Author: Grace Kelemanik
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780325120072
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 184
Book Description
Teaching our children to think and reason mathematically is a challenge, not because students can't learn to think mathematically, but because we must change our own often deeply-rooted teaching habits. This is where instructional routines come in. Their predictable design and repeatable nature support both teachers and students to develop new habits. In Teaching for Thinking, Grace Kelemanik and Amy Lucenta pick up where their first book, Routines for Reasoning, left off. They draw on their years of experience in the classroom and as instructional coaches to examine how educators can make use of routines to make three fundamental shifts in teaching practice: Focus on thinking: Shift attention away from students' answers and toward their thinking and reasoning Step out of the middle: Shift the balance from teacher-student interactions toward student-student interactions Support productive struggle: Help students do the hard thinking work that leads to real learning With three complete new routines, support for designing your own routine, and ideas for using routines in your professional learning as well as in your classroom teaching, Teaching for Thinking will help you build new teaching habits that will support all your students to become and see themselves as capable mathematicians.
Teaching for Thinking
Author: Grace Kelemanik
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780325120072
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 184
Book Description
Teaching our children to think and reason mathematically is a challenge, not because students can't learn to think mathematically, but because we must change our own often deeply-rooted teaching habits. This is where instructional routines come in. Their predictable design and repeatable nature support both teachers and students to develop new habits. In Teaching for Thinking, Grace Kelemanik and Amy Lucenta pick up where their first book, Routines for Reasoning, left off. They draw on their years of experience in the classroom and as instructional coaches to examine how educators can make use of routines to make three fundamental shifts in teaching practice: Focus on thinking: Shift attention away from students' answers and toward their thinking and reasoning Step out of the middle: Shift the balance from teacher-student interactions toward student-student interactions Support productive struggle: Help students do the hard thinking work that leads to real learning With three complete new routines, support for designing your own routine, and ideas for using routines in your professional learning as well as in your classroom teaching, Teaching for Thinking will help you build new teaching habits that will support all your students to become and see themselves as capable mathematicians.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780325120072
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 184
Book Description
Teaching our children to think and reason mathematically is a challenge, not because students can't learn to think mathematically, but because we must change our own often deeply-rooted teaching habits. This is where instructional routines come in. Their predictable design and repeatable nature support both teachers and students to develop new habits. In Teaching for Thinking, Grace Kelemanik and Amy Lucenta pick up where their first book, Routines for Reasoning, left off. They draw on their years of experience in the classroom and as instructional coaches to examine how educators can make use of routines to make three fundamental shifts in teaching practice: Focus on thinking: Shift attention away from students' answers and toward their thinking and reasoning Step out of the middle: Shift the balance from teacher-student interactions toward student-student interactions Support productive struggle: Help students do the hard thinking work that leads to real learning With three complete new routines, support for designing your own routine, and ideas for using routines in your professional learning as well as in your classroom teaching, Teaching for Thinking will help you build new teaching habits that will support all your students to become and see themselves as capable mathematicians.
Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics
Author: Liping Ma
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135149496
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
Studies of teachers in the U.S. often document insufficient subject matter knowledge in mathematics. Yet, these studies give few examples of the knowledge teachers need to support teaching, particularly the kind of teaching demanded by recent reforms in mathematics education. Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics describes the nature and development of the knowledge that elementary teachers need to become accomplished mathematics teachers, and suggests why such knowledge seems more common in China than in the United States, despite the fact that Chinese teachers have less formal education than their U.S. counterparts. The anniversary edition of this bestselling volume includes the original studies that compare U.S and Chinese elementary school teachers’ mathematical understanding and offers a powerful framework for grasping the mathematical content necessary to understand and develop the thinking of school children. Highlighting notable changes in the field and the author’s work, this new edition includes an updated preface, introduction, and key journal articles that frame and contextualize this seminal work.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135149496
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
Studies of teachers in the U.S. often document insufficient subject matter knowledge in mathematics. Yet, these studies give few examples of the knowledge teachers need to support teaching, particularly the kind of teaching demanded by recent reforms in mathematics education. Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics describes the nature and development of the knowledge that elementary teachers need to become accomplished mathematics teachers, and suggests why such knowledge seems more common in China than in the United States, despite the fact that Chinese teachers have less formal education than their U.S. counterparts. The anniversary edition of this bestselling volume includes the original studies that compare U.S and Chinese elementary school teachers’ mathematical understanding and offers a powerful framework for grasping the mathematical content necessary to understand and develop the thinking of school children. Highlighting notable changes in the field and the author’s work, this new edition includes an updated preface, introduction, and key journal articles that frame and contextualize this seminal work.
