These educators share the "how" and "why" behind their use of open middle tasks in the classroom. In this article, the authors share a type of mathematics task, called Open Middle, that exhibits the characteristics outlined above. The authors frequently use Open Middle tasks in their classrooms because they teach students that…

The authors describe a lesson--"You Decide"--which challenges students but also provides opportunities for success for those who may struggle. They show how this lesson has been helpful for teachers in revealing some misconceptions that often exist in primary students' thinking. In this article, they share data on the apparent relative…

This study aimed to produce a learning path that can help students understand the concept of percent using the context of an egg rack. This study used a design research method through the Indonesian Realistic Mathematics Education approach which was carried out at Elementary School No. 2 Gumawang, Indonesia. Data were obtained through observation,…

This article aims to show some activities based on non-routine problems with different levels of difficulty and from different classes that are integrated into the curriculum, additionally two spaces were opened for students to interact with recreational mathematics activities with the purpose of providing opportunities to all students access the…

Our research aimed to investigate the potential learning benefits to young children of implementing digital interactive multimodal technologies that provide both visual and haptic experiences in elementary mathematics classrooms. We studied the ways in which fourth-grade students collaboratively create collective strategies for solving…

In this article, the role of digital feedback that was provided in an outdoor mathematics education setting is taken into consideration. Using the app MathCityMap (2020) in the context of a mathematics trail, the influence of positive and/or negative feedback is examined in relation to how it influences the processes of verification and…

The purpose of this article is to report how Year 6 teachers used geometric reasoning tasks to foster students' mathematical attitudes and dispositions by encouraging communication as students constructed mathematical meaning for themselves. The Year 6 teachers implemented two tasks to provide a rich mathematical assessment opportunity…

Collaborative learning requires a lot of talk. Although not all student talk may be related to the task at hand, some off-task talk is actually productive, as it enables students to negotiate how they will work together, gain attention of fellow group members, and draw others into joining the work. Emma C. Gargroetzi, Rosa D. Chavez, Jen Munson,…

Developing textbooks of optimal quality is crucial for enriching the students' learning and understanding. This study examined fraction addition and subtraction problems in the U.S. and South Korean mathematics textbooks according to the types of denominators. In particular, we investigated Everyday Mathematics (EM) and South Korean mathematics…

Difficulties of primary school students in solving mathematical problems that require problem solving or reasoning abilities indicate the existence of problems in the process of learning mathematics, because one of the purposes of learning mathematics in primary school is to develop the students' mathematical problem-solving skills. As a solution…

We present a design study developed in an Italian school. Taking inspiration from the work of the Russian psychologist V. V. Davydov, we have reformulated some activities of his curriculum for the first grade, in order to adapt them to a didactic project for a fifth grade class. In the paper we firstly expose our theoretical assumptions and the…

When students are working together, some off-task conversations actually smooth the way to working together more effectively. While many assume that off-task talk is unproductive, our study revealed that students used off-task talk predominantly for productive purposes. We found that off-task talk supported student access to collaboration, and…

Is anything more refreshing than going for a nice, long swim? The math scenarios presented in this article will take the reader back to hot summer days and remind the reader what a cool dip in the water feels like. Solving these problems is enjoyable and encourages the solver to think of the many ways that math is all around--even in the middle of…

Research has demonstrated that providing labels helps children notice key features of examples. Much less is known about how different labels impact children's ability to make inferences about the structure underlying mathematical notation. We tested the impact of labeling decimals such as 0.34 using formal place-value labels ("3 tenths and 4…

This research examined the effects of two instructional treatments on training performance in solid volume measurement and potential effects on solving capacity and displaced volume problems by two related studies. Fifty-three fifth-graders from a public elementary school in Taipei, Taiwan, participated. In the Phase 1 study, the children (n = 27)…