eBook downloads, eBook resources & eBook authors
Explains how children between the ages of four and eight construct a deep understanding of numbers and the operations of addition and subtraction.
Questioning has become one of the biggest challenges of teachers everywhere as they rise to the challenge of transforming their classrooms into communities of mathematicians. The CCSS Standards of Mathematical Practice require that children engage in problem solving with tenacity and confidence, use models as tools for thinking, and read and write viable arguments. This mandate demands that teachers foster a climate conducive to the generating of mathematics rather than the explanation of it. This book sets the bar for providing suggestions on how to question and confer--how to teach and mentor young mathematicians in elementary classrooms. Written by a leading author in the field, the book describes characteristics of powerful conferrals, and shows how to make the moments matter. Developmental frameworks, ways of assessing in the moment, and tips on how to help children get started and overcome math anxiety are all described as well as several example conferrals. Video clips of the author and several exemplary teachers conferring with students are provided throughout as illustrations.
All students enter our math classrooms with ideas worthy of discussion. Some of the most effective breakthroughs come from short, intentional conversations between students and teacher, yet planning for these moments can seem daunting. In her innovative book, Conferring in the Math Classroom: A Practical Guidebook to Using 5-Minute Conferences to Grow Confident Mathematicians, Gina Picha focuses on simple and transformative ways teachers can use math conferences, short conversations between teachers and small groups of students at work, to guide instruction, assess understanding, and build strong math thinkers. Inside you will learn to: Facilitate math conferences to listen to students, identify and build on their strengths, and encourage them to share their math thinking Build a positive math identity that will help nurture student-centered math classrooms Ask exploratory questions to gain data-driven insight into their math reasoning and plan the next steps for instruction Provide differentiated math instruction based on the individual or small group needs Drive fun and interactive math talk in the classroom Picha includes teacher questioning guides, If-Then charts organized by grade level and math topic, and note-taking templates to help you get started with math conferring right away. This practical and highly accessible approach can help students deepen their math understanding, build confidence in their math abilities, and connect learnings between math subjects.
Traditionally, small-group math instruction has been used as a format for reaching children who struggle to understand. Math coach Kassia Omohundro Wedekind uses small-group instruction as the centerpiece of her math workshop approach, engaging all students in rigorous "math exchanges." The key characteristics of these mathematical conversations are that they are: 1) short, focused sessions that bring all mathematical minds together, 2) responsive to the needs of the specific group of mathematicians, and 3) designed for meaningful, guided reflection. As in reading and writing workshop, students in math workshop become self-directed and independent while participating in a classroom community of learners. Through the math exchanges, students focus on number sense and the big ideas of mathematics. Teachers guide the conversations with small groups of students, mediating talk and thinking as students share problem-solving strategies, discuss how math works, and move toward more effective and efficient approaches and greater mathematical understanding. Although grounded in theory and research, Math Exchanges: Guiding Young Mathematicians in Small Group Meetings is written for practicing teachers and answers such questions as the following: How can I use a math workshop approach and follow a certain textbook or set of standards? How should I form small groups? How often should I meet with small groups? What should I focus on in small groups? How can I tell if my groups are making progress? What do small-group math exchanges look like, sound like, and feel like?
Results from national and international assessments indicate that school children in the United States are not learning mathematics well enough. Many students cannot correctly apply computational algorithms to solve problems. Their understanding and use of decimals and fractions are especially weak. Indeed, helping all children succeed in mathematics is an imperative national goal. However, for our youth to succeed, we need to change how we're teaching this discipline. Helping Children Learn Mathematics provides comprehensive and reliable information that will guide efforts to improve school mathematics from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The authors explain the five strands of mathematical proficiency and discuss the major changes that need to be made in mathematics instruction, instructional materials, assessments, teacher education, and the broader educational system and answers some of the frequently asked questions when it comes to mathematics instruction. The book concludes by providing recommended actions for parents and caregivers, teachers, administrators, and policy makers, stressing the importance that everyone work together to ensure a mathematically literate society.
This professional resource provides teachers with suggestions, tips, management, and implementation methods for using effective conferencing with students within the Guided Math framework. Templates, planning tools, and other resources are provided to help teachers stay organized and effective while conferring.
Help young writers learn to engage and invite their reader's thinking with five key thinking strategies - connect, question, visualize, infer, and transform.
Shows teachers how to create intellectual environments that produce techinically competent students who are caring, secure, and activitely literate human beings
"This book begins by pushing back on the kind of rote routines that lack opportunities for reasoning (like the calendar) that teachers often use in early childhood and primary classrooms. Instead, the author offers innovations on old routines and some new routines that encourage reasoning, argumentation, and the development of important math ideas. She focuses on using math routines in playful ways with your children. See chapter titles for the different routines featured in the book"--
This resource provides specific strategies for implementing the seven elements of the Guided Math Framework. In addition, this professional resource includes digital resources, sample lessons, activities, and classroom snapshots of strategy implementation at three grade level spans: K-2, 3-5, and 6-8.
