CLE math...teacher's guide or answer keys?

[caedmyn]

Do I need the teacher's guides for CLE math, or are the answer keys good enough?  I'd like my rising 5th grader to check her own answers next year (I'll re-check them for accuracy at least weekly).

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I have the teacher's guide and only use it for answers. :) Actually, I occasionally also use it for alternate light unit tests.

 

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[Storygirl]

I only used the answer keys for years, but then I switched over to using the teacher's guide. Why? Because it shows the problems worked out,  instead of just giving a list of the answers. It is helpful for me to be able to see the exact place where the student went wrong, instead of always having to rework every problem.

 

If you want your child to be able to see the answers completely worked out, get the teacher's manual.  Get the answer key if you only want them to see the answers and then rework any problems they got wrong .That way they won't be able to just copy from the TM.

 

You may want to check over their work each day instead of weekly. One week of work is about 20 pages (4 pages per day), so it is a big task to go over all of that at once. Doing it a bit each day is easier for us, and we can also steer the child back to the right path sooner if they are doing something incorrectly.

 

I use the answer key or TM to check their work myself each day. I do that deliberately, because I don't want them to see what the correct answer is and just copy it onto their paper. I circle the problems that they got wrong, and they redo them. Actually, I sit next to them while they redo them, because those are the problems that they need extra help with. I do know that some kids use the answer keys themselves successfully, but I always figured that if they were missing things, they needed my help, and so I wanted to stay on top of that all of the time.

 

Here is a bit of unasked for advice: I think if you have a child who is intuitive about math, you could let them use CLE mainly independently and only check in with them occasionally, but I think kids who struggle or are average learners need adult guidance, even though CLE is written directly to the child. You may find that your method works fine, but be ready to provide more oversight if the child needs it.

[JessReplanted]

The teacher's guide is much easier to see and follow when correcting. I hate having to use only the answer keys.

 

I also would not recommend having your student correct her own work.

[Guest]

Mine have all corrected their own work for years. They have to show me it is completed first. No reason not.

And I use the TM because the problems are worked out.

 

 

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[Garga]

Re: having kids check their own work.

 

I started doing that this year for my son in Algebra. But I think it's a mistake and I stopped. It's a mistake because then he can see the correct answer and think, "Oh yeah! I forgot to change the sign to negative!" as soon as he sees the answer. What this means is that he doesn't have to remember on his his own to change the sign. The answer gave it away.

 

Instead, we check his work together. He calls out the answer he got to each problem, I say, "Yes" or "No". He circles the ones wrong and then has to fix them cold. If he were to see the answer already, he wouldn't have to rely on his own brain to figure out where he went wrong.

Edited May 28, 2016 by Garga

[OneStepAtATime]

1.  TM is MUCH easier for checking the work and you can see the problem worked out.  

2. Answer key is harder to use for grading but if you just want your child to see the answer, find out which ones they got wrong, then go back and correct them you might choose this option instead.  The TM, however, also has alternate tests, helpful suggestions, extra practice pages, etc.  IMHO the value is in the TM.

 

Now as for a 5th grader checking their own work and you checking it at the end of the week, I honestly wouldn't really recommend it unless you just have a ton of time on your hands at the end of each week.  I also wouldn't recommend it for an average student or one that struggles, like others have said (can't remember where your child is regarding math)

.  

A.  Checking that many problems at the end of the week (as mentioned up thread, it is a LOT) is a HUGE task.  It probably won't get done.  It would be pages and pages of math problems.

B.  I found that the kids did much better if the problems were checked daily, by me.  Why?  Because even if the child is checking and correcting the problems, as mentioned up thread they have seen the answer.  They are working backwards from the answer, not starting over and trying to determine where they made an error.  

 

Also, if there is something they are misunderstanding and they keep doing it wonky, even if they sometimes get a correct answer, the longer they do it wonky the harder it will be to undo the neural pathways that are being forged and create better ones.  There is a lot of review so if they learn the new material incorrectly and it isn't checked for days and days they may end up reinforcing the wrong way over and over and over until you finally step in to help.

 

What I normally do is sit nearby so if there are questions we can talk through it.  We go over the new material together first, review any trouble spots from previous lessons, then I have them do a few problems while I watch to make certain they are understanding the instructions (or can figure it out).  Then I sit nearby while I am doing other things.  I have the TM near me.  Once they are done with the remainder of the math lesson I grab it and go through it immediately.  The TM makes this pretty quick and painless. if it is only one lesson.  I put a colorful ink check mark next to all the correct problems (they like that I focus on the ones they did right) and I circle in pencil the ones that they missed then I had it back to them.  I discuss anything that may need discussing but I don't give them the answer.  They can ask questions then they have until the end of the day to correct them and hand back the light unit or come to me if they cannot figure out what went wrong.  I make certain to quickly check again to make sure there are no trouble spots and put a colorful check mark next to the corrected problems.

 

I know that seems time consuming and it seems like having the child do their own corrections with me just checking at the end of the week or every few days would save a lot of time and effort.  I have not found that to be true for my family.  I have found that the workload piles up and if I am not checking daily, and committed to that, the problems may very well never get checked by me.  Then I find out later that the kids are struggling or misunderstanding and now those issues have become ingrained.  They have to unlearn the wrong way or the confusing way they were doing things and have to relearn.  It is a royal pain in the rear.  

[Ruthie in MS]

Teacher Manual; no question. It does allow you to see the problem completely worked out (big plus), but it also has other nice features like the scope and sequence. The skills index lists the concepts alphabetically and then tells you what lesson the concept was introduced so I can go back to that lesson and see how it's done and review it with my child.

 

The alternate tests are handy when they scored poorly the first time and I need to know after the review whether we can continue on with the next workbook. The TM also has the skills index for the previous grade in the appendix. Very nice to have when I can't remember when a specific concept was introduced.

 

I have never purchased the answer keys but I find the TM to be well worth the money.