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Teaching by Design in Elementary Mathematics, Grades 4–5

By: Melinda Leong, Jennifer Stepanek, Linda Griffin, Lisa Lavelle

Strengthen your mathematics lessons through collaborative planning

Teaching by Design in Elementary Mathematics is a series of comprehensive professional development guides that helps teachers investigate how students learn. Grounded in the latest research, each book's grade-appropriate number and operations topics are aligned with the Common Core State Standards. The program culminates in the co-creation and implementation of a prototype lesson as a group. Through the process, teachers develop:

Deeper content knowledge of important mathematical concepts
Improved understanding of how students learn these mathematical ideas
A stronger foundation for developing effective lessons
Enhanced collaboration skills

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Product Details

Grade Level: 4-5
ISBN: 9781412987035
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2010
Page Count: 272
Publication date: December 01, 2010

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Description

Strengthen your mathematics lessons through collaborative planning

Teaching by Design in Elementary Mathematics is a series of comprehensive professional development guides that help teachers investigate how students learn. Grounded in the latest research, this book is one of three volumes focused on grade-appropriate number and operations topics aligned with the Common Core State Standards. The capstone activity of each book guides the group through the co-creation and implementation of a prototype lesson. The teacher teams then evaluate the impact of the lesson on student learning and work together to revise it for maximum effectiveness. Through the process, teachers develop:

Deeper content knowledge of important mathematical concepts
Improved understanding of how students learn these mathematical ideas
A stronger foundation for developing effective lessons and improving instruction
Enhanced collaboration skills

Each volume includes a large assortment of reproducible handouts as well as built-in facilitation notes. Teachers will also find helpful resources that address the issue of finding time for school-based professional development and teacher collaboration.

Key features

1) Designed to enhance teacher content knowledge as well as understanding of how students learn mathematical ideas.

(2) Congruent with the current knowledge base on effective professional development.

(3) Developing a prototype lesson – the capstone activity of the program -- provides teaching teams with insights about teaching and learning that can be applied to the development and delivery of future lessons

(4) Address the content topics in number and operations identified for each grade by the NCTM Curriculum Focal Points

(5) Each volume includes a large assortment of reproducible handouts as well as built-in facilitation notes.

Author(s)

Melinda Leong

Melinda Leong has served as a Senior Program Advisor in the Mathematics Education Unit at Education Northwest since 2001. She has been providing leadership in designing effective professional development in mathematics learning, teaching, and assessment. Before joining Education Northwest, she worked with the New York City Board of Education in District 2 as a teacher and director for 11 years at the K–8 level. She was the founder and director of the Manhattan Academy of Technology in New York, a middle school focused on integrating technology into a three-year comprehensive and rigorous academic program. Leong holds a B.A. in education and American studies from Tufts University, an M.A. in elementary education from Hunter College at the City University of New York, an M.A. in administration and supervision from City College at the City University of New York, and a graduate certificate in middle school mathematics from Portland State University.

Jennifer Stepanek

Jennifer Stepanek is a writer, editor, and researcher with Education Northwest in Portland, Oregon. She is the lead author of Leading Lesson Study: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Facilitators (2007), published by Corwin Press. Jennifer has worked with lesson study teams at a variety of sites in the Northwest to explore how teachers in the United States are adapting the Japanese model to fit their contexts and needs. Jennifer has written and edited a number of articles on lesson study and is also the co-author of An Invitation to Lesson Study, an electronic resource designed to help facilitators and other professional development providers introduce lesson study to others. Her previous projects include serving as the editor of Northwest Teacher, a math and science journal and writing publications for the It’s Just Good Teaching series—research-based monographs on mathematics and science teaching.

Linda Griffin

Linda Griffin joined Education Northwest June 2004 and serves as the director of the Mathematics Education Unit. Her professional background includes fourteen years as a middle and high school mathematics teacher, as well as eight years working on National Science Foundation grant projects focused on teacher enhancement, gender equity, and parent involvement in the area of mathematics. Griffin has extensive experience conducting staff development and presenting workshops at regional and national conferences and has taught university courses in mathematics, including mathematics content courses for pre-service elementary teachers. Linda holds a B.A. in mathematics from the University of California at Davis, an M.A in teaching and teacher education from the University of Arizona, and an Ed.D. in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University.

Lisa Lavelle

Lisa Lavelle, a senior program advisor in the Mathematics Education Unit at Education Northwest, is primarily involved in providing professional development to K-12 teachers of mathematics through both research grants and contracts with districts. Through the Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center, she also provides technical assistance to state education agencies. Lisa also teaches Math Methods at Portland State University as an adjunct instructor. Prior to joining the Center for Classroom Teaching and Learning at Education Northwest (formerly the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory) in September of 2008, Lavelle taught mathematics in both middle school and high school; served as a support teacher for elementary school mathematics; and worked with both preservice and inservice teachers in professional development. She earned her B.A. in Psychology with emphasis in Computer Science from Yale University and at the same time completed the Teacher Preparation Program in Secondary Mathematics at Yale. Lisa went on to earn her M.A. in Professional Studies, Middle School Mathematics, from George Washington University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Introduction

Session 1: Getting Started

Session 2: Learning Landscape

Session 3: Addition and Subtraction With Like and Related Fractions

Session 4: Understanding Equivalent Fractions

Session 5: Problem Solving With Rational Numbers

Session 6: Decimal and Fraction Relationships

Session 7: Comparing and Ordering Decimals and Fractions

Session 8: Mathematical Models: Adding and Subtracting Fractions

Session 9: Mathematical Games: Adding and Subtracting Fractions and Decimals

Session 10: Understanding Standard Procedures

Session 11: Instruction to Support Fluency With Standard Procedures

Session 12: Designing the Prototype Lesson

Session 13: Discussing Results

Session 14: Reflecting On and Revising the Prototype Lesson

Index

Reviews

"As our teaching team went through the lesson design process we were amazed at the transformation that took place. It took us out of isolated practice and placed us into a collaborative setting where we could effectively redesign lessons so that student learning was positively impacted."

Marla Ernst, Teacher and Math Coach
Lebanon Community School District, OR

"Teaching by Design in Elementary Mathematics is a wonderful tool that can easily be adopted by schools or districts looking to improve mathematics instruction and empower their teachers in the process. By providing a combination of mathematical knowledge, pedagogical strategies, and support for learning the new content and implementing it in the classroom, this volume will help groups of teachers work together to reflect on and improve their teaching of mathematics to all young children."

Liza Finkel, Associate Dean
Portland State University, OR

"Helps teachers investigate how students learn, focusing on grade-appropriate math, activities and lesson plans for teacher teams to evaluate student performance. A fine resource for improving and supplementing education."

James A. Cox, Editor in Chief
The Midwest Book Review, August 2011

"I strongly recommend this book for a professional development program that involves rational numbers for teachers in grades 4-5. A skilled facilitator could use the structure of this book to develop professional development in these other areas."

Christie Perry
Morehead State University, Kentucky

Other Titles in: Mathematics | Staff Development & Professional Learning | Elementary Teaching Methods

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