The visibility of developmental education--or basic skills education as it is called most often in California--has increased in recent years. One major catalyst was a comprehensive community college strategic planning process completed in 2004 that listed basic skills as a critical area of focus. Another was an increase in the system's minimum…

University mathematics education courses do not always provide the opportunity to make connections between advanced topics and the mathematics taught in middle school or high school. Activities like the ones described in this article invite such connections. Analyzing concrete or particular examples provides a better grasp of abstract concepts.…

Three games played with regular bridge decks of cards are described. By playing the games students gain practice in use of basic operations on integers and in the development of strategies. (SD)

Upper elementary school students created their own algorithms for finding products of whole numbers. The algorithms were similar to familiar ones for finding products involving 9 and 11. (SD)

Worksheets to be used for practice on addition and multiplication are provided. (SD)

This workbook for children was prepared especially to accompany the level 1 Micronesian Mathematics Program Teacher's Guide. It is to be used to check whether children have learned concepts taught by activities and activity cards. Work is provided for such concepts as color recognition, categorizing, counting, ordering, numeration, contrasting,…

A model for multiplication is described and used to discuss the properties of division. (SD)

Games for use in practicing rounding numbers and mental computation using tens and hundreds are described. The importance of estimation to computation is discussed. (SD)

A game involving operations on whole numbers, observing patterns in the relationships between operands and results, and seeking problems yielding various numerical solutions is described. (SD)

The observations of a fifth-grade student concerning number patterns are recorded and discussed. (SD)

Pattern recognition is viewed as a fundamental cognitive skill that lays the groundwork for the ability to form abstractions and generalizations. Incorporating patterning into the curriculum of young children is encouraged. (MP)

The purpose of this practicum was to increase motivation and self-confidence of grade four students in mathematics achievement. Measured were the increase in the number of students displaying mastery of the times-tables, increase in the number of students making a gain on a math post-test, and increase in the number of students liking mathematics.…