It is very student friendly however might not be as useful as an instructor text since the instructor needs to fill-in-the-blanks on their own.
The text is written with consistent terminology however the framework for each chapter is not consistent. Some chapters include Explorations and additional sections while others end consistently with a problem bank. The text is divided into smaller reading sections however the titles of each section are not easily recognized by students. Though I imagine the titles were meant to be creative for each section, having something more straight forward to make it easier for students to navigate is more important than creativity especially for future teachers who might be teaching these concepts for the first time.
It would be good to organize the material consistently throughout the text e. The variation in the different sections can be confusing to both the instructor and student when trying to find something in the text. I also noticed that the online version does not include page numbers while the PDF version does. This is not helpful when referring students to particular sections of the book.
The PDF version also has many completely blank pages. I am not sure if this was meant to be on purpose for printing purposes but these pages can be very distracting to the reader.
Navigation throughout the text is fine however, there are noticeable differences between the online and PDF versions of the text.
The images in the PDF versions are noticeably blurry and lower quality than those in the online version. In some instances, it seems as though images were screenshot and copied and pasted which could account for the image quality. Some images, in particular, should not have been included at all and are unreadable, for example, the Hokulea on page I would use this text as a reference but would not adopt this book as the main text for my class.
The book is somewhat dated and does not include current research based best practices like concrete, representational, then abstract. Like most authors, they make assumptions that students have the ability to understand abstract and start the Like most authors, they make assumptions that students have the ability to understand abstract and start the lesson there, which is contradictory to how the brain works and what current research says about effective math instruction and learning.
I agree the content is accurate, but in many areas the learner must have a very strong understanding of mathematical concepts, structures, and applications. There lacks current best practice and current NCTM recommendations to approaching the teaching of mathematical content.
Although mathematical concepts at the elementary level remain the same, the approach to engaging students in learning and the methods of instruction have evolved greatly. The book lacks many of the newer approaches and is outdated. The arrangement of the concepts is okay. Then scaffold the specific concepts.
Fractions is one of the most complex and abstract, and this book starts there as a first topic. Once again, the book is okay in terms of math learning but dated on best practice approaches.
The book does not use jargon per say, but does not provide the best approaches for students to learn how to effectively teach mathematics. The text is divisible, just not relevant to today nor provides current approaches. The order of the content is not in line with a methods of teaching course I would follow.
The text provides a variety of interfaces, none of which are confusing for the student who has a very strong math background. The text does mislead students to think starting with abstract is how to instruct elementary students, which is contradictory to brain research and current best practices.
I think the text is culturally appropriate. Not certain about the final chapter as it focuses on one population. Having a chapter or theme woven throughout the text that provides students with a stronger understanding that although mathematics is a universal language, there are cultural differences to teaching and learning as evidenced in the TIMSS report. The text is outdated.
The text is an okay resource but I would not be able to use as the main guide for learning in a college level methods of teaching elementary mathematics course. This book introduces the reader to the standards for mathematical practice SMP from the Common Core standards in the introduction. I appreciated this as these standards cover all grades and are a unifying theme of the Common Core standards, yet I appreciated this as these standards cover all grades and are a unifying theme of the Common Core standards, yet many times overlooked.
In addition, many states, including mine, that are not following Common Core directly have adopted the SMPs. Among the strands that are covered, however, the author does a thorough job of explaining the content, using a unified theme throughout, such as dots and boxes introduced in place value that appear again in number operations. I particularly liked the final chapter of the book and its connection to Hawaiian culture.
The author could easily incorporate ideas related to teaching and learning measurement into this chapter in order to make the book more comprehensive. The content was very accurate. I did not come across any mathematical errors or biases. The author did a good job of incorporating "think, pair, share" elements throughout each chapter as a model for future teachers. To further guide future teachers, I would have liked to see the author include information in each chapter about common misconceptions students have when learning the related material and ideas on how to address those misconceptions.
