Alabama's learning practices, explained for parents
The Alabama Course of Study lists what students learn in each grade and subject. Alongside that content, each subject names practices: the ways students are expected to think and work, such as making sense of a problem, planning an investigation, using context clues or judging a source. They aren't a separate subject. Teachers build them into everyday lessons, and they show up on state tests too.
Student Mathematical Practices
Eight habits of good math thinkers, from sticking with a hard problem to explaining why an answer works.
- Making sense. Understanding a problem, making a plan and sticking with it.
- Reasoning. Explaining thinking, and listening to and questioning other people's reasoning.
- Modeling and tools. Using drawings, objects, equations and tools to show and solve real problems.
- Precision and patterns. Being careful with numbers and words, and spotting patterns and structure.
Ideas for home
- Ask “How do you know?” after an answer, even when it's right.
- Estimate first (the grocery total, the drive time), then check.
- Let your child solve a real problem, like doubling a recipe, and explain each step.
Science and engineering practices
Asking questions, planning investigations, using models and evidence, and designing solutions.
- Investigating. Asking questions and planning and carrying out fair, safe investigations.
- Analyzing data. Recording observations and measurements, and finding patterns in charts and graphs.
- Explaining and designing. Using evidence to explain what happened, and designing and testing solutions to problems.
Ideas for home
- Wonder out loud together: “Why do you think that happened? How could we test it?”
- Keep a simple weather or plant-growth log for a week and look for patterns.
- Build something from recycled materials, then talk about how to improve it.
Recurring English language arts standards
Skills practiced all year in every grade: active listening, context clues, using digital tools well and writing through a process.
- Listening and speaking. Listening actively and following rules for discussion.
- Context clues. Using the words around an unfamiliar word to work out what it means.
- Writing process. Planning, drafting, revising, editing and publishing, with digital tools used safely and fairly.
Ideas for home
- After reading together, ask what your child wondered and what surprised them.
- When you meet a new word, ask what clues in the sentence hint at its meaning.
- Ask your child to read a piece of writing aloud and pick one sentence to make better.
Social studies practices
Evaluating evidence and communicating conclusions, with civic, economic, geographic and historical thinking.
- Evaluating evidence. Using primary and secondary sources, and telling fact from opinion.
- Communicating conclusions. Explaining a claim with evidence in writing and speaking.
- Disciplinary thinking. Thinking like a citizen, an economist, a geographer and a historian.
Ideas for home
- Look at a map before a trip and let your child find the route.
- Make a family timeline with photos and dates.
- When you see a news headline together, ask which parts are facts and which are opinions.
Common questions
They're part of the Alabama Course of Study, so teachers teach them and state tests include them, but they're usually graded inside each subject rather than on their own line. How they appear on a report card depends on your district.
The practices connect the content of every grade. A child doesn't only learn fractions or the water cycle, but also how to solve problems, investigate and explain with them.
Alabama doesn't have statewide social and emotional learning standards for kindergarten to grade 9 like some states do. Districts choose their own programs, so ask your child's school what it uses.
Partly. Gradelings practices subject skills in math, reading and writing, science and social studies, and many questions ask children to read data, put events in order or reason through a problem. Investigating, researching and discussing grow best in class and at home, so we suggest home activities rather than scores.
Ask your child's teacher how the practices show up in class. ALSDE publishes the full Alabama Course of Study for every subject.
Next: understand the Alabama report card levels or browse all Alabama parent guides. Gradelings practices subject skills; these thinking skills grow every time your child explains, tests an idea or asks a good question.
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