Presents the reflections of students on a problem given in May, 1996 issue of this journal in order to share the thinking of middle school students. The problem concerned weighing on a double per balance if given a clump of clay, and a 20-gram and 50-gram balance. (ASK)

Presents ideas to increase parent involvement in students' mathematics work by sending worksheets home for families to work on together. Includes sample worksheet. (MKR)

Tells a story written by a sixth-grade student to illustrate the various kinds of numbers encountered in elementary arithmetic. (MKR)

Presents a way to design lesson plans that takes into account four modes of communication (oral, written, visual, and kinesthetic) and four audiences (self, partner, small group, and whole class) and that allows for reflection based on the NCTM Standards. (MKR)

Recommends "Maniac Magee,""Dicey's Song," and "Dear Mr. Henshaw" as children's fiction books that portray mathematics in a positive light. (MKR)

Presents a game designed as a chance-and-data activity that can be used to illustrate the use of probability-tree diagrams and multiplication and addition rules of probability. (ASK)

Features a question that focuses on the use of cryptology to teach modes. (ASK)

Shares the thinking of one seventh-grade student about his discovery concerning Pythagorean triples during the study of the Pythagorean theorem. (MKR)

Presents a sixth-grade student's fictional story and illustrations using economics vocabulary words learned in mathematics class from the storybook, "How to Turn Lemons into Money." (MKR)

Presents an activity in which students use geometric figures, rep-tiles, to design a tile floor. Rep-tiles are geometric figures of which copies can fit together to form a larger similar figure. Includes reproducible student worksheet. (MKR)

Illuminates some concerns of teachers about the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Curriculum Standards. Demonstrates changes in attitudes of teachers who have sufficient time to assimilate and accommodate the NCTM reforms. (MKR)

Describes a game in which students strengthen their number sense by using mental mathematics to find and check factors and multiples of numbers up to 100. (ASK)

Illustrates how open-ended items offer teachers knowledge of students' understanding on which to base instructional decisions. Presents some items teachers might use to assess their students' understanding of decimals. (ASK)

Discusses ways to help students improve their problem-solving skills. Presents some mathematics problems to be used in classrooms. (ASK)

Presents some funny stories that can be used to develop a mathematical method as a starting point for creating alternative approaches to solving traditional algebra word problems. (KHR)