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Introducing Difficult Mathematics Topics in the Elementary Classroom

A Teacher’s Guide to Initial Lessons

By Francis J. Gardella

Published August 5th 2008 by Routledge – 168 pages

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Description

This exciting text for the pre-service elementary teacher provides hands on mathematics lessons they can use to introduce mathematical concepts and skills that students find particularly challenging. Each chapter is divided into four sections:

  • The Activity employs an engaging thought experiment to help the reader "visit a classroom" to understand how the lesson used to introduce the concept or skill would materialize in the class.
  • The Mathematics provides the necessary mathematical background used in the lesson to make the actual teaching/learning situation comfortable for both the teachers and the learner.
  • The Plan provides the reader with an actual lesson plan to engage the Activity in the classroom setting.
  • Putting It All Together pulls the previous sections together with a summary of the chapter as well as further information for making the lesson successful.

    • By providing models of what excellent lessons on a given topic look like, knowledge of the mathematics involved, and a concrete lesson plan structure this much-needed resource is the definitive mathematics planning vehicle that every teacher will want before they set foot in their own elementary classroom.

    Contents

    @contents:Introduction

    1. How Children Learn Mathematics (and Why it Doesn’t Happen!)

    2. Median: Finding What’s in the Middle

    3. Rounding: The Mystery of ‘Rounding up for 5’

    4. Skipping Multiplication (or at Least Through it.)

    5. Learning to Use Division

    6. Fractions: What’s it all About?

    7. Fractions: Adding Unlike Things? Impossible!

    8. Fractions: Dividing into Small Pieces

    9. Decimals: Operations Before Rules

    10. Measurement: Make your Own Ruler

    11. Area: Skipping Through the Rows

    12. Volume: It’s Like Look at an Apartment House …..

    13. Mean: How Much Does Each Get?

    14. Percent: Leveling the Field of Comparison

    15. Order of Operations: An Agreement? Did You Get the Memo?

    Author Bio

    Francis J. Gardella is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the School of Education at Hunter College.

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    Name: Introducing Difficult Mathematics Topics in the Elementary Classroom: A Teacher’s Guide to Initial Lessons (Paperback) – Routledge 
    Description: By Francis J. Gardella. This exciting text for the pre-service elementary teacher provides hands on mathematics lessons they can use to introduce mathematical concepts and skills that students find particularly challenging. Each chapter is divided into four sections: The...
    Categories: Mathematics & Numeracy, Primary/Elementary Education