Detailed plans for helping elementary students experience deep mathematical learning
The 56 mathematical tasks in this guide will challenge your youngest students to do deep problem-based learning. These ready-to-implement tasks connect concepts, skills, and practices and encourage students to reason, problem-solve, discuss, explore, justify, 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, 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.
Beth McCord Kobett, EdD, is an associate professor in the School of Education at Stevenson University, where she works with preservice teachers and leads professional learning efforts in mathematics education both regionally and nationally. She is also the lead consultant for the Elementary Mathematics and Specialist and Teacher Leadership Project. She is a former classroom teacher, elementary mathematics specialist, adjunct professor, and university supervisor. She is the current president of the Association of Maryland Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMMTE) and former chair of the Professional Development Services Committee of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Dr. Kobett is a recipient of the Mathematics Educator of the Year Award from the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM). She has also received Stevenson University's Excellence in Teaching Award as both an adjunct and full-time member of the Stevenson faculty. Co-author on Corwin bestsellers, The Formative 5 and Everything You Need for Mathematics Coaching, and co-author on The Mathematics Lesson-Planning Handbook series.
Francis (Skip) Fennell, PhD, is emeritus as the L. Stanley Bowlsbey professor of education and Graduate and Professional Studies at McDaniel College in Maryland, where he directs Elementary Mathematics Specialists and Teacher Leaders Project. He is a former classroom teacher, principal, and supervisor of instruction, and past president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), the Research Council for Mathematics Learning (RCML), and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). He is a recipient of the Glenn Gilbert National Leadership Award from the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM), the Excellence in Leadership and Service in Mathematics Teacher Education Award from the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), and, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Co-author of Corwin′s bestselling,
The Formative 5.
Karen S. Karp is a professor in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She continues to work in classrooms, supporting teachers' instruction for students who struggle with learning mathematics, particularly students with disabilities.
Latrenda Knighten is the District Elementary Mathematics Instructional Specialist at East Baton Rouge Parish School System in Louisiana. She served on the NCTM Board of Directors from 2011-2014. She has presented on the topic of Rich Tasks and Productive Struggle at NCTM events.
Jeff Shih is an associate professor of elementary mathematics at UNLV. He is a member of the editorial board of the Elementary School Journal, and serves as the coordinator for the Nevada Collaborative Teaching Improvement Program (NeCoTIP), the Improving Teacher Quality State Grant program. He is currently serving his term on the NCTM Board of Directors through 2021.
