Magnitude understanding is critical for students to develop a deep understanding of fractions and more advanced mathematics curriculum. The research reports in this special issue underscore magnitude understanding for fractions and emphasize number lines as both an assessment and an instructional tool. In this commentary, we discuss how number…

In this commentary, I examine some of the distinctive, foundational difficulties in learning fractions and other types of rational numbers encountered by students with a mathematical learning disability and how these differ from the struggles experienced by students classified as low achieving in math. I discuss evidence indicating that students…

By the time they reach middle school, all students have been taught to add fractions. However, not all have "learned" to add fractions. The common mistake in adding fractions is to report that a/b + c/d is equal to (a + c)/(b + d). It is certainly necessary to correct this mistake when a student makes it. However, this occasion also…

This is volume one of a three-volume SMSG junior high school mathematics text. This volume contains units concerned with the structure of the number systems of arithmetic. Unit topics include: (1) numeration; (2) natural numbers and zero; (3) factoring and primes; (4) supplementary tests for divisibility and repeating decimals; (5) the…

This is volume one of a three-volume set for teachers using SMSG junior high school text materials. Each unit contains a commentary on the text, answers to all the exercises, a copy of the questionnaire used for evaluating the material, and a summary of comments by the teachers using the text. Unit topics include: (1) numeration; (2) natural…

Attempted to verify knowledge regarding decimal and rational numbers in children ages 10-14. Discusses how pupils can receive and assimilate extensions of the number system from natural numbers to decimals and fractions and later can integrate this extension into a single and coherent numerical structure. (Author/MKR)

The problem of getting a correct result when a fraction is reduced by cancelling a digit which appears in both the numerator and the denominator is extended from the base ten situation to any number base. (DT)

The topics discussed are, "Helping Students Understand the Distributive Property,""Converting from Base 10: Nonintegral Bases?,""Rapid Mental Squaring of Mixed Numbers," and "Some Nonstandard Binary Operations and their Properties." (JT)

A series of activities designed to help primary school children understand the meaning of the term "fraction," the symbolization, and equivalence of fractions are presented. Identification of units and pictorial representation are stressed, as is the uses of concrete materials. (SD)

A series of questions can be posed and resolved in the process of teaching that the decimal expansions of rationals are terminating or repeating. (SD)

The question is raised: What comes first: rules of calculation or the meaning of concepts? The pressures on the teacher to teach and simplify knowledge to algorithms are discussed. The relation between conceptual and procedural knowledge in school mathematics and consequences for the teacher's professional knowledge are considered. (DC)

This is one in a series of SMSG supplementary and enrichment pamphlets for high school students. This series is designed to make material for the study of topics of special interest to students readily accessible in classroom quantity. Topics covered include the decimal system, exponential notation, base seven, and the binary and duodecimal…

This is one in a series of manuals for teachers using SMSG high school supplementary materials. The pamphlet includes commentaries on the sections of the student's booklet, answers to the exercises, and sample test questions. Topics covered include factors and primes, perfect numbers, divisibility, expanded notation, repeating decimals, number…

This booklet is one of the ten in the series "Experiences in Mathematical Discovery", produced by the General Mathematics Writing Project of the NCTM. Each is designed for use by students of ninth-grade general mathematics. The discussion and problems are designed to guide the student through an understanding of: 1) fractions, 2) equivalent…