Sunday, April 22, 2012

enVision Math

Happy Sunday! Hmmm....new Blogger look! I am all about it if it makes uploading pics faster! :) Ha!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We have a four day week ahead of us {Friday is an Inclement Weather Day that we have not used - PTL!!!}

This week we will learn all about:

Phonics: Inflections {got any fun stuff for THAT one???}

Writing: How To Writing {love this unit!!!!} - How to Plant a Flower

Comprehension: Summarizing {Tomie dePaola Author Study}

Math: 3 Addend Addition
Love this freebie from Froggie Went a Teachin! She has a ton of these games to go with different themes...even a Cinco de Mayo one! I love how it is Earth Day themed...go along perfectly with our Petals and Plants and our Earth Day activities for the next few weeks! 
Science: Petals and Plants {Love all the great literature to go with this unit: The Tiny Seed, Planting a Rainbow}



Ok...let's get back to the title of the post! HA! We adopted a new math series, enVision! I have played around with the digital component and LOVE it  so far! We have put A LOT of work into our Math Menu for the past two years, so we don't really need more games or Number Work activities, but explicit mini lessons! 

Anyone use enVision??? I am curious to see how many schools out there use this program.  Tips, tricks are welcome! :) I will share more as we dig into it!

Ahhh...the house smells of lasagna! YUM! Time to eat!

Have a great week, y'all! :) Only a few more to go!!! WE CAN DO IT!

28 comments:

Amy said...

My district uses Envision too. I'm teaching first grade at the moment and I like it for the most part. However, some of the lessons explain the concept in a confusing way. Also, some don't align with Common Core so I've had to adjust a bit this year.

Amy
Krazy About Kiddos

Megan said...

My district adopted envision this year. So far, it is universally hated by everyone i've talked to. The math "newspapers" that the kids use are awkward and difficult to use. Concepts are explained in a confusing way. Some topics are covered for way too long, others not long enough. I'm not a fan.

Unknown said...

We use it...but then you heard all about that when we were at lunch! lol
Hope you are having a great year!
Jennifer
First Grade Blue SKies

Unknown said...

We use enVision too... there's pros and cons to every thing. My kiddos love the manipulatives and the online animated daily preview! I don't always care for the way some topics are taught {those days, I don't follow the manual ;)} I had to create a few things to supplement {ten frame mats, part/part whole mat, double ten frames etc.} Check it out at my TPT store! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Envision-Math-and-Common-Core-Toolbox

Kimberly
The Learning Tree

Kristin said...

We use enVision. We're going on 5 years or something crazy like that. I love it and I hate it. :) :) :)
A Teeny Tiny Teacher

Jen R said...

we use envision - bleh! I don't actually use it..lol. I use our district's pacing guide and create my own lessons...or buy from TpT - ha! I don't know if I've ever actually heard someone say they like it - haha

smoran892 said...

We use envisions here in Vegas! I love SOME parts of envisions like the topic videos online, but we are having trouble this year with it not aligning to the Common Core. I have a friend who uses Investigations and let our 1st grade team borrow the resources. We have found that combining the envisions topic pages and intro lessons with the investigations games has been the best for our students! Enjoy it though :) My kids love guessing the answers on the videos!

Susan
T.G.I.F.

Unknown said...

We use enVision. I am not a fan of it at all. I create my own units a lot of the time. We are finding this series does not go well at all with the Common Core Standards.

Good luck!
Krista
stellar-students

Kim Crowe said...

We use enVision Math. I personally love most parts of it. I have had to do some supplementation, a little more this year with common core, but I have had to do that with any curriculum I've used. We have used enVisions for 4 years and I have been to TONS of trainings for our district/school. I think that helps. I've also found it's good for the younger grades, not so much for the older grades.

Aimee said...

My district uses enVisions. With the recent adoption of Common Core we have found that we are now only using a very small portion of the series and doing a great deal of supplementing. The way enVisions approaches many of their topics is confusing. I don't mean to sound so negative, but this has been my experience with it after having used it for several years now. I hope you have an easier time with it than many of my colleagues and I have had!

Aimee
Primarily Speaking

LakerMama said...

Hi Kelli,
We use enVision in my district. Our first grade district math committee designed a pacing guide and our own Topic tests. We don't teach the "topics" in order and also use the tests as a review. I really like the online teacher's guide. It's great for planning. We do the ENTIRE booklet together as a class. The independent practice is often not student friendly. We haven't adopted Common Core yet, so that part hasn't affected our use of the program. It's not my favorite math program, but I really like how they break down the processes. We also do CGI and that's a great supplement to our math program.

To Kimberly, I found the publisher's tens frames, part-part-whole mats, etc in the teacher's edition enVision on-line, but bet yours are better. :)

Lauren Morse said...

Well those reviews sound a little sad. I hope it was the best choice for our district. Maybe since it's the newest version the Common Core problems will be addressed better.
Lauren
justaddclipart.blogspot.com

Mrs. W said...

The envision website provides a common core transition kit in the teacher resources area that gives lessons that meet the common core standards. They are very helpful and I like the way they teach the concepts. For example, inches, feet and yards used to be taught in 1 lesson in the original envision, and the common core lessons break it down into more manageable pieces. Hope that helps!
Alicia
www.teachk-2.blogspot.com

Ms. D said...

We have the Common Core version of enVision and although there are a few good things about it, for the most part I do not like it, as most do in our district. It expects A LOT from our K's and the order in which it is taught makes no sense developmentally. I've used this for a year and can't wait to change.

KinderMyles said...