In my experience, I find that pre-service teachers are unaware of these misconceptions and it is helpful to make them aware of them so that they can anticipate them in their own classrooms. The content presented in this book is up-to-date and will remain relevant for a long time. Due to the fact that this book focuses more on content rather than methods, I do not foresee a need for many updates moving forward. The book is written in a very clear and concise way that is approachable to future and current elementary teachers.
The author presents key words in bold throughout the book to draw attention to them. I liked the way that the author included videos as well as written explanations of ideas, such as in the Number and Operations chapter, section titled Addition: Dots and Boxes.
The author explains, in words, how to use this method to add multi-digit numbers and follows the written example with a video explanation. This helps to reach a variety of learners and learning styles. The author also addresses common "jargon" associated with particular mathematical concepts, such as proper and improper fractions section titled What is a Fraction? Each chapter in the book includes an introduction, multiple opportunities for think-pair-share discussions, and several problem sets to practice.
I appreciated the consistency in the Dots and Boxes method introduced in the Place Value chapter and then carried into the Number and Operations chapter. The book uses a modular approach to present the material. Each module contains numerous sections that help to break up the content into smaller chunks so that the content does not seem overwhelming.
The modules are set up in an order that makes sense for the mathematics, but a reader could begin reading at any module and still make sense of the content.
The organization of the topics makes sense according to the mathematics presented and is logical. I did not find anything distracting or confusing in relation to the interface of the text. The book was easy to navigate, with a clearly defined table of contents. I was able to easily click through the various modules and sections within each module. The book uses figures well to provide engagement to the reader as well as to further clarify content. The use of videos embedded within the modules helps to strengthen understanding of the content.
It did take me a minute to find the navigation link that allowed me to move to the next section in a module right arrow at bottom right corner of the page , but once I found it I was able to navigate seamlessly to each subsequent section.
In my opinion, this was one of the biggest strengths of this text. The author did a nice job of incorporating Hawaiian culture into the text. For example, the author includes an image in the Place Value chapter Number Systems section that references the use of tally marks on a sign at Hanakapiai Beach.
I particularly liked how the author connected this idea to beginning teaching of elementary mathematics and encouraged future teachers to think about ways to see mathematics outside of traditional mathematical settings. I am glad that I came across this resource.
I primarily teach math methods courses for elementary pre-service teachers, but I found many aspects of this text that I can incorporate into my classes to help students think more deeply about the mathematics that they will teach.
I appreciated the author's attempt to challenge students in their thinking about elementary mathematics. Initially, I was surprised to find that there was no "answer key" provided for the many problem sets that were included throughout the text. After reading the quote presented on the introductory page to the Problem Solving chapter, I realized that this may have been an intentional decision made by the author to encourage readers to go beyond "a trail someone else has laid.
The content that elementary teachers need to have that is not covered in this book is graphing, probability, statistics, exponents, visual displays of data. The coverage of operations is very specific in the examples and does not cover the wide The coverage of operations is very specific in the examples and does not cover the wide range that should be presented in this type of text. While the core topics presented are correct, the number of problems that are provided without any solutions is alarming.
The majority of problems that are provided are meant for the reader to perform but do not provide any type of answer key for checking the work. In this way, the book seems to assume the reader to have a solid knowledge of the topics already and this book discusses a few different approaches to these topics.
The book's prose seem to be more of a teaching guide than a textbook. This is nice for the conversational aspect that a reader may want in their learning, but should be explained more or possibly a change of title for the book. Something more like "Exploring the concepts of Elementary Mathematics" would provide a more reading friendly approach the book offers.
The break-up of the text with boxes is difficult to follow the purpose of each box. While some of the box styles are clear, such as the think, pair, share or problem boxes, others seem to break up the line of discussion. A problem box may be discussed more directly immediately following the box and the presentation of the problem. Most of the problem boxes are not discussed again in the main text. This cased issues for wanting to read with a specific purpose.
When the reader wants to understand a problem more, there is generally not more discussion, but unclear about when that would be provided or not. Other times boxes were used without any "box type" provided and these were just to break up the flow of the text.
