Daniel Heuser
First- and second-grade students work in a simulated candy factory to learn to add and subtract fluently and with understanding. A goal of this project was to encourage children's inventions of numerical computational strategies. The author describes ways for classroom teachers to achieve this goal and others through the successful implementation of this project.
Keith R. Leatham, Kathy Lawrence, Denise Mewborn
This article discusses the nature of open-ended assessment items, their benefit to student learning, and how one teacher began using such items in her fourth-grade classroom. Also included are suggestions for getting started using open-ended assessment items in the elementary classroom.
Michael Bosse
The author recounts events surrounding a mathematically precocious four-year-old in a college algebra class. This story is used to demonstrate that even very young students can develop mathematical understanding well beyond anticipated educational norms when provided with appropriate and stimulating tasks and support. Learn how to stimulate mathematical thinkers at many different levels.