Building Thinking Classrooms In Mathematics

A thinking student is an engaged student Teachers often find it difficult to implement lessons that help students go beyond rote memorization and repetitive calculations. In fact, institutional norms and habits that permeate all classrooms can actually be enabling "non-thinking" student behavior. Sparked by observing teachers struggle to implement rich mathematics tasks to engage students in deep thinking, Peter Liljedahl has translated his 15 years of research into this practical guide on how to move toward a thinking classroom. Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K–12 helps teachers implement 14 optimal practices for thinking that create an ideal setting for deep mathematics learning to occur. This guide Provides the what, why, and how of each practice and answers teachers’ most frequently asked questions Includes firsthand accounts of how these practices foster thinking through teacher and student interviews and student work samples Offers a plethora of macro moves, micro moves, and rich tasks to get started Organizes the 14 practices into four toolkits that can be implemented in order and built on throughout the year When combined, these unique research-based practices create the optimal conditions for learner-centered, student-owned deep mathematical thinking and learning, and have the power to transform mathematics classrooms like never before.

Keep thinking...keep learning in different settings In Peter Liljedahl’s bestselling Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics: 14 Teaching Practices for Enhancing Learning, readers discovered that thinking is a precursor to learning. Translating 15 years of research, the anchor book introduced 14 practices that have the most potential to increase student thinking in the classroom and can work for any teacher in any setting. But how do these practices work in a classroom with social distancing or in settings that are not always face-to-face? This follow-up supplement will answer those questions, and more. It walks teachers through how to adapt the 14 practices for 12 distinct settings, some of which came about as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This guide: Provides the what, why, and how to adapt each practice in face-to-face settings that require social distancing, fixed seating, or small class sizes; synchronous and asynchronous virtual settings; synchronous and asynchronous hybrid settings; independent learning; and homeschooling. Includes guidance on using thinking classroom practices to support students in unfinished learning in small groups and one-on-one teaching or tutoring. Offers updated toolkits and a recommended order for the implementation of the practices for each of the settings. This supplement allows teachers to dip in as needed and continually modify the practices as their own classroom situations change and evolve, always keeping the thinking at the forefront of their mathematics teaching and learning.

Creating Thinking Classrooms is loaded with examples, stories and strategies for reinvigorating schools through quality thinking and reasoning.

Transform mathematics learning from “doing” to “thinking” American students are losing ground in the global mathematical environment. What many of them lack is numeracy—the ability to think through the math and apply it outside of the classroom. Referencing the new common core and NCTM standards, the authors outline nine critical thinking habits that foster numeracy and show you how to: Monitor and repair students’ understanding Guide students to recognize patterns Encourage questioning for understanding Develop students’ mathematics vocabulary Included are several numeracy-rich lesson plans, complete with clear directions and student handouts.

This book shows how problems can be the vehicle for learning mathematics itself, and presents a comprehensive pedagogy based on classroom discourse, assessment, critical and creative thinking.

Selected as the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics winter book club book! Rich tasks, collaborative work, number talks, problem-based learning, direct instruction...with so many possible approaches, how do we know which ones work the best? In Visible Learning for Mathematics, six acclaimed educators assert it’s not about which one—it’s about when—and show you how to design high-impact instruction so all students demonstrate more than a year’s worth of mathematics learning for a year spent in school. That’s a high bar, but with the amazing K-12 framework here, you choose the right approach at the right time, depending upon where learners are within three phases of learning: surface, deep, and transfer. This results in "visible" learning because the effect is tangible. The framework is forged out of current research in mathematics combined with John Hattie’s synthesis of more than 15 years of education research involving 300 million students. Chapter by chapter, and equipped with video clips, planning tools, rubrics, and templates, you get the inside track on which instructional strategies to use at each phase of the learning cycle: Surface learning phase: When—through carefully constructed experiences—students explore new concepts and make connections to procedural skills and vocabulary that give shape to developing conceptual understandings. Deep learning phase: When—through the solving of rich high-cognitive tasks and rigorous discussion—students make connections among conceptual ideas, form mathematical generalizations, and apply and practice procedural skills with fluency. Transfer phase: When students can independently think through more complex mathematics, and can plan, investigate, and elaborate as they apply what they know to new mathematical situations. To equip students for higher-level mathematics learning, we have to be clear about where students are, where they need to go, and what it looks like when they get there. Visible Learning for Math brings about powerful, precision teaching for K-12 through intentionally designed guided, collaborative, and independent learning.

Give math students the connections between what they learn and how they do math—and suddenly math makes sense If your secondary-school students are fearful of or frustrated by math, it’s time for a new approach. When you teach concepts rather than rote processes, you show students math’s essential elegance, as well as its practicality—and help them discover their own natural mathematical abilities. This book is a road map to retooling how you teach math in a deep, clear, and meaningful way —through a conceptual lens—helping students achieve higher-order thinking skills. Jennifer Wathall shows you how to plan units, engage students, assess understanding, incorporate technology, and even guides you through an ideal concept-based classroom. Practical tools include: Examples from arithmetic to calculus Inquiry tasks, unit planners, templates, and activities Sample assessments with examples of student work Vignettes from international educators A dedicated companion website with additional resources, including a study guide, templates, exemplars, discussion questions, and other professional development activities. Everyone has the power to understand math. By extending Erickson and Lanning’s work on Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction specifically to math, this book helps students achieve the deep understanding and skills called for by global standards and be prepared for the 21st century workplace. "Jennifer Wathall’s book is one of the most forward thinking mathematics resources on the market. While highlighting the essential tenets of Concept-Based Curriculum design, her accessible explanations and clear examples show how to move students to deeper conceptual understandings. This book ignites the mathematical mind!" — Lois A. Lanning, Author of Designing Concept-based Curriculum for English-Language Arts, K-12 "Wathall is a master at covering all the bases here; this book is bursting with engaging assessment examples, discussion questions, research, and resources that apply specifically to mathematical topics. Any math teacher or coach would be hard-pressed to read it and not come away with scores of ideas, assessments, and lessons that she could use instantly in the classroom. As an IB Workshop Leader and instructional coach, I want this book handy on a nearby shelf for regular referral – it′s a boon to any educator who wants to bring math to life for students." — Alexis Wiggins, Instructional Coach, IB Workshop Leader and Consultant

Detailed plans for helping elementary students experience deep mathematical learning Do you work tirelessly to make your math lessons meaningful, challenging, accessible, and engaging? Do you spend hours you don’t have searching for, adapting, and creating tasks to provide rich experiences for your students that supplement your mathematics curriculum? Help has arrived! Classroom Ready-Rich Math Tasks for Grades 4-5 details more than 50 research- and standards-aligned, high-cognitive-demand tasks that will have your students doing deep-problem-based learning. These ready-to-implement, engaging tasks connect skills, concepts and practices, while encouraging students to reason, problem-solve, discuss, explore multiple solution pathways, connect multiple representations, and justify their thinking. They help students monitor their own thinking and connect the mathematics they know to new situations. In other words, these tasks allow students to truly do mathematics! Written with a strengths-based lens and an attentiveness to all students, this guide includes: • Complete task-based lessons, referencing mathematics standards and practices, vocabulary, and materials • Downloadable planning tools, student resource pages, and thoughtful questions, and formative assessment prompts • Guidance on preparing, launching, facilitating, and reflecting on each task • Notes on access and equity, focusing on students’ strengths, productive struggle, and distance or alternative learning environments. With concluding guidance on adapting or creating additional rich tasks for your students, this guide will help you give all of your students the deepest, most enriching and engaging mathematics learning experience possible.