In the USA, the Common Core Standards in Mathematics for the early grades (K-3) are designed to build on and develop students' number sense as students gain understanding of the structures of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It is well understood in teaching circles that subtraction is notoriously more difficult for students…

Howe (2014, Three pillars of first grade mathematics, and beyond. In: Li Y. & Lappan G. (eds), Mathematics curriculum in school education, Springer, Dordrecht, pp 183-207) identified three pillars of first grade mathematics and beyond that described central mathematical and sense-making aspects of major Common Core State Standards Math…

A first-grade teacher has students use their hands and fingers to engage in and develop understanding of counting, to combine groups to facilitate counting by fives and tens, and to describe their findings using words and equations.

Mathematical modeling has taken on increasing curricular importance in the past decade due in no small measure to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM) identifying modeling as one of the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP 4, CCSSI 2010, p. 7). Although researchers have worked on mathematical modeling (Lesh and Doerr 2003;…

School grades were introduced in Florida in 1999, the first such A-F model for reporting on school accountability in the nation. The purpose of school grades was to make it easy for parents and citizens to understand and compare how schools were performing academically, and to compel low-performing schools to improve. Since then, the A-F grades…

In the author's experience with this activity, students struggle with the idea of representativeness in probability. Therefore, this student misconception is part of the classroom discussion about the activities in this lesson. Representativeness is related to the (incorrect) idea that outcomes that seem more random are more likely to happen. This…

In this article, I (a) illustrate how the K-2 CCSSM reflect the major findings from research studies carried out over the last 30 years on early mathematical abilities that indicate these standards are developmentally appropriate for young children, and (b) offer insights into some types of instructional strategies (e.g., student-centered…