Describes how the language arts and mathematics can be integrated as students write, solve, and discuss mathematics story problems. Offers suggestions for implementing a problem-writing program in mathematics, and provides four vignettes illustrating such mathematics instruction. (SR)

Describes a study that investigates the difficulties students have with word problems and aims to find out what can be done to help students achieve some success with word problems while working independently. Concludes that a problem-solving approach to teaching mathematics and word problems is beneficial. Contains 20 references. (ASK)

Represents a college professor's view of children doing math after seven consecutive years of working with approximately 150 children solving word problems. (ASK)

Investigated kindergartners' unary and binary understanding of additive commutativity using performance on tasks involving change-add-to and part-part-whole word problems, respectively. Found that data were inconsistent with models put forth by Baroody and Gannon and by Resnick and suggest three alternate theoretical explanations. Success on tasks…

In this article, the author discusses how deeply essential math skills are to everyday life. She states that teaching math should reflect its application to life from the outset. And she added that, teachers should make learning meaningful to students and watch their understanding and achievement increase.

To better understand how teachers can capitalize on the power of story problems, Jacobs and Ambrose analyzed teacher-student conversations in problem-solving interviews. They identified eight categories of teacher moves that, when timed properly, were productive in advancing mathematical conversations. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study extends the debate concerning the mathematical skills deficit of bioscience undergraduates towards a deeper understanding of their mathematics learning, since only through the latter can appropriate and effective explicit teaching be implemented. Three hundred and twenty-six first-year bioscience undergraduates, from three pre- and four…

In this action-research study, a third-grade teacher explores the impact of student blogs on the quality of their mathematical discussions. The teacher introduced math blogs to facilitate a productive online discussion focused on multistep story problems. (Contains 2 figures.)

Problem solving lies at the heart of mathematical learning. Children need opportunities to write, discuss, and solve problems on a regular basis. The problems must incorporate grade-appropriate content and be "accessible and engaging to the students, building on what they know and can do." Teachers also play a key role in establishing a classroom…

Research studies have shown that students encounter difficulties in transitioning from arithmetic to algebra. Errors made by high school students were analyzed for patterns and their causes. The origins of errors were: intuitive assumptions, failure to understand the syntax of algebra, analogies with other familiar symbol systems such as the…

Students struggling with mathematics may benefit from early interventions aimed at improving their mathematics ability and ultimately preventing subsequent failure. This guide provides eight specific recommendations intended to help teachers, principals, and school administrators use Response to Intervention (RtI) to identify students who need…

This article describes techniques that can be used to enhance mathematics instruction for English language learners. Using the strategies suggested in this article, such as scaffolding instruction and accommodating their linguistic needs, mathematics teachers can help ELLs both succeed and increase their mathematics achievement. (Contains 3…

Background: Understanding and solving problems involves different levels of representation. On the one hand, there are logico-mathematical representations, or problem models (PMs), which contain information such as "the size of the flock changed from 31 sheep to 42" while, on the other hand, there are more qualitative representations, or…

Background: From upper elementary education on, children develop a tendency to over-use linearity. Particularly, it is found that many pupils assume that if a figure enlarges "k" times, the area enlarges "k" times too. However, most research was conducted with traditional, school-like word problems. Aims: This study examines…

This article illustrates effective instructional strategies for English Language learners. (Contains 5 figures.)