Mathematical Understanding for Secondary Teaching
Author: Mary Kathleen Heid
Publisher: Information Age Publishing
ISBN: 9781681231143
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
A perennial discussion about teacher development is the optimal content background for teachers. In recent years, that discussion has taken center stage in the work of mathematics education researchers, mathematicians, mathematics professional developers, and mathematics education policymakers. Much of the existing and prior work in this area has been directed toward mathematical knowledge for teaching at the elementary level. The work described in this volume takes a sometimes-neglected approach, focusing on the dynamic nature of mathematical understanding rather than on a stable description of mathematical knowledge, and on mathematics for secondary teaching rather than mathematics for teaching at the elementary level. The work reported in Mathematical Understanding for Secondary Teaching: A Framework and Classroom-Based Situations is a practice-based response to the question of what mathematical understandings secondary teachers could productively use in their teaching. For each of more than 50 events, our team of almost 50 mathematics educators who were experienced mathematics teachers developed descriptions of the mathematics that teachers could use-each of those descriptions (consisting of the event and the mathematics related to the event) is what we call a Situation. We developed our Framework for Mathematical Understanding for Secondary Teaching (MUST) based on an analysis of our entire set of Situations. We call the work practice-based because the MUST framework is based on actual events that we witnessed in our observations of secondary mathematics practice. Groups of mathematics teachers can use this volume to enhance their own understandings of secondary mathematics. School leaders and professional developers in secondary mathematics will find our MUST Framework and Situations useful as they work with teachers in enhancing and deepening their understanding of secondary mathematics. Mathematics teacher educators and mathematicians who teach mathematics to prospective and in-service secondary teachers will be able to couch their mathematical discussions in the Situations-examples that arise from secondary mathematics classrooms. They will be able to use this volume as they design courses and programs that enhance mathematics from the perspectives identified in the MUST framework. Policymakers and researchers can use our MUST framework as they consider the mathematics background needed by teachers.
Publisher: Information Age Publishing
ISBN: 9781681231143
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
A perennial discussion about teacher development is the optimal content background for teachers. In recent years, that discussion has taken center stage in the work of mathematics education researchers, mathematicians, mathematics professional developers, and mathematics education policymakers. Much of the existing and prior work in this area has been directed toward mathematical knowledge for teaching at the elementary level. The work described in this volume takes a sometimes-neglected approach, focusing on the dynamic nature of mathematical understanding rather than on a stable description of mathematical knowledge, and on mathematics for secondary teaching rather than mathematics for teaching at the elementary level. The work reported in Mathematical Understanding for Secondary Teaching: A Framework and Classroom-Based Situations is a practice-based response to the question of what mathematical understandings secondary teachers could productively use in their teaching. For each of more than 50 events, our team of almost 50 mathematics educators who were experienced mathematics teachers developed descriptions of the mathematics that teachers could use-each of those descriptions (consisting of the event and the mathematics related to the event) is what we call a Situation. We developed our Framework for Mathematical Understanding for Secondary Teaching (MUST) based on an analysis of our entire set of Situations. We call the work practice-based because the MUST framework is based on actual events that we witnessed in our observations of secondary mathematics practice. Groups of mathematics teachers can use this volume to enhance their own understandings of secondary mathematics. School leaders and professional developers in secondary mathematics will find our MUST Framework and Situations useful as they work with teachers in enhancing and deepening their understanding of secondary mathematics. Mathematics teacher educators and mathematicians who teach mathematics to prospective and in-service secondary teachers will be able to couch their mathematical discussions in the Situations-examples that arise from secondary mathematics classrooms. They will be able to use this volume as they design courses and programs that enhance mathematics from the perspectives identified in the MUST framework. Policymakers and researchers can use our MUST framework as they consider the mathematics background needed by teachers.
