In this article, Lindsey Fowler describes how an animal rhyme--that she shared with her fifth-grade students with the intention of assisting them with the concept of metric conversions--made fostering the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP) more difficult. The addition of animals, which added an extraneous element that students mistakenly…

Gesture is a powerful and frequent means of mathematical communication. It is a rich modality through which we may reach out to students and they may reach out to teachers, and this is particularly true for instances in which spoken language is not necessarily a commonality among classroom participants. Indeed, our movements help us share more…

The teacher displayed counting cards that included both dots and numerals in order from one to five, as she counted them with her students. She then turned the cards facedown, keeping them in order, and began an identify-a-hidden-card activity with the class. This class was engaged in the third of three card activities that develop number sense…

Children's literature can provide useful contexts for teaching mathematics. In this article, the authors discuss the use of the children's book "Measuring Penny" (Leedy 1997) to support Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) (CCSSI 2010) related to length measurement. The authors first describe three types of misconceptions…

The first author's initial attempts at a whole-class mathematics discussion were woefully dysfunctional. Ten second graders showing their answers to a missing addend question about the number of children left riding a school bus did not result in the mathematical epiphany that the textbook promised. She did not give up on using mathematical…

As a parent, the author stepped into his child's class on a Friday morning to a room buzzing with activity. Parents walked around the room, coffee and bagel in hand, reading stories that their child (and others) had drafted, revised, written, and illustrated. Students eagerly shared their stories and drawings, cherishing the comments and praise…

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…

To improve access to STEM curriculum, an activity was planned that presents the opportunity to design and build using gears and other tools. In this challenge, preservice elementary school teachers were asked to mathematically analyze gears and create an amusement park ride that uses gears to spin. Although this lesson was implemented with…

A first-grade teacher has students use their hands and fingers to engage in and develop understanding of counting, to combine groups to facilitate counting by fives and tens, and to describe their findings using words and equations.

The outdoors can offer children a rich space for learning and inspires authentic mathematical opportunities. The author describes the experiences her kindergarten students have when when they spend many hours each day, exploring their vast play yard and engaging in play-based activities typically done inside a classroom. She also chronicles the…

In this article the authors describe a project during which they unpacked fraction standards, created rigorous tasks and lesson plans, and developed formative and summative assessments to analyze students' thinking about fraction multiplication. The purpose of this article is to (1) illustrate a process that can be replicated by educators…

This article describes how a teacher in Mexico City worked with two researchers on an instructional design project to help kindergartners become proficient in participating in whole-class mathematical conversations.

Building physical models is a natural activity for children and provides a context for lessons on two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) shapes. However, children do not think of their models as prisms, cylinders, and pyramids. Their creations are spaceships, tunnels, castles, and nets on the floor. Creating these types of shapes with…

Young children thrive in classrooms that allow them to explore and discover their environment and interests and also support them in this learning. Because children learn best when they are interested and excited, early-childhood educators should offer children play-based, integrated mathematical experiences (NRC 2009). In this article, the…

This article reports on a study in which researchers asked children to "make up as story and a picture about marbles for this number sentence: 3 x 5 = 15." Students in this study came from pre - dominantly low- to average-income families living in three distinct geographical areas within the United States. A similar division task was…