Students encounter mathematics word problems as early as kindergarten and continue to see them throughout their schooling experience. Schema instruction with an attack strategy can support students to successfully navigate word-problem solving. Schemas help students categorize word problems by similar characteristics. To better support students…

In this article, the authors argue that teachers need to possess appropriate understanding and diverse pedagogies to successfully move learners from additive to multiplicative thinking. Herein, they offer five pedagogical strategies that teachers can use to help students make this transition. Some of the challenges of learning multiplicative…

Fluency in mathematics is more than adeptly using basic facts or implementing algorithms. It is not about speed or recall. Real fluency is about choosing strategies that are efficient, flexible, lead to accurate solutions, and are appropriate for the given situation. Developing fluency is also a matter of equity and access for all learners. The…

Successful math word-problem solving is difficult for some students. Getting the right answer involves students engaging correctly in an amalgamation of actions. Schema instruction is an instructional approach aimed at supporting students in identifying the underlying math problem structure to yield an appropriate solution plan. The focus of this…

Lina, a Mexican American second grader, bilingual in Spanish and English, used a strategy for adding two two-digit numbers that the authors share as an example of the importance of listening to the mathematical ideas of children, especially when these ideas do not align with how mathematics is traditionally represented in the classroom. The…

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…

In this article, Jason Taff shares an approach that he presented to advanced seventh-grade prealgebra students. He begins by summarizing some of the shortcomings of equating the order of operations concept with the PEMDAS (often rendered mnemonically as "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally") procedure with the hope of helping teachers at…

The "Making Meaning for Operations Casebook" was developed as the key resource for participants' Developing Mathematical Ideas seminar experience. The twenty-nine cases, written by teachers describing real situations and actual student thinking in their classrooms, provide the basis of each session's investigation of specific…

Effective use of mathematical representation is key to supporting student learning. In "Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All" (NCTM 2014), "use and connect mathematical representations" is one of the effective Mathematics Teaching Practices. By using different representations, students examine concepts…

Learn the most effective ways to teach elementary math, no matter how much experience you have with the subject. In this book, Fuchang Liu takes you through many common mistakes in math instruction and explains the misunderstandings behind them. He points out practices that should be avoided, helping you to adjust your lessons so that all 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…

Teachers face many challenges helping students meet the expectations set forth in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) (CCSSI 2010). CCSSM content standards not only introduce new concepts at each grade level but also require teachers to learn new terminology for old concepts and consider how students' understanding of concepts…

In this article, the authors illustrate how the practice of number strings--used regularly in a classroom community--can simultaneously support computational fluency and building conceptual understanding. Specifically, the authors will demonstrate how a lesson about multi-digit addition (CCSSM 2NBT.B.5) can simultaneously serve as an invitation to…

Stephen Tucker presents a fractions game that addresses a range of fraction concepts including equivalence and computation. The REFractions game also improves students' fluency with representing, comparing and adding fractions.

The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSI 2010) expect second grade students to "fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies" (2.OA.B.2). Most children begin with number word sequences and counting approximations and then develop greater skill with counting. But do all teachers really understand how this…