Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers / Edition 6

by Tom Bassarear, Meg Moss

Overview

The first and only text of its kind, Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers, 2/e, offers a comprehensive, content approach designed to foster hands-on, discovery-based mathematics instruction. The unique two-volume format, featuring a text plus Explorations Manual, continues to model a constructivist/discovery approach to teaching and learning. Students first encounter new concepts through hands-on activities in the Explorations Manual, enabling them to construct their own understanding of the material. The text then serves as a resource for further investigation, explanation, and clarification.

Unlike most texts, which present exercises very similar to examples, Bassarear demonstrates how real-life problems are generally complex and often filled with ambiguity and that non-routine and multistep problems are the norm. Students learn that there may be more than one way to find an answer and even more than one answer.

• A special 16-page insert includes actual pages from Houghton Mifflin's best-selling K-6 basal series, demonstrating material currently used in the classroom.
• Bassarear supports his big picture approach by weaving six big ideas throughout the text: 1) functions, 2) composition-decomposition, 3) conventions, 4) proportional reasoning, 5) units, and 6) multiplicity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781305071360
Publisher:	Cengage Learning
Publication date:	01/01/2015
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	704
Product dimensions:	10.80(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1040L (what's this?)

About the Author

Tom Bassarear is a professor at Keene State College in New Hampshire. He received his BA from Claremont-McKenna College, his MA from Claremont Graduate School, and was awarded an Ed.D degree from the University of Massachusetts. Tom's complementary degrees in mathematics and educational psychology have strongly influenced his convictions about education specifically, mathematics education. Before teaching at the college level, he taught both middle school and high school mathematics. Since arriving at Keene State College, Tom has spent many hours in elementary classrooms observing teachers and working with them in school and workshop settings, plus, he has taught 4th grade math every day for a semester at a local elementary school.


Meg Moss began teaching the mathematics for elementary school teachers course over 25 years ago. In her first full-time teaching position at Treasure Valley Community College, she was given a traditional textbook for the Math for Elementary Educators and told that there wasn t much to these classes, just to go through the text. This started her on a 25 year journey of exploration and research on how best to teach these courses. Her dissertation was entitled "Specialized Understanding of Mathematics: A Study of Prospective Elementary School Teachers." She led a project to create Math for Elementary School Teachers (as well as science courses) and, as a result, Pellissippi State Community College won the award of "Best Practices in Math and Science Education at the Community College level." She has presented at international and domestic conferences and served as consultant to several universities in improving the math preparation of elementary teachers. She is currently serving as a faculty development leader at Western Governors University and exploring the competency-based model and how to create engaging interactive math learning in an online environment. She also teaches Math for Elementary Education courses face to face at area universities. She obtained her M.A. in Math Education from Appalachian State University and her Ph.D. in Math Teacher Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has taught high school and has spent a considerable amount of time volunteering and supporting student teachers in elementary schools.

Table of Contents

Preface. 1. FOUNDATIONS FOR LEARNING MATH. What Is Mathematics? Sets. Questions to Summarize Big Ideas. Chapter 1 Summary. Chapter 1 Review Exercises. 2. THE NUMBER SYSTEM. Whole Numbers. Fractions. Decimals, Integers and Real Numbers. Questions to Summarize Big Ideas. Chapter 2 Summary. Chapter 2 Review Exercises. 3. UNDERSTANDING ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION. Understanding Addition of Whole Numbers. Understanding Subtraction of Whole Numbers. Understanding Addition and Subtraction of Fractions. Understanding Addition and Subtraction of Decimals and Integers. Questions to Summarize Big Ideas. Chapter 3 Summary. Chapter 3 Review Exercises. 4. UNDERSTANDING MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION. Understanding Multiplication of Whole Numbers. Understanding Division of Whole Numbers. Understanding Multiplication and Division of Fractions. Understanding Multiplication and Division of Decimals and Integers. Questions to Summarize Big Ideas. Chapter 4 Summary. Chapter 4 Review Exercises. 5. PROPORTIONAL REASONING. Ratio and Proportion. Percents. Questions to Summarize Big Ideas. Chapter 5 Summary. Chapter 5 Review Exercises. 6. ALGEBRAIC THINKING. Understanding Patterns, Relations, and Functions. Representing and Analyzing Mathematical Situations and Structures Using Algebraic Symbols. Using Mathematical Models to Represent and Understand Quantitative Relationships. Analyzing Change in Various Contexts. Questions to Summarize Big Ideas. Chapter 6 Summary. Chapter 6 Review Exercises. 7. UNDERSTANDING STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY Collecting, Organizing, and Displaying Data. Analyzing Data. Using Data to Make Predictions. Understanding Probability. Questions to Summarize Big Ideas. Chapter 7 Summary. Chapter 7 Review Exercises. 8. GEOMETRY AS SHAPE. Building Blocks. Two-Dimensional Figures. Three-Dimensional Figures. Questions to Summarize Big Ideas. Chapter 8 Summary. Chapter 8 Review Exercises. 9. GEOMETRY AS MEASUREMENT. Systems of Measurement. Perimeter and Area. Surface Area and Volume. Looking Back on Chapter 9. Chapter 9 Summary. Chapter 9 Review Exercises. 10. GEOMETRY AS TRANSFORMING SHAPES. Congruence Transformations. Symmetry and Tessellations. Similarity. Questions to Summarize Big Ideas. Chapter 10 Summary. Chapter 10 Review Exercises. Appendix A: Selected Answers. Appendix B: Answers to Questions in Text. Endnotes. Photo Credits. Index.