Mine the Gap for Mathematical Understanding, Grades K-2
Author: John SanGiovanni
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1506382290
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
Being an effective math educator is one part based on the quality of the tasks we give, one part how we diagnose what we see, and one part what we do with what we find. Yet with so many students and big concepts to cover, it can be hard to slow down enough to look for those moments when students’ responses tell us what we need to know about next best steps. In this remarkable book, John SanGiovanni helps us value our young learners’ misconceptions and incomplete understandings as much as their correct ones—because it’s the gap in their understanding today that holds the secrets to planning tomorrow’s best teaching. SanGiovanni lays out 160 high-quality tasks aligned to the standards and big ideas of grades K-2 mathematics, including counting and representing numbers, number relationships and comparison, addition and subtraction within 100 and 1000, money and time, and multiplication and division. The tasks are all downloadable so you can use or modify them for instruction and assessment. Each big idea offers a starting task followed by: what makes it a high-quality taskwhat you might anticipate before students work with the task 4 student examples of the completed task showcasing a distinct "gap" commentary on what precisely counts for mathematical understanding and the next instructional steps commentary on the misconception or incomplete understanding so you learn why the student veered off course three additional tasks aligned to the mathematics topic and ideas about what students might do with these additional tasks. It’s time to break our habit of rushing into re-teaching for correctness and instead get curious about the space between right and wrong answers. Mine the Gap for Mathematical Understanding is a book you will return to again and again to get better at selecting tasks that will uncover students’ reasoning—better at discerning the quality and clarity of students’ understanding—and better at planning teaching based on the gaps you see.
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1506382290
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
Being an effective math educator is one part based on the quality of the tasks we give, one part how we diagnose what we see, and one part what we do with what we find. Yet with so many students and big concepts to cover, it can be hard to slow down enough to look for those moments when students’ responses tell us what we need to know about next best steps. In this remarkable book, John SanGiovanni helps us value our young learners’ misconceptions and incomplete understandings as much as their correct ones—because it’s the gap in their understanding today that holds the secrets to planning tomorrow’s best teaching. SanGiovanni lays out 160 high-quality tasks aligned to the standards and big ideas of grades K-2 mathematics, including counting and representing numbers, number relationships and comparison, addition and subtraction within 100 and 1000, money and time, and multiplication and division. The tasks are all downloadable so you can use or modify them for instruction and assessment. Each big idea offers a starting task followed by: what makes it a high-quality taskwhat you might anticipate before students work with the task 4 student examples of the completed task showcasing a distinct "gap" commentary on what precisely counts for mathematical understanding and the next instructional steps commentary on the misconception or incomplete understanding so you learn why the student veered off course three additional tasks aligned to the mathematics topic and ideas about what students might do with these additional tasks. It’s time to break our habit of rushing into re-teaching for correctness and instead get curious about the space between right and wrong answers. Mine the Gap for Mathematical Understanding is a book you will return to again and again to get better at selecting tasks that will uncover students’ reasoning—better at discerning the quality and clarity of students’ understanding—and better at planning teaching based on the gaps you see.
Teaching Numeracy
Author: Margie Pearse
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1452224404
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
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.
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1452224404
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
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.
High School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice
Author: Robert Q. Berry III
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1071806467
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
Empower students to be the change—join the teaching mathematics for social justice movement! We live in an era in which students have —through various media and their lived experiences— a more visceral experience of social, economic, and environmental injustices. However, when people think of social justice, mathematics is rarely the first thing that comes to mind. Through model lessons developed by over 30 diverse contributors, this book brings seemingly abstract high school mathematics content to life by connecting it to the issues students see and want to change in the world. Along with expert guidance from the lead authors, the lessons in this book explain how to teach mathematics for self- and community-empowerment. It walks teachers step-by-step through the process of using mathematics—across all high school content domains—as a tool to explore, understand, and respond to issues of social injustice including: environmental injustice; wealth inequality; food insecurity; and gender, LGBTQ, and racial discrimination. This book features: Content cross-referenced by mathematical concept and social issues Downloadable instructional materials for student use User-friendly and logical interior design for daily use Guidance for designing and implementing social justice lessons driven by your own students’ unique passions and challenges Timelier than ever, teaching mathematics through the lens of social justice will connect content to students’ daily lives, fortify their mathematical understanding, and expose them to issues that will make them responsive citizens and leaders in the future.
