Customer Reviews

A Collection of Math Lessons, Grades 1-3 (Math Solutions Series)

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Another reviewer mentioned that the vignettes are "too wordy." However, I think the format of describing actual lessons is the most valuable part of this resource. Anyone can abstractly and theoretically "plan" a lesson, but it's in the actual implementation of a lesson with real children that the learning does or does not occur. The authors are master teachers -- and we get to learn from them. We learn how the teacher organizes the materials, how she presents the new activities, how she evaluates what needs to be clarified by explicit instruction and/or group discussion, and how she resolves any problems that come up in the lessons. We also get to hear the conversations and reasoning of real children, who sometimes make amazing connections, but at other times fail to grasp what the teacher thought would be a simple concept. We see unedited examples of their work, we view the spectrum of responses, we observe the various ways in which children approach and solve the same problem.

I felt that the authors' honesty about what does and does not work in a math lesson was the strongest aspect of this book for teacher training. We even learn what the teacher had in mind to do, but did not do because the children struggled to cooperate or were not interested! This is a window into REAL TEACHING, not some formulaic script for a perfect lesson. If you want that, purchase Hands-On Standards (Learning Resources), which is also good, but different in concept. I learned more about teaching math from reading, studying, and implementing the concepts in A Collection of Math Lessons than I have from any other resource or course on teaching math. An excellent resource for anyone -- teacher, tutor, homeschooler, parent -- who wants to not just "use manipulatives," but wants to understand why AND how to do it with real children in real classrooms.

This book is written "in vignettes." In many cases you need to read several pages of text to have a clear idea of the activity being described. There is no consistent format to the chapters and sections. This book is much more difficult to use than it ought to be.

Wonderful activities for Kinder through 2nd. Love the problem solving involved and the kids love them too. Hands on inductive lessons are the best way to teach math that these kids will use for a lifetime!

This book has been so helpful to me. I was surprised to see that someone rated it as "too wordy" because it is one of the most helpful books I have purchased in a long time. They explain each lesson to you and the thoughts/reasons behind it, so that when you do the lesson, you do it correctly and emphasize the important parts right. I would definitely recommend it for anyone teaching elementary age kids.

I had been looking in every used bookstore that I could. But when I went to Amazon,
there it was! Being a primary teacher I had heard of The Collection of Math Lessons,
but never thought that I would find one.