Open-ended Maths Activities Second Edition is the revised and expanded edition of the best-selling title by Peter Sullivan and Pat Lilburn. It discusses a type of open-ended, problem-solving question called a 'good' question. These questions enhance learning, teaching and assessment and are a useful addition to a teacher's strategies. It includes: practical advice on how to create your own 'good' questions to use within the classroom organised by subject area and levels (upper, middle and junior) the sixteen topics covered are included within Number, Measurement, Space and Chance and Data.

This book is an amazing resource for teachers who are struggling to help students develop both procedural fluency and conceptual understanding.. --Dr. Margaret (Peg) Smith, co-author of5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematical Discussions Robert Kaplinsky, the co-creator of Open Middle math problems, brings hisnew class of tasks designed to stimulate deeper thinking and lively discussion among middle and high school students in Open Middle Math: Problems That Unlock Student Thinking, Grades 6-12. The problems are characterized by a closed beginning,- meaning all students start with the same initial problem, and a closed end,- meaning there is only one correct or optimal answer. The key is that the middle is open- in the sense that there are multiple ways to approach and ultimately solve the problem. These tasks have proven enormously popular with teachers looking to assess and deepen student understanding, build student stamina, and energize their classrooms. Professional Learning Resource for Teachers: Open Middle Math is an indispensable resource for educators interested in teaching student-centered mathematics in middle and high schools consistent with the national and state standards. Sample Problems at Each Grade: The book demonstrates the Open Middle concept with sample problems ranging from dividing fractions at 6th grade to algebra, trigonometry, and calculus. Teaching Tips for Student-Centered Math Classrooms: Kaplinsky shares guidance on choosing problems, designing your own math problems, and teaching for multiple purposes, including formative assessment, identifying misconceptions, procedural fluency, and conceptual understanding. Adaptable and Accessible Math: The tasks can be solved using various strategies at different levels of sophistication, which means all students can access the problems and participate in the conversation. Open Middle Math will help math teachers transform the 6th -12th grade classroom into an environment focused on problem solving, student dialogue, and critical thinking.

Challenging Mathematical Tasks supports the idea that students learn best when they work on problems that they do not yet know how to solve. Peter Sullivan's research shows that many students do not fear challenges in mathematics, but welcome them. And rather than having teachers instruct them, these students prefer to work out solutions for themselves.Challenging Mathematical Tasks:includes activities that allow for sustained thinking, decision-making and risk-taking by the studentsfeatures a 'Learning Focus', 'Key Mathematical Language', 'Pedagogical Considerations', 'Enabling and Extending Prompts' for each task, plus 'Supplementary Tasks' and 'Possible Solutions'is written by a well-established expert in the field of teaching and learning mathematicsfollows a set structure to help students approach and work through the tasks.For a preview, see the Sample Pages tab.

You had better not monkey around when it comes to place value. The monkeys in this book can tell you why! As they bake the biggest banana cupcake ever, they need to get the amounts in the recipe correct. There’s a big difference between 216 eggs and 621 eggs. Place value is the key to keeping the numbers straight. Using humorous art, easy-to-follow charts and clear explanations, this book presents the basic facts about place value while inserting some amusing monkey business.

Engage students in mathematics using growth mindset techniques The most challenging parts of teaching mathematics are engaging students and helping them understand the connections between mathematics concepts. In this volume, you'll find a collection of low floor, high ceiling tasks that will help you do just that, by looking at the big ideas at the first-grade level through visualization, play, and investigation. During their work with tens of thousands of teachers, authors Jo Boaler, Jen Munson, and Cathy Williams heard the same message—that they want to incorporate more brain science into their math instruction, but they need guidance in the techniques that work best to get across the concepts they needed to teach. So the authors designed Mindset Mathematics around the principle of active student engagement, with tasks that reflect the latest brain science on learning. Open, creative, and visual math tasks have been shown to improve student test scores, and more importantly change their relationship with mathematics and start believing in their own potential. The tasks in Mindset Mathematics reflect the lessons from brain science that: There is no such thing as a math person - anyone can learn mathematics to high levels. Mistakes, struggle and challenge are the most important times for brain growth. Speed is unimportant in mathematics. Mathematics is a visual and beautiful subject, and our brains want to think visually about mathematics. With engaging questions, open-ended tasks, and four-color visuals that will help kids get excited about mathematics, Mindset Mathematics is organized around nine big ideas which emphasize the connections within the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and can be used with any current curriculum.

Expanded to include connections to Common Core State Standards, as well as National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards, this critically acclaimed book will help every teacher and coach to meet the challenges of differentiating mathematics instruction in the K–8 classroom. In this bestseller, math education expert Marian Small explains two powerful and universal strategies that teachers can use across all math content: Open Questions and Parallel Tasks. Showing teachers how to get started and become expert with these strategies, Small also demonstrates more inclusive learning conversations that promote broader student participation and mathematical thinking required by CCSS. Specific strategies and examples for each grade band are organized around NCTM content strands: Number and Operations, Geometry, Measurement, Algebra, and Data Analysis and Probability.