CGI

As practitioners of culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy, at we believe learners come to math with their own strategies and understandings of numbers and their relationship.  Teachers at Angeles Mesa and D.R.E.A.M.S. Magnet use CGI to teach math. CGI is not a curriculum, but rather a research-based teaching method.  Teachers elicit students’ thinking and build upon their understanding of how numbers work and expand tools and strategies children use. Committed to this belief, and understanding the learning trajectory framework in math, we use Cognitively Guided Instruction to teach math.  Teachers emphasize conceptual development and understanding over rote memorization, encouraging our students to become independent problem solvers and critical thinkers.  Students are also expected to find multiple solutions to a problem, explain their strategy for solving a problem and understand and articulate the the thinking and solution of fellow classmates.