How to Use DreamBox Math Assignments Effectively

This article provides an overview of how educators can use DreamBox Assignments effectively.

Assignments Basics

What does the Assignments tool help teachers do?

The Assignments tool in DreamBox Math empowers educators with an additional way to differentiate lessons by topic, or standard domain. Teachers can choose a topic in one of four ways:

  1. Based on their relevant state or regional standards
  2. Aligned to popular print curriculum programs
  3. Using RIT scores
  4. Aligned to DreamBox Math Learning Units

How many assignments can students work on at the same time?

Teachers can give students up to two assignments at a time from any of DreamBox Math's content at any grade level.

I have additional questions about assignments. Where can I find more information?

We recommend typing your question into the DreamBox Help Center's search field to get a quick AI summary and suggested articles, or exploring the articles below:

 

How Is The Assignments Tool Similar or Different to DreamBox Math's Intelligent Adaptive Learning™ Engine?

How does the Intelligent Adaptive Learning™ Engine work?

Without any action from teachers, DreamBox Math's Intelligent Adaptive Learning™ engine automatically provides individualized and differentiated lessons for every student by adapting learning paths, scaffolding concepts, and adjusting pacing based on each student’s unique needs. As students work on math problems using our interactive virtual manipulatives, DreamBox Math captures, analyzes, and responds to each student’s decisions, answers, and problem-solving strategies. Our continuous assessment responds formatively and summatively to facilitate students’ math development. The goal is to ensure students are in their optimal learning zone, in which a student is continually challenged enough to stay interested but not too challenged to become frustrated.

How are teacher-created assignments different than the lessons recommended by the Intelligent Adaptive Learning™ Engine?

When a teacher creates an assignment in DreamBox Math, they are directing students to lessons that are relevant and supportive of the learning outcomes they want students to focus on.The Assignments tool takes what a teacher wants their students to learn or practice and personalizes a learning pathway for each student based on data DreamBox Math already has about what they are ready to learn. 

DreamBox Math's personalized approach brings students to learning outcomes at their own pace, while Assignments will direct students to a specific learning outcome on a schedule set by their Educator. Operating independently, DreamBox Math meets students right where they are and guides them through a wide array of foundational concepts that lead to a deep understanding of more advanced concepts over time.

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Example: If a teacher's goal is that students understand and become fluent with multiplication of whole numbers, the adaptive engine and a teacher-created assignment approach this differently.

  • The Intelligent Adaptive Learning™ Engine will engage students through a wide variety of models and strategies such as skip counting, doubling, tripling, number lines, arrays, and number strings, recommending lessons based on student understanding. All of these lessons lead to a deep understanding of, and fluency with, multiplication, but it may not happen within the same timeframe. 
  • A Teacher-Created Assignment directing all students in a class to focus on understanding multiplication will likely have varying results because the assignment is on a fixed schedule. Every student may not have the requisite prior knowledge to build on. Each student will still receive a personalized path within the assignment, but students who start the assignment with less prior knowledge of the concept may not achieve the desired results within the specified time frame compared with students who had prior knowledge.

 

How Should I Use Assignments?

When creating assignments for students, we recommend using your knowledge of students’ readiness in conjunction with reviewing the student’s DreamBox Math lesson history, activity and standards progress to ensure the student is ready to focus on the desired concept.

Let’s look at a few scenarios of when we recommend using assignments in your class:

To Prepare or Introduce a Concept:

Scenario Action to Take in Assignments
I want to prepare a student for a topic that I am going to go over in class ahead of time so that they can be more engaged in the classroom dialogue when it begins.       If a student lacks confidence in the math classroom experience, an effective practice would be to strategically assign the concept that will be covered in class in the future. This way the student is exposed to the mathematical concepts ahead of time, preparing them to have more confidence participating in classroom dialogue and learning experiences. 
 
I want to introduce or reinforce concepts in preparation for upcoming in-class work or assessments.  Educators understand their students. If you know some of your students need to review earlier conceptual work from previous grade levels, you can assign something that helps students review and reinforce prior knowledge before starting the next concept. 

