By Lillie Albert, John McAdam

This PDF file presents chapter 18 of The Learning of Mathematics: 69th NCTM Yearbook in a downloadable file that preserves the design and layout of the book while allowing users to search and print selected pages.

Chapter 18: Making Sense of Decimal Fraction Algorithms Using Base-Ten Blocks. Lillie Albert (Boston College) and John McAdam (Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York) present a vignette of prospective teachers as learners of mathematics in an elementary mathematics methods course as they learn to apply decimal fraction algorithms using base-ten blocks. A description of a classroom episode is included to give a sense of how the prospective teachers’ knowledge of place value regarding whole numbers served as a "scaffold" for learning and thinking about decimals. The authors also include a discussion of some of the essential components and underlying principles for teaching and learning decimal fractions, such as the use of precise mathematical language.

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