Starting the Year with Contemplate then Calculate

Contemplate then Calculate
your way into the school year! Reset for 2022-2023

This summer, more and more teachers are preparing to start their school year with a week of Contemplate then Calculate.  They see the routine as a powerful vehicle for establishing a strong culture for learning. We couldn’t agree more.

Contemplate then Calculate  #CthenC

We encourage you to use a series of Contemplate then Calculate lessons at the start of the school year if you want to:

  • Establish a focus on mathematical thinking
  • Build habits of mathematical discourse
  • Engage every student from the start
  • Set the tone for  “how we do math together”
  • Start the year with a bit of review and formative assessment

When introducing Contemplate then Calculate  – whether at the start of the year or not – we recommend a series of five enactments over 1 to 2 weeks.  This will ensure that the routine becomes routine for you and your students.

In terms of sequencing tasks, we suggest starting with three visual pattern tasks followed by two number tasks.  Once students are familiar with the routine, choose tasks that sit in your current content.  Here are our favorite  “first five” CthenC tasks:

All five tasks invite chunkingchanging the form, and connecting to math you know — the hallmarks of structural thinking.  You can download slides, planners, and student reflection handouts as well as find additional tasks .

Share your plans for starting out with #CthenC, hear how others are starting out, and, of course, we’d love to hear how it goes!

All the best,
Amy and Grace

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