I have had enVision in K for 4 years. I understand why they put certain units in order (they wait on big numbers to prep for money or do symmetry then the fraction unit) but we do more small groups in Math than the program allows for. I use the newspaper or "fishy" the online part. I often ask higher level thinking questions to expand the online part. As we switch to common core, we are using a lot of other resources to supplement. Its a solid base though.

Debi said...

We just adopted Math Expressions, well if the Board approves it in June. They are putting together 2013 version that aligns with Common Core. I am now on the district math committee for first grade. We thought we were just doing a pacing guide, but no! We are doing the guide, map, assessments and our new report card! I am missing 4 days within 3 weeks! Are we getting paid? No! They havent evev said we are getting recertification! Errrr! Now for half a day of besides the other for 1st grade CCS training! Oh yes, Expressions was the best of 10 series we looked at for math.

Kindergardian said...

I am in the second year of using envision. For the most part I hate it. It goes too fast and is confusing. They do addition for one unit then mix in subtraction before the kids master addition. Some topics are good - but they are the easy ones. Yet to find a math program I like in 14 years!

Lynne Busse said...

We use envision math and we do not like it. We find that we need to supplement all concepts with our own lessons.

Mrs. S said...

We used envision math for the first time this year. We didn't use the Common Core standards this year, but in previewing them I thought the math program seemed to work for common core. Maybe we have the newest version? Every teacher I talked to has HATED envision. I don't totally hate it, but I don't love it either. We are going to supplement with our old Saxon math next year just so there will be some REVIEW and prep for upcoming units.
BUT.....here is the kicker....our Math test scores are up after using envision. I can't wait to see if the upcoming Kinders have a better grasp and understanding of the way this program does things since they have already had it for K.

Anonymous said...

Oh Boy! I'm a new first grade teacher this upcoming year and we are adopting Evisions and getting rid of Saxon. All these comments make me really scared! The curriculum director chose the program BECAUSE of it aligning to common core..UGH..maybe we should have kept Saxon.

Oh well, I will do what many of you did and add my own supplements. Can't wait to get the books in hand so I can begin. :)

Anonymous said...

Joyful Joyful!
This was the first year that we implemented EnVision. We had Everyday Math before, and I must say that I like Everyday Math better. EnVision is great for the higher/math inclined students, but for everyone else its too confusing. It's not as rigorous as I would like. Oh well, we have it for 5 years or more so I better get over my issues with the program.

carriebeez said...

I agree with Amy...
we use enVision, and the most of the components are great. The digital/ interactive pieces are my favorite. The quiz show that comes along with it is hands-down, my favorite program to use with our "clickers." BUT (there's always a but!) Alot of the content the present is in the most confusing ways. To the point I am confused & my kids are confused...I usually go back to teaching those concepts in a more kid-friendly way.

The First Grade Derby

Anonymous said...

I miss Everyday Math! We have been using envisions for 3 years now and I really hate it. Talk about teaching a mile wide and only an inch deep. We teach only 2 weeks of addition and then the kids are supposed to have mastery??? We dump a lot of the lessons within the topics and add lots of supplements. The version we have will not be easy to use with the common core.

Ces said...

I used it 2 years for kindergarten and now for 3rd. I had hoped it would be better for older grades, but so far I am disappointed. Basically, after giving one example (or type of example) of how to solve a problem, it follows up with, "Now you know how to _____!" No. They don't! Of the first unit for 3rd grade, I've repeated 3 lessons twice, and skipped two others. I'm getting frustrated because the kids don't seem to have any idea what we're doing.

One of the practice pages with money said that a child had a certain assortment of coins, then asks, "What coin do they need to make $1?" One of my students told me, with a confused look, "he needs all of them!" I had to explain that they were to tell what he needed more of.

Unknown said...

Our district did an exhaustive search (which actually involved a ton of parental input - hooray!), and enVision and Math Connects were the two finalists that got piloted, with enVision eventually selected. Our district has a very large percentage of parents who are scientists & engineers, and everyone pretty much rejoiced when enVision was chosen, though they probably would have been happy with Math Connects, too. As a professional math tutor, I like the content in both, and neither would be called "fuzzy math." As a parent, I thought Math Connects had a friendlier layout. Unfortunately, no district is going to pick a curriculum that isn't "an inch deep and a mile wide" for fear of their kids' missing out on a topic in any given year. My child's teacher last year managed to make it through all 20 chapters in second grade, and our third-grade teacher is on track to do the same. I think the product offered meets the requirements the districts are demanding. I purchased all the enVision texts from K-6 during our district's text search, and my only beef is really with the ordering of the third-grade topics. I think it would make more sense to go into long multiplication right after learning times tables instead of taking a big detour to cover geometry, measurement, etc. before returning to long multiplication at the end of the year.

Also, I've noticed that kids who were thrown into enVision in 4th or 5th grade at the time our district switched did struggle to keep up b/c the curriculum assumed they had already mastered the basics in early grades, but they had never gotten grounded in math facts & traditional algorithms prior to the switch. They had a lot of catch-up to do. The kids who started enVision in K-2, however, have done just fine b/c they didn't have much (or any) ground to make up & hadn't been exposed to much "bad math" in the first place. Overall, as a parent of an elementary school child and a mathematician myself, I'm very pleased w/the curriculum.

Jessica said...

We adopted it this year. I really, really struggled the first few weeks. I was finally able to view a classroom in another district. They have been teaching with the program for five years. Once I was able to view that classroom and adjust my pacing, I felt better about it. How are you doing with it now? I'm curious to hear details from others ...

Unknown said...

I am curious about how you like enVisions now? Our district is looking into it to adopt for next year. I really like what I've seen so far!

Unknown said...

Oops! I accidentally posted twice so I deleted one. :)

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