Standard #: MA.4.AR.3.2

Benchmark Instructional Guide

Connecting Benchmarks/Horizontal Alignment

• MA.4.NSO.2.2
• MA.4.FR.2.2 
• MA.4.M.2.2

Terms from the K-12 Glossary

• Expression

Vertical Alignment

Previous Benchmarks

• MA.3.AR.3.3

Next Benchmarks

• MA.5.AR.3.1
• MA.5.AR.3.2

Purpose and Instructional Strategies

The purpose of this benchmark is to build understanding of numerical patterns. Students should generate numerical patterns that follow a given rule with one step. This concept builds on identifying, creating and extending numerical patterns (MA.3.AR.3.3). 

• As students use numerical patterns, they will reinforce facts and develop fluency with operations (MTR.5.1). 
• A pattern is a sequence that repeats the same rule over and over. Patterns and rules are related. A rule dictates what that pattern will look like. 
• Students need multiple opportunities creating and extending number patterns. 
• Students investigate different patterns to find rules, identify features in the patterns and justify the reason for those features. 
• Students should look for relationships in the patterns they create and be able to describe and generalize.

Common Misconceptions or Errors

• Students often make mistakes due to lack of fluency with the four operations which hinders them from being able to extend the pattern according to the rule.

Strategies to Support Tiered Instruction

• Instruction includes students drawing quick pictures of the numbers represented or using two-color counters or square tiles to model their patterns to aid students in seeing how the rule affects the terms and to make accurate calculations. 
  • For example, shown is the pattern beginning with 4 and the rule is “add 7.”

Instructional Tasks

Instructional Task 1 (MTR.5.1) 

The first term of a pattern is an odd number. The rule is add 13. Will the 4th term be odd or even? Based on the pattern described, will the 4th term always be odd or even? Explain your reasoning.