Interviewed 49 Scottish preschoolers about their understanding of literacy and numeracy. Found that children of this age group often held erroneous or conflicting beliefs about their ability to read or count. Subjects indicated some understanding of the generalities of story reading and counting before they could actually perform either activity.…

Activities that illustrate a problem-solving approach to teaching grouping symbols, such as parentheses and brackets, are described. Suggested exercises, answers to those exercises, and variations of this activity are included. (KR)

This article offers multiplication fact memorization training techniques that have been successfully used with students with learning disabilities in resource room and clinical settings. Techniques include organizing the facts, using finger multiplication, visual mnemonic flashcards, and musical reinforcement. (DB)

An approach that may be used to introduce the fundamental ideas of thermodynamics using a mathematical background with the knowledge of the behavior of matter is described. The physical background, conservation of energy, predicting the behavior of a system, and solving problems are topics of discussion. (KR)

Freudenthal was the founder of realistic mathematics education, in which reality serves as a source of applications and learning. Takes a newspaper article about reproducing a Van Gogh painting using plants in a field to exemplify a rich context problem containing elements of all areas of elementary school mathematics. (MDH)

Using R. S. Siegler's retrieval-required task, 19 male and 22 female third graders were examined before they had been introduced to multiplication in school. Examination of error patterns suggests that the basic assumptions of the distribution-of-associations model need to be tested directly and that the retrieval-required task confounds retrieved…

Describes four activities to analyze drinking water for its pH, hardness, turbidity, and conductivity. (MDH)

Eighty-seven elementary students in grades four, five, and six, were administered a 30-item multiplication instrument to assess performance in computation across grade levels. An interpretation of student performance using error ratio analysis is provided and the use of this method with groups of students for instructional decision making is…

Discusses important lessons on the mathematics of manufacturing and how curriculum content and teaching can prepare students for working. Features concepts such as the importance of spatial and geometric reasoning, problem solving, numbers and computation, and measurement. (ASK)

Presents ideas for an assessment that reflects the curriculum standards set forth by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Discusses how assessment tasks are created to support instruction that values a mastery of the basics, mental mathematics, mathematical vocabulary, problem solving and writing in mathematics, calculator…

Introduces a unit on data analysis which would not only satisfy elementary statistics requirements but also involve students in a long-term mathematics project in a meaningful and relevant way. Addresses the mathematical concepts of measurement, graphing, and computation. (ASK)

Presents a problem for grades 3-6 on number concepts and computation. Also provides guidelines for teachers to improve problem-solving practices in their classrooms. (ASK)

Presents results of a study of the development of early mathematical competence related to counting among young poor arithmetic achievers in the four- to seven-year age group. An Additional Early Mathematics program was offered to students scoring below a criterium with either guiding instruction or structured instruction. (Author/LRW)

Describes a fifth grade social studies unit on the concept of time. Explains that the unit focused on teaching about the terms century and millennium in order to help students understand that the true date of the new millennium is January 1, 2001. (CMK)

Two experiments investigated infants' sensitivity to amount of continuous quantity and to changes in amount of continuous quantity. Found that 6-month-olds looked significantly longer at a novel quantity than at the familiar quantity. Nine-month-olds looked significantly longer at an impossible event than at a possible event. Findings question…