CCSS.Math.Content.4.OA.C
The standard
Generate and analyze patterns.
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
What this standard means
Students need to create number or shape patterns using a rule, then explain what happens as the pattern grows. They should use tables, drawings, and words to track terms and notice features, such as odd and even numbers, multiples, increases, or repeating shapes.
Mastery looks like giving a clear rule, listing several terms correctly, and naming a pattern that was not stated in the rule. Students often mix up the term number with the term value, skip steps when extending patterns, or describe what they see without proving it works for more than one term.
Ways to teach it
- Use color tiles to build the first five figures of a growing pattern, then have students record a table for figure number and tile count.
- Ask students to write: What do you notice about the pattern 3, 6, 9, 12, and how can you prove it continues?
- Give an exit ticket with the rule add 4, start at 2, and ask for five terms plus one true observation.
- Show a calendar and have students find patterns in dates that fall on the same weekday, then explain the rule.
Plan a lesson for CCSS.Math.Content.4.OA.C
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Related standards
- CCSS.Math.Content.4.OA.C.5
Generate a number or shape pattern that follows a given rule. Identify apparent features of the pattern that were not explicit in the rule itself.
- CCSS.Math.Content.5.OA.B.3
Generate two numerical patterns using two given rules. Identify apparent relationships between corresponding terms. Form ordered pairs consisting of correspondi...
- CCSS.Math.Content.5.OA.B
Analyze patterns and relationships.
- CCSS.Math.Content.8.SP.A
Investigate patterns of association in bivariate data.