Being an effective math educator is one part based on the quality of the tasks we give, one part how we diagnose what we see, and one part what we do with what we find. Yet with so many students and big concepts to cover, it can be hard to slow down enough to look for those moments when students’ responses tell us what we need to know about next best steps. In this remarkable book, John SanGiovanni and Jennifer Rose Novak help us value our students’ misconceptions and incomplete understandings as much as their correct ones—because it’s the gap in their understanding today that holds the secrets to planning tomorrow’s best teaching. The authors lay out 180 high-quality tasks aligned to the standards and big ideas of Grades 6–8 mathematics, including number systems, integers, ratio and proportion, equations and expressions, geometry, and statistics and probability. The tasks are all downloadable so you can use or modify them for instruction and assessment. Each big idea offers a starting task followed by: what makes it a high-quality task what you might anticipate before students work with the task four student examples of the completed task showcasing a distinct "gap" commentary on what precisely counts for mathematical understanding and the next instructional steps commentary on the misconception or incomplete understanding so you learn why the student veered off course three additional tasks aligned to the mathematics topic and ideas about what students might do with these additional tasks It’s time to break our habit of rushing into re-teaching for correctness and instead get curious about the space between right and wrong answers. Mine the Gap for Mathematical Understanding is a book you will return to again and again to get better at selecting tasks that will uncover students’ reasoning, better at discerning the quality and clarity of students’ understanding, and better at planning teaching based on the gaps you see.

A UNIQUE NEW APPROACH THAT’S LIKE A LIGHTNING BOLT TO THE BRAIN You know that moment when you feel as though a lightning bolt has hit you because you finally get something? That’s how this book will make you react. (We hope!) Each chapter makes sure that what you really need to know is clear right off the bat and sees to it that you build on this knowledge. Where other books ask you to memorize stuff, we’re going to show you the must know ideas that will guide you toward success in sixth-grade math. You will start each chapter learning what the must know ideas behind a math subject are, and these concepts will help you solve the math problems that you find in your classwork and on exams. Dive into this book and find: 250+ practice questions that mirror what you will find in your classwork and on exams A bonus app with 100+ flashcards that will reinforce what you’ve learned Extensive examples that drive home essential concepts An easy-access setup that allows you to jump in and out of subjects Grade 6 math topics aligned to national and state education standards Special help for more challenging math subjects, including equations, geometry, probability, and statistics We’re confident that the must know ideas in this book will have you up and solving math problems in no time—or at least in a reasonable amount of time!

Being an effective math educator is one part based on the quality of the tasks we give, one part how we diagnose what we see, and one part what we do with what we find. Yet with so many students and big concepts to cover, it can be hard to slow down enough to look for those moments when students’ responses tell us what we need to know about next best steps. In this remarkable book, John SanGiovanni helps us value our young learners’ misconceptions and incomplete understandings as much as their correct ones—because it’s the gap in their understanding today that holds the secrets to planning tomorrow’s best teaching. SanGiovanni lays out 160 high-quality tasks aligned to the standards and big ideas of grades K-2 mathematics, including counting and representing numbers, number relationships and comparison, addition and subtraction within 100 and 1000, money and time, and multiplication and division. The tasks are all downloadable so you can use or modify them for instruction and assessment. Each big idea offers a starting task followed by: what makes it a high-quality taskwhat you might anticipate before students work with the task 4 student examples of the completed task showcasing a distinct "gap" commentary on what precisely counts for mathematical understanding and the next instructional steps commentary on the misconception or incomplete understanding so you learn why the student veered off course three additional tasks aligned to the mathematics topic and ideas about what students might do with these additional tasks. It’s time to break our habit of rushing into re-teaching for correctness and instead get curious about the space between right and wrong answers. Mine the Gap for Mathematical Understanding is a book you will return to again and again to get better at selecting tasks that will uncover students’ reasoning—better at discerning the quality and clarity of students’ understanding—and better at planning teaching based on the gaps you see.

Studies of teachers in the U.S. often document insufficient subject matter knowledge in mathematics. Yet, these studies give few examples of the knowledge teachers need to support teaching, particularly the kind of teaching demanded by recent reforms in mathematics education. Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics describes the nature and development of the knowledge that elementary teachers need to become accomplished mathematics teachers, and suggests why such knowledge seems more common in China than in the United States, despite the fact that Chinese teachers have less formal education than their U.S. counterparts. The anniversary edition of this bestselling volume includes the original studies that compare U.S and Chinese elementary school teachers’ mathematical understanding and offers a powerful framework for grasping the mathematical content necessary to understand and develop the thinking of school children. Highlighting notable changes in the field and the author’s work, this new edition includes an updated preface, introduction, and key journal articles that frame and contextualize this seminal work.

Offers sixth- through ninth-grade math teachers a step-by-step approach to planning standards-based curriculum, instruction, and assessment, with sample activities, problems, and assessments and expert advice for every stage of the process.

Select the right task, at the right time, for the right phase of learning It could happen in the morning during homework review. Or perhaps it happens when listening to students as they struggle through a challenging problem. Or maybe even after class, when planning a lesson. At some point, the question arises: How do I influence students′ learning—what’s going to generate that light bulb "aha" moment of understanding? In this sequel to the megawatt best seller Visible Learning for Mathematics, John Almarode, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, John Hattie, and Kateri Thunder help you answer that question by showing how Visible Learning strategies look in action in the mathematics classroom. Walk in the shoes of middle school teachers as they engage in the 200 micro-decisions-per-minute needed to balance the strategies, tasks, and assessments seminal to high-impact mathematics instruction. Using grade-leveled examples and a decision-making matrix, you’ll learn to Articulate clear learning intentions and success criteria at surface, deep, and transfer levels Employ evidence to guide students along the path of becoming metacognitive and self-directed mathematics achievers Use formative assessments to track what students understand, what they don’t, and why Select the right task for the conceptual, procedural, or application emphasis you want, ensuring the task is for the right phase of learning Adjust the difficulty and complexity of any task to meet the needs of all learners It’s not only what works, but when. Exemplary lessons, video clips, and online resources help you leverage the most effective teaching practices at the most effective time to meet the surface, deep, and transfer learning needs of every student.