Increasing availability of digital devices in elementary school classrooms presents exciting new opportunities for teachers to support the teaching and learning of mathematics. Although many of the math applications available for these devices focus on drill and practice of mathematical procedures, screencasting apps can help support effective…

Teachers should not assume a problem is difficult for the students just because it appears difficult. A teacher solves one such difficult mathematical problem, an egg dilemma problem.

Endorses the projects approach to learning as helping students acquire contextual, personal knowledge rather than learning only isolated bits of content information. Describes the five-step process for doing projects which includes productive thinking or generating ideas, the planning or organizing of ideas, decision making, communication or…

Presents responses to the Average Days of Spring problem that appeared in the March 2002 issue of this journal. (Author/NB)

Presents the Picasso Masterpiece problem to develop spatial reasoning in students. Addresses the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Geometry Content Standards. (Author/NB)

Presents two problems posed to kindergarten children to challenge and to encourage discourse among the students working in small groups of 8 to 10 children. Results showed various levels of understanding and demonstrated various approaches which serve to give the teacher insight into the level of understanding of the class and the possible need to…

Presents ways of using fanciful stories to engage students in mathematical problem solving. (KHR)

Presents activities that focus on the mathematical opportunities that abound as part of the Olympic Games. (KHR)

Features activities and problems designed to appeal directly to students and be relevant to today's world. (KHR)

Presents sample newspaper activities to help students find applications of classroom-taught skills and to give students practice in reading, thinking, discussing, and writing about mathematics. (MKR)

Teacher should strive to be more than the authority in the classroom identifying right versus wrong relating to problem solving. Identifying and emphasizing what aspects of an answer are mathematically correct improves students' confidence to tackle challenging problems and they view themselves as mathematical problem solvers.

Describes six key practices vital to a problem-centered instructional approach to number sense and computational strategies. Also presents actual classroom examples of strategies. (AIM)

This activity for grades three through six determines how to identify the gross tonnage of a ship by measuring volume in cubic feet. During the problem-solving process, students construct and use a tool for measuring volume, derive a formula based on data collected, and compare their data with a given set of statistics. (AIM)

Discusses an approach to learning that uses well-selected problems to capture student interest and challenge their intellect. Presents an example of the problem-centered approach and discusses ways in which it helps all students learn important mathematical concepts and skills. (KHR)

Presents weekly activities that focus on various forms of transportation in the world. Students investigate transportation through data collection, geometry, and measurement. (KHR)