District 64 approves math, social studies curricula: ‘We’re not going to the store to buy 94 cantaloupes’

New math and social studies materials are on the way for Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 middle school and elementary students following the Board of Education’s approval of two curriculum updates May 18.

Board members approved three sets of teaching materials: one for elementary school social studies and a pair of math teaching resources, Carnegie Middle School Math Solutions and Desmos Online.

Lincoln Middle School math instructor Christie Thielen said part of the appeal behind the two math programs was their potential to give teachers one on one time with students and keep the rest of the class “meaningfully engaged” in another instruction activity.

“The kids are working at their own pace and you can pull kids aside to extend [learning] or provide some support,” she said.

Staff on the curricular review committee said the hands-on features of Carnegie Middle School Math Solutions were also a draw and that they liked the applicability built into Desmos’ online lessons.

“All these types of videos, along with other problems presented in Desmos, are real life and related to our middle school students,” Emerson School Math Department Chair Jess Caplis said. “We are not going to the store and buying 94 cantaloupes,” she commented, in a reference to earlier types of math curricula.

The total cost of both math programs is $325,056, according to Assistant Superintendent for Student Learning Lori Lopez’s memo to the board.

That cost covers a five-year subscription to Carnegie Middle School Math Solutions’ digital resources and online learning software Mathia, student and teacher print texts and a five-year subscription to the digital Desmos Math Core Extension.

Board members praised the materials’ prospects for engaging students and offered points of entry to students at different levels of proficiency.

Board member Monica Milligan commended the team for choosing “materials that are so engaging, especially at the middle school level” and noted that her daughter had spoken highly of her experience with the materials.

Board member Gareth Kennedy was enthusiastic about the hands-on, collaborative elements of the materials.

“It’s a very good way to bring it alive to people,” he said.

District staff also briefed board members on their recommendation to use TCI: Social Studies Alive! for the district’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders.

The curriculum broadens its focus at each grade level, beginning with “my community” in 2nd grade and expanding to “America’s past” in 5th grade.

The total cost of the program is $224,325 for student subscriptions, journals, teacher subscriptions and teacher materials, according to another memo from Lopez to board members.

Franklin Elementary School Teacher Tony Belmonte said one of the appealing parts of Social Studies Alive was its emphasis on reading and language comprehension alongside the social studies material itself.

“We’re basically teaching reading all the time,” he said. “You have some students that are really struggling and some social studies texts… can be written at a level that’s really hard to comprehend.”

Kennedy asked the presenting staff members about what it meant to choose culturally inclusive curricular materials. Lopez said older history and geography materials tended to show the history of America as the history of European explorers.

“It didn’t include the history of Native Americans or the perspective of women,” she said.

“One of the things I really liked about TCI is that it showed what other groups’ perspectives would be,” Belmonte added.

Kennedy was receptive to those responses: “Usually the victor gets to write the history and this is teaching people there are different perspectives and that’s good,” he said.

Milligan also praised the choices, saying she thought the materials would provide students “not only a content expertise but also an ability and a mastery of those 21st century skills you’re going to need.”

The staff curriculum review committee recommended extending the test period for district kindergarteners and first graders to determine whether to use Social Studies Alive! or another program called Inquiry Journeys.