A solid understanding of fractions is the cornerstone for acquiring proficiency with rational numbers and paves the way for learning advanced mathematical concepts, such as algebra. Fraction difficulties limit not only students' educational and vocational opportunities but also their ability to solve everyday problems. Students who exit 6th grade…

This paper describes how one third and final year pre-service (PST) used curriculum materials when planning for primary mathematics teaching on practicum. The findings were drawn from a semi-structured focus group interview, where four PSTs recalled how they planned for primary teaching during a previous practicum. This case study shows how one…

This case study contributes to efforts to characterize teaching that is responsive to children's mathematical thinking. We conceptualize "responsive teaching" as a type of teaching in which teachers' instructional decisions about what to pursue and how to pursue it are continually adjusted during instruction in response to children's…

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2016), the number of public school students in the United States who were English learners (ELs) was estimated at 4.5 million. However, in 2005, the national standardized testing scores (Fry 2007) show that about 51 percent of eighth-grade EL students were behind other students in reading…

During the last decade, "Lesson Study", a Japanese professional development model involving a community of learners, has been spreading to countries around the world. "Lesson Study" is a systematic process of inquiry into classroom practices where teachers collaborate in planning, implementing, observing and revising lessons.…

This article details an approach to teaching one step in a mathematics word-problem-solving strategy, that of organizing the facts. A lesson plan is offered which involves directed instruction and supervised practice in five strategies for organizing facts. (DB)

The initial step of a strategic process for solving mathematical problems, "studying the question," is discussed. A lesson plan for teaching students to identify and revise arithmetic problems is presented, involving directed instruction and supervised practice. (JDD)

This article presents a lesson plan for teaching students the third of five steps for solving mathematical problems, "lining up a plan." Steps for teaching students to visualize the problem and draw a picture of the problem are given. (DB)

This article discusses the fourth step in a process for solving mathematics problems--verifying the plan of action for solving the problem and developing the plan of action into an equation. The lesson plan included reviews the first three steps in the problem-solving process and provides directed instruction guidelines. (JDD)

In this action research report 4 teachers and 1 teacher educator use the Japanese lesson study model of professional development for 15 months in rural Carlinville, Illinois. In March 2001, 4 teachers identified a goal to improve their students' understanding of two step word problems in 2nd grade elementary mathematics. Teachers completed three…

This article outlines the last step in a five-step process for preparing students to engage in a systematic mathematics problem-solving and decision-making process. The lesson plan teaches students to reread the problem, reexamine the question, check selection of operation, and recheck calculations and compare answers. (JDD)

In Japan, assessment in classroom teaching cannot be considered apart from classroom lessons. This paper describes typical mathematics classroom situations and some of the developments in classroom assessment underway in Japan. The first section of the paper discusses classroom teaching, including whole-class instruction, discussion, objectives,…

Describes a teaching experiment that evaluated published supplemental materials used to aid preparation of lessons at the fourth grade level involving nonroutine word problems. Lists 12 insights gained that can be useful to teachers using commercially produced problem-solving materials. (MDH)