This study examines the solutions of 34 kindergarten children as they create equal groups from n bottle caps, where n was equal to 8, 9, 22, and 23. For each n, children were asked to find as many different solutions as possible. The number of solutions they found, i.e., children's fluency, as well as the strategies used to create equal groups,…

Integer operations are typically introduced in sixth grade, but they are a consistent area of struggle among these students. This struggle also inhibits their understanding of algebraic computations involving positive and negative terms. In this article, the author provides introductory tasks and models for adding and subtracting integers that can…

This study investigates students' and adults' performance in judging reasonableness of computational results, namely reflecting on whether these results qualify as acceptable answers to mathematical tasks. Data was gathered via task-based questionnaires from 160 participants, evenly divided between fifth-graders and adults. Their responses to a…

In this article, we draw on assemblage theory to investigate how children aged 5 engage with different material surfaces to explore ordinal and relational aspects of number. The children participate in an activity in which they first interact with a strip on the floor, then with a multi-touch iPad application, to work with numbers in expressive…

Background: South African learners face the double disadvantage of living in low socioeconomic conditions with access to few resources and attending schools with challenging learning conditions. Mathematics performance reflects such conditions with extreme performance gaps between wealthier and poorer learners. The need for early intervention is…

This paper reports on an experiment involving 108 sixth-grade French students in which the history of Chinese numeration was used in mathematics education. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relevance of using ancient number systems in mathematics education, which is common in French textbooks. In the experiment a pre-test with usual…

This article discusses the use of number talks to engage kindergarten children in regular joyful math opportunities in the classroom. As an educator of four- and five-year-old students in a full day kindergarten (FDK) program in Ontario, Canada, I embrace inquiry-based learning to guide children's activities. Inspired by the childcare centres in…

This study examined a game-based teaching activity on "Factors and Multiples" designed for the 6th grade students. The game aims to create a differentiated and enriched learning environment targeted the curriculum standard "The students determine prime numbers using their properties. The students find prime numbers using the…

Number system knowledge (NSK) is broadly defined as the understanding of number relationships and is an essential mathematics skill for young elementary school-aged students. NSK instruction that emphasizes connections between number sense and spatial reasoning could be a critical anchor for second-grade students to stay rooted in their conceptual…

The importance and usefulness of building on perceptual subitising and the development of conceptual subitising is explained. A guide on how to continue to develop numerical ideas based on subitising is shared.

It is frequently surprising to new teachers (and even those with experience) when they find that not only do some children need to recount the group they have just counted to be assured of the total but also that this need seems to be resistant to intervention. Although moving from "counting-all" to "count-on" is sometimes…

Research has demonstrated that providing labels helps children notice key features of examples. Much less is known about how different labels impact children's ability to make inferences about the structure underlying mathematical notation. We tested the impact of labeling decimals such as 0.34 using formal place-value labels ("3 tenths and 4…

In this paper, we investigate the mathematical, social and affective nature of children's engagement with "TouchCounts," a multitouch application for counting and doing arithmetic. In order to study these dimensions of engagement in a way that recognizes their fundamental intertwinement, we use rhythm as a primary unit of analysis.…

Rational number interpretations can include part-whole, measure, ratio, quotient, and operator. These are all subconstructs of partitioning (Barnett-Clarke et al. 2010; Behr et al. 1980; Clarke, Roche, and Mitchell 2008; Flores, Samson, and Yanik 2006). Each of these subconstructs uses different cognitive skills (Driscoll 1984), so it is important…

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…