Home Learning

Now that my child’s school is closed, does MLC have suggestions for continued learning at home?

First, we suggest you touch base with your child’s teacher to see if they have ideas or plans. You may also want to visit our Math at Home grade-level pages, which feature an Activity of the Day, family games, and online games. (3/22/20)

My child’s teacher sent home some Bridges in Mathematics student book pages. Can I have access to an answer key or purchase a teacher’s edition?

We recommend you contact your child’s teacher, as they are the best source of information for assignments that are sent home. Our Bridges in Mathematics Second Edition materials are available only to educators who teach in schools or districts that have adopted the curriculum. (3/18/20)

Can students have access to materials on the Bridges Educator Site (BES), such as Work Places, student workbooks, and Digital Display Materials (DDMs)?

We aren’t able to provide direct online access to materials on the Bridges Educator Site, in part because it could potentially create compliance issues with student privacy. We have, however, provided resources for educators on the BES (login required). Additionally, the Math at Home activities and resources do not require a login or registration  —  they're free and available to everyone. (3/22/20)

For which grades and units will module-level packets be posted on the Bridges Educator Site?

• Packets for Units 4, 5, 6, and 7 of all grades K–5 have been posted on the Home Learning page of the Bridges Educator Site (login required).
• Units 1, 2, and 3 will not be posted for any grades; if materials are needed for student review, please refer to the Practice Pages on each grade-level Math at Home page.
• In addition, Unit 8 has been posted for K, but Unit 8 will not be posted for grades 1–5, because those units involve STEM projects that will not work well in non-classroom environments.
• For Pre-K, the Activity of the Day, math games, and downloadable storybooks are available on the publicly accessible Math at Home site. (3/31/20)

Can Bridges in Mathematics Second Edition material be posted within a learning management system (LMS) such as Canvas or Google Classroom?

With any LMS, we assume the materials are password protected (i.e., students and families need to log in for access). Within this context, MLC does not object to posting Bridges materials. In fact, we even allow transmission of materials to families via email if a district does not have a mechanism for securely distributing materials otherwise. We consider it equivalent to sending physical materials home with the student in their backpack or folder. (3/18/20)

Can I share Bridges materials on social media for students and families to access?

You can share downloaded PDFs of student materials with the students and families you support. However, it needs to be through email or a secured site like Google Classroom. We do not allow educators to share Bridges Second Edition materials through unsecured social media or other sites accessible to the general public. On the other hand, all resources on the Math at Home section of our site may be shared via social media. (3/23/20)

Will the Home Learning Resources be available in Spanish?

The module-level packets available within the Bridges Educator Site (login required) and the Practice Pages from the Math at Home section of the MLC website are available in both English and Spanish. We are still evaluating our plans for Spanish translation of other newly created materials. (3/30/20)

The Math Learning Center offers printed materials in both English and Spanish, but not the Digital Display Materials (DDMs). Is there any possibility of translating the digital materials to Spanish, too?

The Digital Display Materials (DDMs) were designed for teachers to use for demonstration purposes in the classroom. For best use, they rely on the teacher to lead the discussion and answer student questions. The activities supported by the DDMs are often also supported by the game components and student pages for student use, and those materials are available in Spanish. At this time, we have no plans to translate the DDMs into Spanish. (6/5/20)

Can MLC produce e-worksheets based on the Bridges in Mathematics and Bridges Intervention materials?

• We can appreciate the desire to collect student work digitally; however, we are concerned that in many cases an electronic version of the student pages would not be appropriate, particularly at the lower grade levels. In addition, students are often required to draw pictures or diagrams to represent their thinking, which cannot be captured in a fillable worksheet.
• While not in e-worksheet format, the packets available through the BES (login required) can be uploaded to Google Classroom or other learning management systems, or they can be printed, copied, and distributed to students. It’s possible to then use an app such as BitPaper, Evernote, or Notability to collect student responses. (4/8/20)

The guidance documents (login required) provide prioritized content lists for Units 5, 6, and 7. Will similar documents be created for Units 1–4 or Unit 8?

