Children’s Fractional Knowledge elegantly tracks the construction of knowledge, both by children learning new methods of reasoning and by the researchers studying their methods. The book challenges the widely held belief that children’s whole number knowledge is a distraction from their learning of fractions by positing that their fractional learning involves reorganizing—not simply using or building upon—their whole number knowledge. This hypothesis is explained in detail using examples of actual grade-schoolers approaching problems in fractions including the schemes they construct to relate parts to a whole, to produce a fraction as a multiple of a unit part, to transform a fraction into a commensurate fraction, or to combine two fractions multiplicatively or additively. These case studies provide a singular journey into children’s mathematics experience, which often varies greatly from that of adults. Moreover, the authors’ descriptive terms reflect children’s quantitative operations, as opposed to adult mathematical phrases rooted in concepts that do not reflect—and which in the classroom may even suppress—youngsters’ learning experiences. Highlights of the coverage: Toward a formulation of a mathematics of living instead of being Operations that produce numerical counting schemes Case studies: children’s part-whole, partitive, iterative, and other fraction schemes Using the generalized number sequence to produce fraction schemes Redefining school mathematics This fresh perspective is of immediate importance to researchers in mathematics education. With the up-close lens onto mathematical development found in Children’s Fractional Knowledge, readers can work toward creating more effective methods for improving young learners’ quantitative reasoning skills.

Supporting and understanding your students’ fractional knowledge is crucial to their overall grasp of numbers and mathematics. By centralizing around three key stages of development, this effective guide will help you to assess your students’ understanding of fractions and modify your teaching accordingly. These key stages are identified as: Stage 1a: Fair Sharing Stage 1b: Part-Whole Stage 2a: Disembedding and IteratingStage 2b: Measuring with Unit Fractions Stage 2c: Reversing Fractions Stage 3a: Fractions as Numbers Stage 3b: Operating with Fractions As the newest addition to the bestselling Maths Recovery Series, this book will be a useful guide for all primary classroom teachers and assistants, including experienced Mathematics Recovery instructors.

"With the collaboration of a number of dedicated teachers and their students, Susan Empson and Linda Levi have produced a volume that is faithful to the basic principles of CGI while at the same time covering new ground with insight and innovation." -Thomas P. Carpenter This highly anticipated follow-up volume to the landmark Children's Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction addresses the urgent need to help teachers understand and teach fraction concepts. Fractions remain one of the key stumbling blocks in math education, and here Empson and Levi lay a foundation for understanding fractions and decimals in ways that build conceptual learning. They show how the same kinds of intuitive knowledge and sense making that provides the basis for children's learning of whole number arithmetic can be extended to fractions and decimals. Just as they did in Children's Mathematics and Thinking Mathematically, Empson and Levi provide important insights into children's thinking and alternative approaches to solving problems. Three themes appear throughout the book: building meaning for fractions and decimals through discussing and solving word problems the progression of children's strategies for solving fraction word problems and equations from direct modeling through relational thinking designing instruction that capitalizes on students' relational thinking strategies to integrate algebra into teaching and learning fractions. With illuminating examples of student work, classroom vignettes, "Teacher Commentaries" from the field, sample problems and instructional guides provided in each chapter, you'll have all the tools you need to teach fractions and decimals with understanding and confidence.

This Handbook reviews a wealth of research in cognitive and educational psychology that investigates how to enhance learning and instruction to aid students struggling to learn and to advise teachers on how best to support student learning. The Handbook includes features that inform readers about how to improve instruction and student achievement based on scientific evidence across different domains, including science, mathematics, reading and writing. Each chapter supplies a description of the learning goal, a balanced presentation of the current evidence about the efficacy of various approaches to obtaining that learning goal, and a discussion of important future directions for research in this area. It is the ideal resource for researchers continuing their study of this field or for those only now beginning to explore how to improve student achievement.

With a focus on children's mathematical thinking, this second edition adds new material on the mathematical principles underlying children's strategies, a new online video that illustrates student teacher interaction, and examines the relationship between CGI and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.

For years, the teaching and learning of fractions has been associated with rote memorization. But this mechanical approach to instruction—which strips students of an ability to reason or make sense of math—has resulted in a failure of understanding. Author Monica Neagoy, drawing on decades of research studies, evidence from teacher practice, and 25 years of experience working around the world with teachers, students, and parents, addresses seven big ideas in the teaching and learning of fractions in grades 2–6. Each idea is supported by a vignette from a real classroom, common misconceptions, a thorough unpacking of productive mathematical thinking, and several multistep and thought-provoking problems for teachers to explore. She offers three fundamental reasons why it’s imperative for us to take a closer look at how we teach fractions: 1. Fractions play a key role in students’ feelings about mathematics. 2. Fractions are fundamental to school math and daily life. 3. Fractions are foundational to success in algebra. While a solid grounding in algebra is necessary for a STEM career, the worthy goal of “algebra for all” will not be possible until “fractions for all” is a reality. Unpacking Fractions provides teachers with concrete strategies for achieving that reality—in short, helping all students gain the knowledge they need to feel at ease with fractions.