strategies, Materials Adaptation, Research and Reflections, Standards-Alignment Information, Tools and Resources
Sitting Beside the Learner: The ‘Me’ in Assessments
Common Core-aligned assessments must capitalize on teacher-student relationships
Part 6
Digging Deeper into SMP 4 – Model with Mathematics
Learn the difference between modeling the math and modeling WITH math
Part 1
Designing a Review Driven by Local Needs
How the Oakland Unified School District designed a teacher-centered materials review selection process
Choosing Alignment over Familiarity
How a district made the decision to select a new textbook provider instead of a long-used vendor
Part 5
Putting the Math Practices into Practice
A K-12 math team collaborated in creating tools about the practices to enhance understanding and planning
Part 4
Digging Deeper into SMP 3 – Construct Viable Arguments and Critique the Reasoning of Others
A math teacher explains how to recognize math tasks that help students craft strong mathematical arguments
Part 4
What to Do When Curricular Materials for ELLs Are Not Available
Where to look for additional ELL resources to support Common Core-aligned lessons
Part 2
Criteria for Curricular Materials Labeled as Appropriate for ELLs
How to determine whether instructional materials support ELL's needs
Part 1
A Teacher’s Thoughts on the Core Knowledge Language Arts Curriculum
First grade teacher, Adrienne Williams, describes the strengths and challenges of Core Knowledge Language Arts.
Part 12
Essential Knowledge for Adapting Math Instructional Materials
What do teachers need to know to make decisions about adapting math materials?
Part 11
Supplementing Your Anchor Math Curriculum with Rich Tasks
A New York math specialist explains how he’s enhanced his school’s curriculum with tasks from Illustrative Mathematics.
Part 8
A More Powerful Teacher’s Guide
How administrators can help teachers sort through the clutter in today’s math textbooks
Part 7
Using Complex Texts with All Readers
A reading interventionist explains the strategies she uses to help struggling readers benefit from complex texts.
Decision-Making that Matters: 10 Ways Teachers Can Impact Curricular Decisions
A high school English teacher shares 10 ways classroom teachers can influence curriculum
Top Five Ways to Improve Your Basal Reading Program
If you’re not satisfied with your current basal reading program, here are five things you can do to improve it.
Top Five Ways to Make the Most of Your Math Materials
If you’re not satisfied with the quality and CCSS-alignment of your existing math materials, here are five tips to improve them.
Part 6
Outcomes of the Adaptation Process
New case studies share a look at the process of adapting math and ELA materials
Part 5
Adapting Basal-Based Literacy Programs
A team of 4th grade educators adapted a Pearson Reading Street lesson to better serve their students and enhance CCSS alignment
Call for Common Core-Aligned Units
Achieve and SAP are looking for instructional materials aligned to the CCSS to address weaknesses in existing materials
Part 3
Working Together to Create Open Educational Resources
The K-12 OER Collaborative is working to create Common Core-aligned resources
Part 4
Collaborative Learning and Updating Materials
Developing a process for teachers to adapt instructional materials in mathematics
Part 3
What Needs to Change in Instructional Materials: ELA
A panel of experts pinpointed the biggest problems with today’s ELA/literacy materials
Six Instructional Materials Articles You Should Be Reading
Keep up-to-date with the latest media coverage of instructional materials
Part 1
An Introduction to the Adapting Materials Project
The challenging, yet rewarding process of adapting instructional materials
Part 4
Publishing Review Results
Why Louisiana chose to share all its curricular reviews online and where you can see the findings
Teachers Create Lessons and Adaptations to Strengthen ELA Learning
Common Core-aligned resources for popular read-alouds, basal stories, and anthology selections
Materials Adaptation, Research and Reflections, Standards-Alignment Information, Tools and Resources
Lament of a Review Team Member
Conducting a review was harder than expected, but it illuminated how critical this information is for publishers
Introduction to the Publishers’ Criteria for ELA/Literacy
Sue Pimentel, one of the lead writers of the Common Core, introduces the Publishers’ Criteria
Using What You Have
An introduction to supplementing and adapting instructional materials
Part 1
New Standards, New Approach to Reviews
Details Louisiana's instructional materials review process
