Introductory Five Articles Focus Questions

Article 1
"Helping Students become Mathematically Powerful" by Robin Ittigson, in Teaching Children Mathematics. October, 2002 (v9 i2).

If you would prefer to answer in the future rather than past, you may change "do" to "will".

Personal question to reflect on before reading the article.

1. What do your students experience in your mathematics classroom?
2. What kind of problems do you assign? How do you select problems for your students?
3. How do students communicate in your classroom?

Now, read the article "Helping Students become Mathematically Powerful". How do your descriptions differ from those expressed in the article?

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of different criteria used to select problems? What criteria should be used for selecting problems?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the different ways of communication?
3. What classroom structures support problem solving and reasoning?
4. Why is it important to consider mathematical power?

Article 2
"Representation: An Important Process for Teaching and Learning Mathematics" by Francis Fennell and Tom Rowan in Teaching Children Mathematics. January, 2001 (v7 i5).

1. How does a mathematically literate person understand, create, and use mathematical representation?
2. How can the authors' description of representation affect what students learn?
3. How will promoting use of representation in classroom instruction, affect students' emotional reaction to mathematics?
4. How should representation be used in a mathematics class?

Article 3
"What I Learned from Teaching Second Grade" by Marilyn Burns in Teaching Children Mathematics. November, 1996. (v3 n3).

1. How does a teachers' understanding of mathematical literacy affect their teaching decisions?
2. What are different ways students could be involved in mathematics that might make it more likely that they would value and use mathematics?
3. How do you think the kinds of instruction described in Burn's article affect what students learn?
4. What sources are there that define and describe mathematical literacy and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Article 4
"Teacher as Architect of Mathematical Tasks. (Implementing the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics) by Barbara J. Reys and Vena M. Long in Teaching Children Mathematics January, 1995. (v1 n5).

1. Describe the kinds of mathematical tasks that will help students develop emotional reactions to mathematics need to become mathematically literate.
2. What do teachers need to know and believe about teaching and learning to use tasks that will help students become mathematically literate?
3. What kinds of mathematical tasks enable students to connect their learnings to their lives and world view?
4. What kinds of mathematical tasks enable students to reason mathematically?

Article 5
"Alternative Assessment in Elementary School Mathematics" in Childhood Education by Thomasenia L. Adams. Summer 1998 (v74 n4).

1. What is the role of assessment in mathematics as it pertains to the K-12 curriculum and how does it assist with the facilitation of mathematical learning?
2. What advantages do students gain by having teachers that involve them with self-assessment?
3. What is the difference between communication and the process strand Communication in the NCTM standards and what is the role of each in assessment?
4. How does the way students are assessed affect their emotional response toward mathematics and its use in their lives?