Teacher Guide

What is the SNAP?

The Student Numeracy Assessment and Practice (SNAP) is the Chilliwack district numeracy assessment for all students in grades 2 – 7. It was created by a group of Chilliwack educators and has been used in all grades 2 – 7 classes since September 2016.

The SNAP is a unique assessment; not only is it a measurement of achievement, but it is intended to be used as a practice tool throughout the entire year. The data it provides should be used to inform and guide instructional planning. If only used as a summative assessment, the SNAP will not help in achieving one of our main goals, which is to improve students’ proficiency in number sense and operations.

The SNAP is a two-page assessment that focuses on the foundational skills of mathematics: Number Sense and Operations. It compliments any balanced math program and quickly provides teachers the information they need for responsive planning and instruction. Access the SNAP Number Sense and Operations templates under the SNAP Templates tab on the website.

SNAP is fully aligned with the BC Curricular Competencies in math. Each area of the assessment is connected to a particular competency, and the competencies are built right into the grading rubric. Access the grading rubrics under the SNAP Training tab on the website. The rubrics are the same for all grades. It is a good idea to participate in collaborative marking with colleagues to help establish common expectations.

How to Effectively use the SNAP

SNAP practice does not always need to be on the SNAP templates; in fact, once areas of need are identified, most number sense and operations practice will happen through other strategies, such as daily high yield number sense routines (e.g. number talks, count around the circle) and whole or small-group instruction. Find resources that support each of the four curricular competencies under the Resources tab on the website. Explore the Recommended Links for sites that support the teaching and learning of number sense and operations.

Curricular Content and Competency Areas

While the SNAP templates and rubrics are the same for grades 2-7, the curricular content and competency goals (pulled directly from the BC Math Curriculum) change and follow a spiraled approach. The table below outlines the curricular areas that students will be assessed on at the end of May. The goal is that all students be proficient (3 on the rubric) in their grade-level standards by the end of the school year. The examples given in the Operations sections are examples of year-end appropriate operations. There are no district-prescribed numbers or operations for the year-end assessment, but at the request of teachers, numbers and operations have been suggested below to provide guidance.

Remember that the SNAP templates are intended to be used throughout the year for any numbers or operations in your curriculum.

When introducing your students to the SNAP, take your time and explicitly teach and model each component of the assessment. Use content that the students should be confident with from previous years. You can chunk the assessment into smaller pieces. The Zoom into SNAP templates under the Resources tab on the website chunk the assessment by competency. You can complete SNAPs as a whole group guided activity and have students work with partners to help build confidence. Have students share their thinking; encourage them to use many different ways to demonstrate their thinking and solutions.
Remember that the SNAP templates are intended to be used throughout the year for any numbers or operations in your curriculum.

The SNAP templates

Access templates under SNAP Templates tab.

NUMBER SENSE:

See Grading Rubrics for specific criteria.

DRAW: The picture must show the value of the number. A written explanation or a legend should be included in the “write to describe your picture” box.

SKIP-COUNTING: Begin at the number and count forwards and backward by numbers chosen by the teacher. *Update – Spring 2024* Teachers have requested guidance on appropriate numbers to use in this section for the May assessment. We have provided sample numbers based on the curriculum at each grade in the table above.

EQUATIONS: Students who are demonstrating full proficiency will be using grade-appropriate operations in their equations. Teachers should be very specific about their expectations in this section to avoid students using equations like 4561+1=4562, for example (which is not a grade-appropriate operation in Gr. 4).

REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE: The examples must be realistic and specific. It is important that students demonstrate an understanding of value in their example. For instance, “Wayne Gretzky’s number is 99” does not show an understanding of value; “we have 99 grade three students in our school” does. Literature and sharing out of real-life examples helps students to make connections to the numbers and add to their bank of knowledge. There is an excellent list of math picture books on the Coast Metro Elementary Math Project site.

NUMBER LINE: For grades 2-5, the endpoints to the number line are provided. For grades 6 & 7, the students choose their own endpoints according to the number chosen for the assessment. To demonstrate full proficiency, students will add at least three benchmarks to their number line to help situate the number. Clothesline Math is an excellent routine to help students to become more proficient with number lines.

REFLECTION: Reflections help increase the value of a learning experience. They allow students to link ideas and construct meaning from their experiences. Students should have opportunities to reflect on their learning at the end of every lesson. Explicit teaching about how to reflect effectively will improve the quality of student responses in this section; reflection sentence stems are available in the Connecting and Reflecting Resources page.

OPERATIONS

See Grading Rubrics for specific criteria.

ESTIMATE: Students will learn to value the skill of estimating through discussions about real-life situations where a person would typically estimate rather than calculate. In which situations would one prefer a high estimate? A low estimate? Explicit instruction on estimation strategies will allow students to select and use an appropriate strategy for the given operation.

DRAW: Students will visually represent the operation. The visual may or may not contain the solution to the operation. Consider the use of bar diagrams as an appropriate, proportional model for the operations. Simply replacing the numbers in the operation with a base ten representation does not demonstrate an understanding of the operation.

CALCULATE: Multiple grade-appropriate calculations demonstrate proficient achievement. Students are not required to use the standard algorithm for any operation. Using the reverse operation to “check” their work is also a recommended strategy. Refer to your grade-specific curriculum elaborations for suggested alternate computation strategies.

REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE OR WORD PROBLEM: Students will provide details on a real-life situation where the given operation would be used to find an amount. Look for evidence that communicates their understanding of the use of the operation. For example, if the operation was 316-141 a student could suggest, “there were 316 blueberries on the bush and I picked 141 of them.” For the teacher to know if they understand what the difference between 316 and 141 represents in this situation, they should add, “How many blueberries were left on the bush?”

Grade 2 Math Story: Encourage students to draw pictures to “tell” their story if they do not have the written ability to write a short story. A quick follow up conversation will be required to know whether students are able to communicate their understanding.

Data Entry

Chilliwack teachers will enter data by the end of November and by the end of May. November data entry is based on the previous year’s outcomes, and is only to be completed by grades 3-7 teachers. For example, grade 4 teachers will assess their students at the beginning of the year based on the grade 3 target outcomes and using the grade 3 templates. All grades 2-7 teachers will enter data by the end of May based on the current year’s outcomes.

Another unique feature of the SNAP is that students are scored by competency. You will not total or average their scores in the four competencies. Students have until the end of the school year to practice and become proficient at their grade-level learning standards, however if during your pre-assessments prior to May you have students fully proficient, you may enter their data and create learning extension opportunities for those students.

Exemplars

The exemplars on the website are intended to represent proficiency in all categories. We will be updating our exemplars on an ongoing basis. Please feel free to send in student samples that you believe clearly show student proficiency. Scan and send to joanne_britton@sd33.bc.ca.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the dedicated team of Chilliwack educators who crafted and piloted this assessment: Christine Blessin, Jonathan Ferris, Kathy Isaac, Anna Lownie, Shannon McCann, Tammy McKinley, Kathleen Mitchell, Justin Moore, Kirk Savage, Paul Wojcik