Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics: A Quest for Coherence provides a rationale for focal points for each grade level, prekindergarten - 8.
This text offers guidance to teachers, mathematics coaches, administrators, parents, and policymakers. This book: provides a research-based description of eight essential mathematics teaching practices ; describes the conditions, structures, and policies that must support the teaching practices ; builds on NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and supports implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics to attain much higher levels of mathematics achievement for all students ; identifies obstacles, unproductive and productive beliefs, and key actions that must be understood, acknowledged, and addressed by all stakeholders ; encourages teachers of mathematics to engage students in mathematical thinking, reasoning, and sense making to significantly strengthen teaching and learning.
Mathematics educators have long recognised the importance of helping students to develop problem-solving skills. More recently, they have searched for the best ways to provide their students with the knowledge encompassed in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This volume is one in a series from NCTM that equips classroom teachers with targeted, highly effective problems for achieving both goals at once. The 44 problems and tasks for students in this book are organised into the major areas of the high school Common Core: algebra, functions, geometry, statistics and probability, and number and quantity. Examples of modelling, the other main CCSS area, are incorporated throughout. Every domain that is required of all mathematics students is represented. For each task, teachers will find a rich, engaging problem or set of problems to use as a lesson starting point. An accompanying discussion ties these tasks to the specific Common Core domains and clusters they help to explore. Follow-up sections highlight the relevant CCSS Standards for Mathematical Practice that students will engage in as they work on these problems. This book provides high school mathematics teachers with dozens of problems they can use as is, adapt for their classrooms, or be inspired by while creating related problems on other topics. For every mathematics educator, the books in this series will help to illuminate a crucial link between problem solving and the Common Core State Standards.
Early childhood mathematics is vitally important for young children's present and future educational success. Research demonstrates that virtually all young children have the capability to learn and become competent in mathematics. Furthermore, young children enjoy their early informal experiences with mathematics. Unfortunately, many children's potential in mathematics is not fully realized, especially those children who are economically disadvantaged. This is due, in part, to a lack of opportunities to learn mathematics in early childhood settings or through everyday experiences in the home and in their communities. Improvements in early childhood mathematics education can provide young children with the foundation for school success. Relying on a comprehensive review of the research, Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood lays out the critical areas that should be the focus of young children's early mathematics education, explores the extent to which they are currently being incorporated in early childhood settings, and identifies the changes needed to improve the quality of mathematics experiences for young children. This book serves as a call to action to improve the state of early childhood mathematics. It will be especially useful for policy makers and practitioners-those who work directly with children and their families in shaping the policies that affect the education of young children.
Focus in Grade 2: Teaching with Curriculum Focal Points describes and illustrates learning paths for the mathematical concepts and skills of each grade 2 Focal Point as presented in Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics. It includes representational supports for teaching and learning that can facilitate understanding, stimulate productive discussions about mathematical thinking and provide a foundation for fluency with the core ideas. This book also discusses common student errors and misconceptions, reasons the errors may arise and teaching methods or visual representations to address the errors. Because learning paths cut across grades, some discussion of related Focal Points at grades 1 and 3 have been included to describe and clarify prerequisite knowledge and show how the grade 2 understandings build on what went before. Focus in Grade 2, one in a series of grade-level publications, is designed to support teachers, supervisors and coordinators as they develop and refine the mathematics curriculum.
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.