Appendix on Implementing District Standards
The Touchstone Atlas is a unique unit in that it aims to build a portfolio that spans standards that are typically encountered across units. Focusing on the connections between seemingly unconnected concepts assists students in recognizing patterns, building mathematical language, and demonstrating transfer.
At the time of writing this section of the appendix, DCPS has released the scope and sequence for the 2025-2026 school year. The new sequence changes the order in which Illustrative Mathematics units will be taught. Instead of beginning the year with Unit 1 on Scale Drawings, Units 2 and 4 on Proportional Relationships and Percentages will be taught first; followed by Unit 1 - Scale Drawings, 3 - Measuring Circles, and 5 - Rational Number Arithmetic.
Rather than being undermined by the change, the goal of the Touchstone Atlas to promote connection units is validated by DCPS’s choice to shift units seemingly in search of continuity. The new order still allows for students to develop their atlas over time and reflect on their growth in transferring skills. After starting portfolios with the introduction of scale and instructional routines in Unit 0, teachers can remain on pace with Unit 2 RCT administration by implementing suggestions offered in the section Mapping k, The Constant of Proportionality. The data mapping completed during this unit will serve to contextualize 7.RP.A standards for students and will be added to their atlases. Students will continue to modify their atlases as new standards are introduced. See the table below for more on alignment to standards; standards are listed in the order they appear in the new 2025-2026 DCPS scope and sequence.
TABLE 3. Touchstone Atlas unit sections containing recommendations to contextualize standards.
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Common Core Standard |
Section in the Touchstone Atlas Unit |
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7. RP.A.1 Compute unit rates associated with ratios of fractions, including ratios of lengths, areas and other quantities measured in like or different units. 7. RP.A.2 Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities. |
Mapping k, The Constant of Proportionality Why Scale Matters: Borges and 1:1 |
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7. GA.1 Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale. 7.NS.A.2 Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division and of fractions to multiply and divide rational numbers. |
Scaling Up or Scaling Down What’s Puzzling about Scale |
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7.GB.4 Know the formulas for the area and circumference of a circle and use them to solve problems; give an informal derivation of the relationship between the circumference and area of a circle. 7.GB.6 Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, volume and surface area of two- and three-dimensional objects composed of triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, cubes, and right prisms. 7. RP.A.1, 7. RP.A.2 |
Global Measurements |
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7.NS.A.1 Apply and extend previous understandings of addition and subtraction to add and subtract rational numbers; represent addition and subtraction on a horizontal or vertical number line diagram. 7. GA.1 7.G.A.2 Draw (freehand, with ruler and protractor, and with technology) geometric shapes with given conditions. Focus on constructing triangles from three measures of angles or sides, noticing when the conditions determine a unique triangle, more than one triangle, or no triangle. |
The Coordinate Plane is a grid map, right? |
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