Can math concepts be experienced through the sensory modality of balance? Balance Board Math (BBM) is a set of pedagogical math activities designed to instantiate mathematical concepts through stimulation to the vestibular sense: an organ in the inner ear that detects our bodily balance and orientation. BBM establishes the different ways children…

Mrs. Fisher's class was learning about arithmetic functions by pretending to operate real-world "function machines" (Reeves 2006). Functions are a unifying mathematics topic, and a great deal of emphasis is placed on understanding them in prekindergarten through grade 12 (Kilpatrick and Izsák 2008). In its Algebra Content Standard, the…

The absolute value learning objective in high school mathematics requires students to solve far more complex absolute value equations and inequalities. When absolute value problems become more complex, students often do not have sufficient conceptual understanding to make any sense of what is happening mathematically. The authors suggest that the…

The new Common Core State Standards for Mathematics have been formulated to provide students with instruction that will help them acquire a thorough knowledge of math at their grade level, which will in turn enable them to move on to higher mathematics with competence and confidence. "Hands-on Activities for Teaching the Common Core Math…

The overreliance on linear methods in students' reasoning and problem solving has been documented and discussed by several scholars in the field. So far, however, there have been no attempts to assemble the evidence and to analyze it is a systematic way. This article provides an overview and a conceptual analysis of students' tendency to use…

Every student should understand and use all concepts and skills from the previous grade levels. The standard is designed so that new learning builds on preceding skills. Communications, Problem-solving, Reasoning & Proof, Connections, and Representation are the process standards that are embedded throughout the teaching and learning of all…

Every student should understand and use all concepts and skills from the previous grade levels. The standard is designed so that new learning builds on preceding skills. Communications, Problem-solving, Reasoning & Proof, Connections, and Representation are the process standards that are embedded throughout the teaching and learning of all…

Presents responses to a problem that appeared in the May 2000 issue. The problem was to determine different ways to divide 8 cookies between 3 people. Includes student work from grades 1, 3, and 5. (KHR)

Describes how one kindergarten classroom made pictographs and paper graphs of the students' acting preferences for a production of "The Wizard of Oz." Focuses on how the activity led to varied mathematics and literacy connections. Identifies implications from the Oz experience, including relating graphs to classroom contexts, using…

Teaching suggestions for graphing the function y=sin 1/x and the greatest integer function are given. (MK)

Described are graphing activities which can be instrumental in introducing the mathematics concepts of counting, sorting, grouping, and comparing on the primary level. On the intermediate level, these activites can be used to introduce collecting and sorting unorganized data, and creating graphs to represent the data. (Author/TG)

A collection of brief articles on mathematics and teaching mathematics. (FL)

The use of graph paper to outline arrays of multidigit multiplication problems is promoted. (MP)

We present a card trick that can be used to review or teach a variety of topics in discrete mathematics. We address many subjects, including permutations, combinations, functions, graphs, depth first search, the pigeonhole principle, greedy algorithms, and concepts from number theory. Moreover, the trick motivates the use of computers in…