When Reviewing a Concept: 

Scenario Action to Take in Assignments
I want to review what we did in class with a student to see if they can apply it in a similar but unfamiliar situation.   Create an assignment to check for understanding in a similar but unfamiliar learning situation. This exemplifies the critical evidence of transfer of learning. 
 
I want to see if a student can apply a concept we are learning in class in a similar but unfamiliar situation.  Create an assignment to check for understanding in a similar but unfamiliar learning situation. This exemplifies the critical evidence of transfer of learning.

For Intervention:

Scenario Action to Take in Assignments
I want to provide intervention to fill specific gaps in prior knowledge ahead of specific in-class topics. Before introducing the new topic to the class, create an assignment for the students who need to review or practice earlier conceptual work. This will help build their prior knowledge ahead of time so they will feel more confident when exploring the new concept. 
 

For Remediation: 

Scenario Applied Example
I want to direct my student to build on their prior knowledge of topics from a previous grade. 3rd-grade multiplication is foundational to other key areas. If a 4th-grade student is progressing through third-grade multiplication standards, it would be best to create a Long-Term Assignment for those 3rd-grade multiplication standards instead of assigning 4th-grade multiplication or 3rd-grade fractions. 

 

Things to Keep in Mind when Crafting An Assignment:

Assignment Length

Start by asking, “What is the goal of the assignment, and how much time should students have to complete it?” You can choose between:

  •  Short-Term Assignments: These assignments include one to two lessons and are active up to fourteen days
  • Long-Term Assignments: These assignments continuously present students with lessons in the specified standard or cluster over several weeks or until they demonstrate proficiency in the standard(s).
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  • Click here to learn more about how to create Short and Long-Term Assignments. 
  • Click here to learn more about the Student Assignment Report. 

Choosing Topics

When using Assignments selected by standards, we recommend utilizing higher tiers such as Domains or Clusters, instead of the narrower standards themselves. Creating an assignment at the standard level will be very proscriptive, whereas creating an assignment at the Domain or Cluster level will broaden the range of lessons DreamBox Math can offer students, providing more differentiated learning pathway options within Assignments.

The Assignments tool honors student agency by continuing to present other concepts for the student to complete. This is critical to building strong decision-making habits within students. They need to make wise choices based on the information they have, If a student continually does not select the assigned lessons, it’s an opportunity for a conversation with the student.

What if Students Are Already Working on an Assigned Topic?

If you see a student’s name in the “In-Progress” column, that student has completed some DreamBox Math lessons on the topic you’ve chosen. By making the assignment, it will put a blue icon on the lesson for this topic in the student’s My Lessons page, indicating to the student you would like them to play the lessons DreamBox Math is recommending.

How Often Should You Make Assignments?

If you choose to use the Assignments tool, we recommend creating assignments strategically rather than as a regular habit and practice. Because DreamBox Math differentiates based on how students are showing their understanding, many teachers trust DreamBox Math to differentiate automatically. We recommend that no more than 20% of a student’s completed lessons within DreamBox Math come from Assignments during a school year. 

 

Additional Assignments FAQs

Q: Can I preview lessons before I create an assignment?

Yes! There are two ways to preview a lesson before or while creating an assignment.

  • Create an assignment from the Curriculum Guide: You can explore lessons alligned with specific domains and standards in the Curriculum Guide. When you have found the standard you want to create an assignment for, teachers can create an assignment directly from the Curriculum Guide.
Support Icons_Learn More_50px.png Click here to learn more about creating assignments from the Curriculum Guide.  
  • Preview lessons while creating an assignment: After you select a standard or print program for an assignment, you can preview a sample Just Started, In Progress, and Proficient lesson. 
Support Icons_Learn More_50px.png Click here to learn how to preview sample lessons while creating an assignment.  

 

Q: When I create an assignment, why doesn’t DreamBox Math hide all other lesson recommendations?

A: The Assignments tool honors student agency by continuing to present other concepts for the student to complete. Just as a student can choose not to complete homework, a student can choose not to complete a DreamBox Math assignment. This is critical to building strong decision-making principles for the student. They need to make the best choice based on the information they have.

 

Learn more about Assignments

Click the titles below to open additional articles about DreamBox Assignments.

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