The fifth-grade curriculum presents many opportunities to use students' prior mathematical knowledge as a way to bridge new and more difficult mathematical ideas. In this article, the authors document an area tiling task given to fifth-grade students to connect aspects of area measurement covered in earlier grades to grade-level standards such as:…

The author wants her students to see any new mathematics--fractions, negative numbers, algebra--as logical extensions of what they already know. This article describes two students' efforts to make sense of their conflicting interpretations of 1/2 × -6, both of which were compelling and logical to them. It describes how discussion, constructing…

The authors asked fifth-grade and eighth-grade students to pose stories for number sentences involving the addition and subtraction of integers. In this article, the authors look at eight stories from students. Which of these stories works for the given number sentence? What do they reveal about student thinking? When the authors examined these…

This article gives a general overview of an alternative instructional sequence that can be used to teach integer concepts and operations. The sequence follows three heuristics from Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) that encourage curricula to be reinforced with real-world applications (financial net worth): move students gradually, yet…

Examines bar models as graphical representations of rational numbers and presents related real life problems. Concludes that, through pairing the fraction bars with ratio tables and other ways of teaching numbers, numeric strategies become connected with visual strategies that allow students with diverse ways of thinking to share their…