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1071806467
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
Empower students to be the change—join the teaching mathematics for social justice movement! We live in an era in which students have —through various media and their lived experiences— a more visceral experience of social, economic, and environmental injustices. However, when people think of social justice, mathematics is rarely the first thing that comes to mind. Through model lessons developed by over 30 diverse contributors, this book brings seemingly abstract high school mathematics content to life by connecting it to the issues students see and want to change in the world. Along with expert guidance from the lead authors, the lessons in this book explain how to teach mathematics for self- and community-empowerment. It walks teachers step-by-step through the process of using mathematics—across all high school content domains—as a tool to explore, understand, and respond to issues of social injustice including: environmental injustice; wealth inequality; food insecurity; and gender, LGBTQ, and racial discrimination. This book features: Content cross-referenced by mathematical concept and social issues Downloadable instructional materials for student use User-friendly and logical interior design for daily use Guidance for designing and implementing social justice lessons driven by your own students’ unique passions and challenges Timelier than ever, teaching mathematics through the lens of social justice will connect content to students’ daily lives, fortify their mathematical understanding, and expose them to issues that will make them responsive citizens and leaders in the future.
Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K-12
Author: Peter Liljedahl
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1544374844
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 454
Book Description
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.
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1544374844
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 454
Book Description
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.
Figuring Out Fluency in Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Grades K-8
Author: Jennifer M. Bay-Williams
Publisher: Corwin
ISBN: 1071818430
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
Because fluency practice is not a worksheet. Fluency in mathematics is more than adeptly using basic facts or implementing algorithms. Real fluency involves reasoning and creativity, and it varies by the situation at hand. Figuring Out Fluency in Mathematics Teaching and Learning offers educators the inspiration to develop a deeper understanding of procedural fluency, along with a plethora of pragmatic tools for shifting classrooms toward a fluency approach. In a friendly and accessible style, this hands-on guide empowers educators to support students in acquiring the repertoire of reasoning strategies necessary to becoming versatile and nimble mathematical thinkers. It includes: "Seven Significant Strategies" to teach to students as they work toward procedural fluency. Activities, fluency routines, and games that encourage learning the efficiency, flexibility, and accuracy essential to real fluency. Reflection questions, connections to mathematical standards, and techniques for assessing all components of fluency. Suggestions for engaging families in understanding and supporting fluency. Fluency is more than a toolbox of strategies to choose from; it’s also a matter of equity and access for all learners. Give your students the knowledge and power to become confident mathematical thinkers.
Publisher: Corwin
ISBN: 1071818430
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
Because fluency practice is not a worksheet. Fluency in mathematics is more than adeptly using basic facts or implementing algorithms. Real fluency involves reasoning and creativity, and it varies by the situation at hand. Figuring Out Fluency in Mathematics Teaching and Learning offers educators the inspiration to develop a deeper understanding of procedural fluency, along with a plethora of pragmatic tools for shifting classrooms toward a fluency approach. In a friendly and accessible style, this hands-on guide empowers educators to support students in acquiring the repertoire of reasoning strategies necessary to becoming versatile and nimble mathematical thinkers. It includes: "Seven Significant Strategies" to teach to students as they work toward procedural fluency. Activities, fluency routines, and games that encourage learning the efficiency, flexibility, and accuracy essential to real fluency. Reflection questions, connections to mathematical standards, and techniques for assessing all components of fluency. Suggestions for engaging families in understanding and supporting fluency. Fluency is more than a toolbox of strategies to choose from; it’s also a matter of equity and access for all learners. Give your students the knowledge and power to become confident mathematical thinkers.
Understanding and Teaching Primary Mathematics
Author: Tony Cotton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317614399
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 261
Book Description
How would you teach the concept of odd and even numbers to a child? What is the probability of throwing a three on a six-sided die? How could you help a child who is confusing ratio and proportion? By seamlessly combining subject knowledge and pedagogy, the second edition of Understanding and Teaching Primary Mathematics will not only build your own confidence in mathematics, but also equip you with the curriculum understanding and pedagogical know-how to excel at teaching maths to children of any age. Written in a clear and accessible way, the book guides you through the fundamental ideas which are at the heart of teaching and learning maths, with special focus on observation and assessment of primary and early years children. Hallmark features Links to the classroom and research are provided throughout to help you relate educational theory to your own teaching practice. Portfolio and audit tasks allow you to assess your own subject knowledge and build up a portfolio of evidence to gain Qualified Teacher Status. The accompanying extra resources offers topic-specific self-audits for you to monitor your progress, exemplar lesson plans, a range of Portfolio Tasks mapped directly to current teacher standards and web-links to up-to-date online resources. New to this edition Resource Inspiration boxes give inviting examples of different activities to do with your class to provide inspiration for your own teaching. High quality videos with corresponding discussion, have been expertly selected from Teachers TV help to widen your skills and develop your practice, offering tips, lesson ideas and classroom resources.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317614399
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 261
Book Description
How would you teach the concept of odd and even numbers to a child? What is the probability of throwing a three on a six-sided die? How could you help a child who is confusing ratio and proportion? By seamlessly combining subject knowledge and pedagogy, the second edition of Understanding and Teaching Primary Mathematics will not only build your own confidence in mathematics, but also equip you with the curriculum understanding and pedagogical know-how to excel at teaching maths to children of any age. Written in a clear and accessible way, the book guides you through the fundamental ideas which are at the heart of teaching and learning maths, with special focus on observation and assessment of primary and early years children. Hallmark features Links to the classroom and research are provided throughout to help you relate educational theory to your own teaching practice. Portfolio and audit tasks allow you to assess your own subject knowledge and build up a portfolio of evidence to gain Qualified Teacher Status. The accompanying extra resources offers topic-specific self-audits for you to monitor your progress, exemplar lesson plans, a range of Portfolio Tasks mapped directly to current teacher standards and web-links to up-to-date online resources. New to this edition Resource Inspiration boxes give inviting examples of different activities to do with your class to provide inspiration for your own teaching. High quality videos with corresponding discussion, have been expertly selected from Teachers TV help to widen your skills and develop your practice, offering tips, lesson ideas and classroom resources.
