6.AF.1 RTI Lessons

Misconceptions and errors may result if students don’t understand how to substitute a value for a variable or apply the order of operations correctly. Errors may also result if students:

• multiply a base by the power to evaluate an exponential expression.
• write an algebraic expression for a verbal description incorrectly.
• ignore the parentheses in an expression.
• think parentheses indicate addition not multiplication.
• switch the values of the variables when substituting into an expression that contains two variables.

Two Grade Levels Below

Students may be having difficulty with the skills and concepts related to quantitative reasoning and may struggle with understanding how to write and evaluate expressions that use grouping symbols and the four operations. Challenges with writing and evaluating expressions often relate to a lack of conceptual understanding of the operations, or to an inability to interpret the numbers and operations in the context of a real-world problem. Students are also likely to need to develop fluency with basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. Math terms related to the essential concept at this level include multiple, product, and quotient. These students will benefit from additional instruction and practice with:

• drawing diagrams to represent multi-step word problems.
• writing and solving equations in order to solve multi-step word problems.
• using estimation strategies to check that an answer is reasonable

One Grade Level Below

Students may be having difficulty with the skills and concepts related to quantitative reasoning and representation and may struggle with understanding how to evaluate expressions that use grouping symbols and the four operations. Challenges with evaluating expressions often relate to a lack of conceptual understanding of the operations, or an inability to interpret the numbers and operations in the context of a multi-step problem. Students are also likely to need to develop fluency with basic multiplication and division facts. Math terms related to the essential concept at this level include equivalent, multiple, product, and quotient. These students will benefit from additional instruction and practice with:

• writing and evaluating expressions with grouping symbols.
• daily review with basic multiplication and division facts.

Review the questions students missed on the assessment. This will help you find the misconceptions they have and specifics on their weaknesses, which may help guide your RTI teaching. The video below will show you how to find their test results and access the test questions.

These are the recommended lessons, in order, to build these students from their current level toward grade level. Use your professional judgement in choosing which pieces to use and the appropriate pace for the students in your group.

Talk to a member of the RTI Math Leadership Team:

• Lori Dickey
• Rachel Porter
• Diana Spence
• Matt Taylor
• Whitney Tharp
• Katie Wilson