The Guidance for Spring 2020 documents, meant to help schools and districts navigate teaching during coronavirus closures, identify the most important content for the rest of the 2019-20 school year. Since time is limited, we recommend that Unit 8 not be considered as critical content. At this time, we will not be providing similar guidance for Units 1–4, though we are considering how we might address this issue for the 2020-21 school year. (5/6/20)

Will MLC be releasing instructional plans that will be available online for districts and schools?

It’s important to acknowledge that Bridges in Mathematics was not designed for remote implementation. We have, however, provided guidance and resources through the Bridges Educator Site to assist teachers during school closures. (3/22/20)

Is The Math Learning Center working on student-facing lessons in the form of written instruction for students who do not have internet access at home?

The module-level packets available within the Bridges Educator Site (login required) can be used as written instruction for all students regardless of internet access. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to replicate the Bridges classroom experience so we will not be attempting to directly replace the curriculum. Instead, to complement the packets, we’ve developed new activities on the Math at Home site as options for home learning. These materials will be archived and may also be printed and sent home. (3/30/20)

Are you going to provide daily video lessons online for Bridges classrooms?

At this time, we do not have plans to provide video lessons as a replacement for Bridges classroom instruction, as we know that it would be difficult to replicate the engagement and student discourse in a remote context. We are, however, providing a variety of resources to support daily work with students. Please see the resources we’ve made available on the Home Learning section of the Bridges Educator Site. (3/23/20)

Will Math Learning Center provide virtual assessments, or can you recommend any third-party assessments that would work well with the Bridges curriculum?

The Math Learning Center is not planning to create virtual assessments for the current school closures. At this time, we do not have any recommendations for third-party assessments. If you wish to use the assessments that appear within the Bridges curriculum, you can download them from the Curriculum tab of the Bridges Educator Site, print, copy, and send them home for students. Responses could then be entered through a school learning management system. (3/30/20)

If and when we go back to school this year, do you have any suggestions on how to proceed with Bridges? More generally, how can teachers prioritize what areas of the curriculum to emphasize?

There are many variables to consider in addressing this question, including how long students were out of class, what progress was made during the time away, how much remains of the school year, and whether plans (such as summer school) exist to mitigate the impact.

When students do return, we recommend against teaching only some parts of a lesson to save time. Bridges sessions are intentionally designed, and skipping any portion may disrupt that coherence. In general, we recommend that you focus on the major work of each grade as defined by the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics . Teachers can also refer to the Achieve the Core focus document or their district’s prioritized standards to determine what is most important. Possibly useful are two taped webinars from MLC that address the issues of pacing and prioritizing that might be helpful:

• Successfully Pacing a Bridges Session
• Bridges Implementation Pacing  (4/3/20)

Will the Bridges Intervention materials be made available as downloadable packets or converted to a digital format?

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to adhere to the principles of effective math intervention in an online or remote setting. Although we are still considering alternatives, we do not have plans to reformat these materials. In the interim, we offer the following suggestions for working with students who require intervention:

• Use our Math at Home resources and look for material appropriate to the student’s current needs. For example, a Grade 4 student might be invited to consider the Grade 2 Activity of the Day.
• The U.S. Math Recovery Council offers short videos and game suggestions that support computational fluency in a game-like format. (4/7/20)

What are the options for workshops that can’t be done in person right now?

To meet the needs of schools and teachers preparing to implement the Bridges in Mathematics curriculum, The Math Learning Center has created a remote version of the Getting Started workshop. We will also be offering remote versions of Bridges Intervention and Bridges PreK workshops. Please contact your regional coordinator for further details. (5/8/20)

What is the status of the July institutes in Denver and Chicago?

We have canceled the MLC Summer Leadership Institutes for 2020. We know educators appreciate these events and understand that many will be disappointed. However, given the current levels of uncertainty and risk, we feel this choice best aligns with our commitment to the health and well-being of participants, speakers, and the MLC team. Those who have already registered will receive a full refund. (4/24/20)