Students' ability to operate with increasingly more complex units has been shown to be a key factor in their conceptual development. These abilities have been characterized as "stages of units coordination." This article focuses on the domain of composing and decomposing composite units. Using data from a teaching experiment with a…

Students with mature number sense make sense of numbers and operations, use reasoning to notice patterns, and flexibly select the most effective and efficient problem-solving strategies (McIntosh et al., 1997; Yang, 2005). Despite being highlighted in national standards and policy documents (CCSS, 2010; NCTM, 2000), the association between…

Students who exhibit mature number sense make sense of numbers and operations, use reasoning to notice patterns, and flexibly choose effective problem-solving strategies (McIntosh et al., 1997, https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks/6819). Due to its dispositional nature, mature number sense is typically measured through in-depth interviews or tests of…

Developing a positive relationship with mathematics in early elementary is vital for success in future mathematics education. Students who do not develop an understanding of mathematical number sense in early grade levels struggle to make connections in later courses. Mathematical discourse sessions, specifically Number Talks, encourage students…

Difficulties with rational numbers have been explained by a natural number bias, where concepts of natural numbers are inappropriately applied to rational numbers. Overcoming this difficulty may require a radical restructuring of previous knowledge. In order to capture this development, we examined third- to fifth-grade students' understanding of…

We examined the role of executive attention, which encompasses the common aspects of executive function and executive working memory, in children's acquisition of two aspects of mathematical skill: (a) knowledge of the number system (e.g., place value) and of arithmetic procedures (e.g., multi-digit addition) and (b) arithmetic fluency (i.e.,…

The purpose of the present study was to explore the 3rd-grade cognitive predictors of 5th-grade computational skill with rational numbers and how those are similar to and different from the cognitive predictors of whole-number computational skill. Students (n=688) were assessed on incoming whole-number calculation skill, language, nonverbal…

Every student should understand and use all concepts and skills from the previous grade levels. The standard is designed so that new learning builds on preceding skills. Communications, Problem-solving, Reasoning & Proof, Connections, and Representation are the process standards that are embedded throughout the teaching and learning of all…

This study investigated three factors associated with third grade children's ability to solve open sentences of the types N + a = b, a + N = b, a - N = b, and N - a = b, where a and b are given whole numbers and N is to be found. Two factors were: (1) the size of the numbers a and b; and (2) the context of the sentence, whether presented alone or…

This paper presents a qualitative study that investigated two third-grade students' understanding of number. The children were videotaped while they worked to record everything they knew about the number, 72. Their artifacts and conversations were then analyzed using the Pirie-Kieren dynamical theory for the growth of mathematical understanding as…

The relationship between children's performance in solving open sentences and the factors of sentence type, number size, and context was investigated. The study also identified and classified the methods of solution used. Thirty-two third graders were individually given an orally administered test on open sentences. Four types of open sentences…

Investigates the problem-posing abilities of third-grade children who displayed different profiles of achievement in number sense and novel problem solving. Concludes that children had difficulties in posing a range of problems in formal contexts in contrast to informal contexts, and children of different achievement profiles displayed different…

This is part one of a two-part SMSG elementary school text for third-grade students. The development of mathematical ideas in the text is grounded in appropriate experiences with things from the physical world and the immediate environment. Chapter topics include: (1) sets of points; (2) addition and subtraction; (3) describing points and numbers;…

This document is a collection of mathematics pretests and posttests for grades 3 and 4 on the topics of sets, place value, addition-subtraction, multiplication, division, multiplication-division, and fractions. Two forms for each test are provided plus answer keys. This work was prepared under an ESEA Title III contract. (DT)

In the fall of 1966, the School Mathematics Study Group embarked upon a four-year longitudinal study of mathematical learning in the primary grades, the Elementary Mathematics Project (ELMA). The primary purpose of the study was to assess children's progress in learning particular mathematical ideas during the beginning school years. This volume…