Thinking Mathematics 1 focuses on the development of Early Foundations tracing the journey of children from their first experiences with counting to their initial understanding of addition and subtraction. Among the major pieces in this development are the composition and decomposition of numbers, place value, and learning one-digit combinations and differences in a thinking curriculum. Participants will delve into many different ways students can think about and solve problems while building conceptual understanding, solving problems, and acquiring fluency with procedures. They will also focus on the important role of language, justification, and conversation in the mathematics classroom. It pays particular attention to the importance of explicitly linking work with representations and models to mathematical symbols and making sure students understand the linkage. Drawing from the work of TIMSS and other researchers, this course builds awareness of what makes mathematics tasks high or low level and how to maintain high level tasks as challenging opportunities for students to learn.
- Ten principles capture practices that lead to a better understanding of math for all students and are applicable at eleven levels.
- This course addresses the kind of questioning that promotes thinking in math class and provides a framework for thinking about curriculum and lessons.