Place value was a major topic to start the book and had good coverage, then operations and fractions were discussed, then a return to place value with decimals. It would seem that a connection of place value and decimals would work better to follow the other place value discussion. There are several pages that have large blank parts or are totally blank. This may be due to the PDF version that I chose.
When I did use the internet-connected version, there seems to be a dependence on youtube to help do some of the teaching. The book does seem to be written with the Hawaiian culture in mind.
This may be difficult for other cultures to connect to or understand but does not present any insensitivities. The book's title suggests a full discussion of the topics that elementary education pre-service teachers would need to know and teach, but this book is very lacking in the topics required for this.
I selected this book to review because I teach classes that would use the textbook, but I would not use this textbook as is. There are a few topics that I plan to add to my own instruction, but the book as a whole needs additional help to be able to stand alone. This really appears to be a teaching guide based on the constant think-pair-share setup. This also is a specific teaching and method that seems to require the students to already have much of the content mastered.
It does not teach all the content that is required to the level of the discussion had. There are some obvious connections to the strands of mathematical practice from the Common Core standards.
While the abstract specifically lists MP1, MP2, However, this chapter does provide a good project-based learning set of materials, and is an exceptional resource for navigation. The book also includes a chapter on Problem Solving, which is important for those students who must complete the EdTPA and address the 3rd subject specific emphasis area.
All embedded links to Youtube videos or Vimeo videos are working and play within the textbook pages. I find the mathematics to be entirely accurate. There are many teaching strategies, such as "think pair share" that are found throughout the chapters.
This is particularly helpful for future teachers. This book is very clear, with mathematical words in bold and proper definitions provided. The text also addresses common math classroom jargon.
For an excellent example of this, see the heading "What is a Fraction" in the chapter on Fractions. Toward the bottom is a sub-heading "Jargon: Improper Fractions" that has students consider the usefulness of proper and improper fractions. This book is consistently laid out, with multiple examples, problems to try, and diagrams to support the transfer of information.
This book is entirely modular. You can pick it up, and easily start in any chapter and not be lost. The heading, subheading, use of italics and boldface make it easy to locate information. As a mathematics education book, this is quite nice. The book is extremely easy to navigate, with a logical structure to the table of contents that you can easily click through.
The many figures that are present throughout the textbook are perfectly displayed and fit the reading material. There is nothing I find distracting in the layout and interface. I was excited to find this book in the Open Educational Resources library. As a professor who frequently teaches methods courses in mathematics for elementary teachers, I feel that this book may be a terrific book to use to replace previous texts that I've adopted.
It is obvious from the first page you open to that this book was well planned and thought out. I'm impressed. This textbook goes into depth about different mathematical concepts that are important for elementary school teachers to understand in teaching mathematics.
However, the text is missing a focus on statistics and probability, which are key areas of Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less. However, the text is missing a focus on statistics and probability, which are key areas of focus in elementary math classrooms.
The text is also missing an index or glossary but does define new terms as they are introduced. The content, mathematical diagrams and depictions are accurate and error-free.
Each chapter also accurately shows various ways to understand mathematical concepts. However, the diagrams are geared towards an audience that already has some understanding of advanced mathematics. The content is organized in a way that necessary updates would be straightforward to implement.
More specifically, much of the content reflects current mathematical practices and activities endorsed by up-to-date research in mathematics education. The text is written in accessible prose and provides context for jargon and technical terminology. Additionally, the text clearly separates different terms for different strategies and concepts. For example, in the Problem Solving Strategy section, the interface is divided into different strategies for the reader to explore.
This is helpful in keeping new concepts and strategies organized for the reader. The text is written with consistent terminology. More specifically, the text consistently gives examples of what concepts are called by mathematicians and teachers. This is helpful for pre-service teachers that might be teaching mathematical concepts and strategies for the first time.
The text is easily divided into smaller reading sections. These sections include not only explanations of mathematical concepts, but also theorems, activities and diagrams which can be referenced by the teacher at any point. Also, the text gives teachers ideas for activities and additional problems to try with students.
