CGI Math

Cognitively Guided instruction (CGI) is a student-centered approach to teaching math that is based upon 30 years of research. It starts with what students already know and builds on their natural number sense and intuitive approaches to problem solving.

The central theme of CGI is that children come to school with mathematical knowledge. Children develop their math understanding by solving a variety of problems in a way that makes sense to them. The children build their own understanding and inform other children, and the teacher, as they share their thinking. As a result, children build connections and relationships among the mathematical ideas so that the math makes sense to them, and the math is meaningful in their lives.

CGI is a way of listening to students, asking smart questions, and engaging with their thinking—all with the goal of uncovering and expanding every student’s mathematical understanding.