Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally, 7/e

This is the eBook of the printed book and may not include any
media, website access codes, or print supplements that may come
packaged with the bound book.
€œIt is fun to figure out the
puzzle of how children go about making sense of mathematics and
then how to help teachers help kids.€  John A. Van de
Walle, Late of Virginia Commonwealth University

This is the philosophy behind
Elementary and Middle School Mathematics:  Teaching
Developmentally.  John A. Van de Walle wrote this book
to help students understand mathematics and become confident in
their ability to teach the subject to children in kindergarten
through eighth grade.  Although he could not have foreseen the
changes in mathematics teaching over the last three decades, he was
at the forefront of the movement towards a constructivist view of
teaching, or teaching developmentally.  Constructivism says
that children construct their own knowledge.  They are not
blank slates waiting to absorb whatever the teacher tells
them.  Teachers must understand both mathematics itself and
how students learn mathematics in order to teach it
effectively. 

Learning through problem solving is another
major theme of this book.  Students solve problems not just to
apply mathematics, but also to learn new mathematics. 
Effective problems will take into account where students are, the
problematic or engaging aspect of the problem must be due to the
mathematics that the students are to learn and not be diluted by
non-mathematical activities such as cutting or pasting, and the
problem must require justifications and explanations for answers
and methods.  Learning then becomes an outcome of the problem
solving process. 

The book also addresses in more detail than
any other book on the market the effect that the trends of
standards-based education, increased pressure to test, and
increased teacher accountability have had on teaching
mathematics.  He addresses the 2000 NCTM Standards in depth,
in Chapter 1 on Teaching Mathematics in the Era of the NCTM
Standards, through the NCTM icon that appears in the margins
throughout the text, and in two appendices in the back of the
book.  Chapter 5 on Building Assessment into Instruction has
also been heavily revised to focus on increased testing pressure,
creating more explicit links between objectives and assessment, and
including assessments for students with special needs.
Additionally, samples of Pearson's reformed-based curricula,
Connnected Math Project  (5-8) as well as
Investigations (K-4),  are featured in the text and on
the myeducationlab site.

Elementary and Middle School
Mathematics:  Teaching Developmentally is a book for
doing math today€“for both students who want to become
teachers, and the students they will eventually teach. 

New To This Edition:

NEW!  Revises Chapter 5 on
assessment--Discusses increased testing pressure and
accountability, adds more information on equitable assessments,
creates more explicit links between objectives and assessment, and
includes assessments for students with special needs.

NEW!  Updates the Literature
Connections feature to remove all out of print children€s
literature and include more non-fiction, poetry, and other types of
readings.

NEW!  Weaves the Focal
Points throughout the chapters as well as links them with the
Big Ideas feature€“Focal Points have also
been added to the Appendix. 

NEW!  Includes expanded
coverage of working with diverse learners. 

NEW!  Gives greater emphasis
on dealing with math anxiety.