By Mary Foote, Darrell Earnest, Shiuli Mukhopadhyay, Frances Curcio
Connect the Process of Problem Solving with the Content of the Common Core
Mathematics educators have long worked to help students develop problem-solving skills.
More recently, they have searched for the best ways to provide their students with the
knowledge found in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This volume is one in a
series from NCTM that equips classroom teachers with targeted, highly effective
problems for achieving both goals at once.
The 38 problems and tasks for students in this book are organized into the major areas
of the Common Core for grades 3–5:
- operations and algebraic thinking
- number and operations in base ten
- fractions
- measurements and data
- geometry
For each task, teachers will find a rich, engaging problem or set of problems to use as a lesson starting
point, with accompanying discussions that tie the tasks to specific Common Core
domains and clusters. Follow-up sections highlight the CCSS Standards for Mathematical
Practice students will engage in as they work on these problems.
This book provides teachers of students in grades 3–5 with dozens of problems to use
as is, adapt for their classrooms, or be inspired by while creating related problems. For
every mathematics educator, the books in this series will help to illuminate a crucial link
between problem solving and the Common Core State Standards.
“If you are looking for help to transition to the Common Core State Standards, I strongly
recommend the NCTM series Implementing the Common Core State Standards through
Mathematical Problem Solving. It includes tasks, ideas for instruction, and mathematical
practices in four grade-band books: K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and high school.”
—Miriam Leiva, B. Cone Distinguished Professor Emerita,Mathematics Department, UNC Charlotte