Mine the Gap for Mathematical Understanding, Grades 3-5
Author: John SanGiovanni
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1506375502
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
Being an effective math educator is one part based on the quality of the tasks we give, one part how we diagnose what we see, and one part what we do with what we find. Yet with so many students and big concepts to cover, it can be hard to slow down enough to look for those moments when students’ responses tell us what we need to know about next best steps. In this remarkable book, John SanGiovanni helps us value our students’ misconceptions and incomplete understandings as much as their correct ones—because it’s the gap in their understanding today that holds the secrets to planning tomorrow’s best teaching. SanGiovanni lays out 180 high-quality tasks aligned to the standards and big ideas of Grades 3-5 mathematics, including addition and subtraction of multi-digit whole numbers, multiplication and division of single and multi-digit whole numbers, foundational fraction concepts, foundational decimal concepts, and operations with fractions and decimals. The tasks are all downloadable so you can use or modify them for instruction and assessment. Each big idea offers a starting task followed by: what makes it a high-quality task what you might anticipate before students work with the task 4 student examples of the completed task showcasing a distinct "gap" commentary on what precisely counts for mathematical understanding and the next instructional steps commentary on the misconception or incomplete understanding so you learn why the student veered off course three additional tasks aligned to the mathematics topic and ideas about what students might do with these additional tasks. It’s time to break our habit of rushing into re-teaching for correctness and instead get curious about the space between right and wrong answers. Mine the Gap for Mathematical Understanding is a book you will return to again and again to get better at selecting tasks that will uncover students’ reasoning—better at discerning the quality and clarity of students’ understanding—and better at planning teaching based on the gaps you see.
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1506375502
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
Being an effective math educator is one part based on the quality of the tasks we give, one part how we diagnose what we see, and one part what we do with what we find. Yet with so many students and big concepts to cover, it can be hard to slow down enough to look for those moments when students’ responses tell us what we need to know about next best steps. In this remarkable book, John SanGiovanni helps us value our students’ misconceptions and incomplete understandings as much as their correct ones—because it’s the gap in their understanding today that holds the secrets to planning tomorrow’s best teaching. SanGiovanni lays out 180 high-quality tasks aligned to the standards and big ideas of Grades 3-5 mathematics, including addition and subtraction of multi-digit whole numbers, multiplication and division of single and multi-digit whole numbers, foundational fraction concepts, foundational decimal concepts, and operations with fractions and decimals. The tasks are all downloadable so you can use or modify them for instruction and assessment. Each big idea offers a starting task followed by: what makes it a high-quality task what you might anticipate before students work with the task 4 student examples of the completed task showcasing a distinct "gap" commentary on what precisely counts for mathematical understanding and the next instructional steps commentary on the misconception or incomplete understanding so you learn why the student veered off course three additional tasks aligned to the mathematics topic and ideas about what students might do with these additional tasks. It’s time to break our habit of rushing into re-teaching for correctness and instead get curious about the space between right and wrong answers. Mine the Gap for Mathematical Understanding is a book you will return to again and again to get better at selecting tasks that will uncover students’ reasoning—better at discerning the quality and clarity of students’ understanding—and better at planning teaching based on the gaps you see.