A Spiraling Curriculum Project on Factoring in Algebra I Aligned with the New York State Common Core State Standards

Abstract

Our nation is experiencing a paradigm shift from the National Council Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This shift is leaving teachers with a lack of resources to support these new standards. This Spiraling Curriculum project on factoring was created to be used in an Algebra I classroom and is aligned with the NYS CCSS. The Spiraling Curriculum is designed to help students activate relevant prior knowledge as well as continuously return to topics at a progressively deeper level, allowing connections to be made throughout topics and units. A table of contents is provided for easy access to each lesson plan and homework sheet for the five day factoring unit. In addition, each lesson plan includes the NYS CCSS that are addressed, student objectives and an explanation of how the Spiraling design is incorporated into the lesson. The answer keys to all the lessons and homework is provided in the appendix. The content validity of this curriculum project was assessed by a veteran Algebra I teacher in Western New York by providing constructive feedback and suggestions, which are addressed in this Thesis.