This book is a year-long program of daily exercises in problem solving for 2nd and 3rd grade students that presents 144 lessons, each with seven problems. The problems cover number sense, computation, measurements, geometry, problem solving, and patterns. The material is presented in a sequential fashion with concepts repeated and expanded, and…

A teacher in a large suburban elementary school in East Tennessee found that her fourth grade students had poor number sense and relied almost solely upon algorithmic procedure to solve math problems. Therefore, mental math was difficult for these students, so the daily number talks method was employed to strengthen number sense. However, no…

Stresses the importance of teaching "structured programming," and gives examples of good and bad programing styles and suggestions for teaching good programing techniques. The language used is BASIC, and numerous examples are provided. (EAO)

A professor's one-time observation of gifted and low-achieving students at one school leads to a startling conclusion. The gifted students were excessively anxious and unable to think creatively in the face of new problems; the low-achievers demonstrated high levels of creative problem-solving. (Author/WD)

Changes in children's cognitive strategies for solving simple subtractions were studied by analyzing verbal reports given immediately after each problem. The development of children's cognitive processes involved a gradual shift from more primitive and less demanding memory strategies to reconstructive memory processes to retrieval processes.…

A structural arithmetic curriculum is designed to help students develop their own powers of thought. (Author/MLF)

Presents 21 ideas for helping children learn to do story problems in math. (SJL)

A comparison of 11 reading disabled and 11 normal children's (mean age 9 years) responses to a conditional discrimination learning set (LS) task was undertaken. The results indicated that normal children are more adept at solving the LS task than the reading disabled children. (Author/CL)

Presents case study data of low- and high-achieving nine-year olds focusing on construction and analogical transfer of mathematical knowledge during novel problem solving, as reflected in strategies for dealing with isomorphic combinatorial problems presented in hands-on and written form. Results showed that achievement level does not predict…

Presents a preliminary analysis from a study designed to investigate the participation of students learning English as an additional language in primary school mathematics. Concerns how students make sense of mathematics classroom interaction. Describes and uses the findings of three patterns of attention in the process of two students'…

Presents student responses to the "The Darts, Anyone?" problem that appeared in the May, 1999 issue of this journal. The problem concerned finding possible scores on dart rings. (KHR)

Examined the thinking of students who constructed personal knowledge about division of fractions. Mixed-ability fifth grade mathematics students used pictures, symbols, and words to resolve situations and communicate solutions. All strategies that the students used represented some manifestation of conceptual knowledge about addition and…

Presents an activity for students to construct their own two-cup balances. Suggests some alternatives for rejuvenating weak bar magnets. Describes how to remove burnt carbon deposits from glass vessels. (NB)

Explores acids and bases using different indicators, such as turmeric, purple grape juice, and lichens. Because some of these indicators are not as sensitive as cabbage juice or litmus paper, determining to which acids and bases each indicator is sensitive presents an enjoyable, problem-solving challenge for students. Presents directions for…

Introduces a problem that can be used to help children develop graph sense. Involves two graphs of which students must determine which one applies to which situation. (KHR)