Capturing junior high school students' interest in computation is the aim. Three activities are described in which computation acts as a needed tool within a problem-solving context. (MN)

Reptiles are used as a theme on four worksheets for practicing skills in computation, measurement, comparison, reading, and problem solving. (MNS)

The author suggests that, through using the outlined question model and suggested classroom activities, elementary students will improve their abilities to analyze routine, one-step word problems and make a plan for the solution. It is further argued that the same algorithm can be applied to multistep problems by using specified questions. (PK)

Determined whether 11 third-grade children, differing in cognitive processing capacity, solve addition and subtraction word problems differently. Results, among others, show that children who differ in cognitive processing capacity also differ in strategies they use to solve the same verbal problems and differ in their success in finding correct…

Discusses procedures used throughout history to solve fractional and decimal divisor problems. Early rules and definitions, approaches in mathematics and methods books, "new math" approaches, research findings, and recent textbook procedures are included. Concludes by presenting nine recommendations for teaching the operation. (DH)

The need to provide understandable problems and ways to help children understand problems are explored. An interview with a sixth grader depicts his incorrect strategies and leads to suggestions for teaching problem solving using a range of mathematical models for each operation. (MNS)

Beginning with a simple computer program to teach a fundamental concept and building in small increments is suggested. For the topic of repeated operations, three activities, an extension, and some problems are given. (MNS)

Solutions to addition and subtraction word problems were studied in a three-year longitudinal study that followed 88 children from grades one to three. They solved problems using a variety of strategies before formal instruction and used invented strategies several years after formal instruction. Four levels of problem-solving ability were found.…

The questions addressed in this paper are: how do students interpret the non-solution problems as a mathematical practice in the classroom? What kinds of arguments do the students offer? To deal with these questions the utterances of students working in the classroom with problems in which they had to look for general relations in order to argue…

In the study, a part of longitudinal research focused on the emergence of mathematical knowledge structures in a learner's mind is presented. It concentrates on the analysis of introspective data gained from the author's study of a non-standard arithmetic structure in terms of the model of abstraction in context (Hershkowitz, Schwarz and Dreyfus).…

The first in a three-volume set, this book focuses on young children between the ages of four and eight as they construct a deeper understanding of numbers and the operations of addition and subtraction. Rather than offer unrelated activities, this book provides a concerted, unified description of development with a focus on big ideas, progressive…

Results from the third national mathematics assessment are presented. Overall, the performance of nine year olds changed little since the second assessment, while significant gains were made by 13 year olds. Data on whole numbers, fractions and decimals, other basic concepts, and problem solving are discussed. (MNS)

Current practices in teaching about distributivity of multiplication over addition and subtraction are reviewed. Then a study is described in which two inventories were administered to 83 eighth-grade students; scores were low. Suggestions for teaching distributivity are presented. (MNS)

Examined children's mathematical competencies between ages 7 and 9. Found no differences in developmental rate between children with math difficulties only (MD), math and reading difficulties (MD-RD), reading difficulties only (RD), and normal math/reading achievement (NA). Found that at end of Grade 3, MD group performed better than MD-RD group…

Described is the Delaware Elementary Mathematics League; a state mathematics competition for grades 4-6. Included are specific sample test items and a discussion of how they can nurture the development of problem-solving skills. Sample tests are also discussed. (CW)