Mathematics assessments should allow all students opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and skills as problem solvers. Looking at textbook word problems, we share a process for revising them using Universal Design for Learning.
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Noah Brown, Jonathan D. Bostic, Timothy Folger, Laura Folger, Tiara Hicks, and Shay Nafziger
Amanda K. Riske, Catherine E. Cullicott, Amanda Mohammad Mirzaei, Amanda Jansen, and James Middleton
We introduce the Into Math Graph tool, which students use to graph how “into" mathematics they are over time. Using this tool can help teachers foster conversations with students and design experiences that focus on engagement from the student’s perspective.
Crystal Kalinec-Craig, Emily P. Bonner, and Traci Kelley
This article describes an innovation in an elementary mathematics education course called SEE Math (Support and Enrichment Experiences in Mathematics), which aims to support teacher candidates (TCs) as they learn to teach mathematics through problem solving while promoting equity during multiple experiences with a child. During this 8-week program, TCs craft and implement tasks that promote problem solving in the context of a case study of a child’s thinking while collecting and analyzing student data to support future instructional decisions. The program culminates in a mock parent–teacher conference. Data samples show how SEE Math offers TCs an opportunity to focus on the nuances of children’s strengths rather than traditional measures of achievement and skill.
Jamie Vescio
This article examines action research findings within a fourth-grade mathematics classroom. The researcher explores the effects of positive communication to family members on the engagement of learners receiving Tier 2 behavioral support, as well as potential considerations for building young learners’ mathematical identities.
Tonya Gau Bartell
This is one of many practices to support teachers in assessing students’ mathematical thinking and better understanding students’ lived experiences that they can then draw on in mathematics instruction. This article highlights four examples of teachers’ efforts to reimagine homework for K–2 students.
Katherine Baker, Naomi A. Jessup, Victoria R. Jacobs, Susan B. Empson, and Joan Case
Productive struggle is an essential part of mathematics instruction that promotes learning with deep understanding. A video scenario is used to provide a glimpse of productive struggle in action and to showcase its characteristics for both students and teachers. Suggestions for supporting productive struggle are provided.
LouAnn H. Lovin
Moving beyond memorization of probability rules, the area model can be useful in making some significant ideas in probability more apparent to students. In particular, area models can help students understand when and why they multiply probabilities and when and why they add probabilities.
Susan Baker Empson, Victoria R. Jacobs, Naomi A. Jessup, Ms. Amy Hewitt, D'Anna Pynes, and Gladys Krause
The complexity of understanding unit fractions is often underappreciated in instruction. We introduce a continuum of children's understanding of unit fractions to explore this complexity and to help teachers make sense of children's strategies and recognize milestones in the development of unit-fraction understanding. Suggestions for developing this understanding are provided.
Amy Noelle Parks
Children experience joy in well-designed mathematics classrooms. This article describes five research-based practices for bringing joy into PreK-Grade 2 math lessons.
Daniel Edelen, Heather Simpson, and Sarah B. Bush
The incorporation of the “M” in STEAM must extend beyond simply a tool to address science and engineering standards (Authors, 2016; NCSM/NCTM, 2018). We present a mathematics- rich STEAM inquiry in which elementary students engaged in solving the issue of homelessness for one family in need.