Though the topics in the texts are presented in a logical, clear fashion, it might be beneficial for pre-service or elementary teachers to see how to specifically scaffold the different concepts within those topics for elementary students at different grade levels. Additionally, the text could also demonstrate how students typically confuse topics so teachers and pre-service teachers are prepared to navigate new concepts for the class. The interface is easy to navigate since the content clearly outlines chapters and the topics within them.
Sections such as notation and vocabulary, think pair shares and theorems are clearly outlined, organized and conceptually scaffolded. However, it might be helpful to have an index so the reader does not have to click within each topic to find the concept they are exploring.
This text is not culturally insensitive or offensive and includes examples from the Hawaiian culture. Though the text is mainly made up of mathematical explanations, there are a variety of people's names in different problems that could be attributed to a variety of cultures. Additionally, the text reflects Polya's advice to try adapt the problem until it makes sense. Though the text includes mainly mathematical explanations, it does call for adapting problems which could potentially be applied to a variety of students of different backgrounds.
This is book is fairly comprehensive and I feel could be used by most foundational courses in elementary mathematics. The structure and writing provide a good foundation for students learning the "why" behind the mathematics and becoming The structure and writing provide a good foundation for students learning the "why" behind the mathematics and becoming mathematical thinkers. There were some areas that could possibly use more development.
In geometry for example there was no discussion of perimeter, area, and volume. Estimation, measurement of weight, time, and probability also appears to be missing. The text is well organized and written so that the chapters do not have to be completed in the order in which they are presented. While there is not index or glossary, the author uses colored text boxes to explain specific content or terms. The content of the text is accurate and represented in a variety of formats to support learning, Not only does it provide solutions to problems, but also the mathematical thinking behind those solutions.
The text is very relevant for K-6 elementary pre-service teachers. It would be beneficial to know the specific grade levels that the author considers as "elementary" since this does vary by location.
The content is "standard" for most elementary math courses and would not need to be updated often and the consistent layout and formation would make changes easy to make. The text is written in a conversational tone. The simplicity and straight-forwardness of the text should appeal to those students that have sometimes been overwhelmed by writing in more traditional math texts. The text is organized consistently from chapter to chapter.
We have noticed that students can become very engaged and want to try out other cases to test their conjectures. Open tasks along with generalising prompts enable students to discover a range of properties in number, geometry and measurement. Students not only need to draw on their knowledge but need to express the common property using drawings, words or symbols.
Tasks about patterns and growing patterns also provide opportunities for students to generalise and think creatively. Sometimes these tasks also call on students to use visualisation skills. For example when students are trying to work out how many matchsticks are needed to make 5, 8 or conjoined squares. For this problem we are looking for students to form a rule, part of the early algebra curriculum.
In mathematics students use logical argument when they are encouraged to test conjectures and justify. They use examples to verify or refute statements and use logical argument to convince others.
They are especially useful for confronting common misconceptions in many areas of the curriculum. For these examples students should be encouraged to use multiple methods to prove and disprove these claims. They can use estimation, diagrams, materials as well as mental strategies to prove or disprove to provide a logical argument. Explain why Nathan might be correct or incorrect. Year 5 students who worked on this task generated many examples to test this conjecture.
Some students organised their drawings and calculations in a table. They found counter examples and patterns. Another student went further. Primary teachers have found the use of analysing, generalising and justifying prompts very useful for providing opportunities for students to reason and think creatively and critically during mathematics learning.
The research on mathematical reasoning was conducted by the Mathematical Reasoning Research Group: Prof. I have actually used a form of it several times in my work before I even knew it was a technique, and I suspect many of you have used it too in an informal way.
I have had some good success with it and believe it to be an excellent technique in any stage of the problem solving process, whether I am dealing with professionals, layman, mechanics, or bozos.
Very helpful, well written and well-organized book. I am sure there are more comprehensive books that cost alot more, but this one fulfills it purpose nicely. He is the author of numerous articles and cases. He is an experienced consultant, working with people and firms since , to increase levels of innovation as well as to solve particular problems.
Higgins also consults with organizations on strategic planning and in behavioral areas such as motivation, leadership, communication, and stress management.
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