Designing Effective Mathematics Instruction: A Direct Instruction Math (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Jerry Silbert (Author), Douglas W. Carnine (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

An exciting edition of this practical math methods book that provides future teachers with practical procedures for increasing student success in math. Emphasizing specific, classroom-tested strategies, these authors provide techniques for teaching major math and needed prerequisite skills, as well as extensive background in diagnosing and correcting error patterns. In addition, they offer practical guidelines for curriculum evaluation and modification, recommendations for practice and review drills, and specific information on progress-monitoring.

From the Publisher

An exciting edition of this practical math methods text that provides future teachers with practical procedures for increasing student success in math. Emphasizing specific, classroom-tested strategies, these authors provide techniques for teaching major math and needed prerequisite skills...as well as extensive background in diagnosing and correcting error patterns. In addition, they offer practical guidelines for curriculum evaluation and modification, recommendations for practice and review drills, and specific information on progress-monitoring.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3 edition (March 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0135966515
• ISBN-13: 978-0135966518
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #585,790 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best single resource for K-8 math teachers, December 27, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Nathan Crow) - See all my reviews

Designing Effective Mathematics Instruction offers brilliant solutions to most of the problems that your students might be having. It includes all the most important mathematics topics from kindergarten through fractions and "pre-algebra." The chapters discuss various mathematics topics in some depth, providing a broad-based conceptual understanding as well as specific, practical suggestions for teaching procedures. Specific skills are referenced to "formats," which are wonderfully clear scripts for teaching the specific procedure, concept, or principle. Scripts range in degree of structure from totally structured, with each step taught and guided, to less structured. The less structured scripts (and accompanying worksheets) would be given to students *after* they had mastered the structured formats.

I have given chapters from this book to my teachers, who universally report success in teaching the most difficult topics. I daresay that this book will solve at least 95% of your students' mathematics problems. Even if you are already highly successful teaching math, the book will help broaden your understanding of some of the relations between different tasks and how to explain them in clear, student-friendly language. For example, the discussion of story problems has a fascinating analysis of the different kinds of problems and how to approach them in a way that students can understand.

Our students surge ahead with the help of this book. Buy it!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tool for teachers who teach, January 2, 1999

By A Customer

As an elementary Special Day Class teacher and Resource Specialist I used thetext "Designing Effective Mathematics Instruction" countless times. I was constantly facedwith gaps in student math skills, confused algorithms, and lack of functionalskills such as telling time and using money.Using and adapting the materials in this book allowed me to focus myinstruction and maximize student progress. In special education, "individualized" is the main principle. Using this book,one can be equipped to assess and design math instruction which is finelydetailed and suited to individual needs. Yes, I can think of a chapter or two that ought to be written and enhance itsutility, but they only support and further its basic intent.66 dollars? Yes, a hefty price on a teacher's salary. But few books on your desk willbecome so dog-eared.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific how-to manual for teaching K-6 math skills, December 21, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Bellingham, WA) - See all my reviews

I would never again begin to attempt to teach elementary math without this book on my desk. If you are fed up with the "new-new" math and want to find out the clearest and simplest way to help children learn basic computational skills this book is just what you need. This text would be especially helpful to homeschoolers who want consistent language that helps children understand place value when they do arithemetic, or fractions when they are learning to manipulate them. This text would also be needed by teachers whose college training only prepared them to engage their students in interesting math activities but never showed how to explain addition and subtraction of unlike fractions, or how to effectively organize math facts memorization, or even any strategies for solving word problems. All these and many more are covered in helpful detail in this text. There are invaluable tips for correcting common errors, or better yet-how to avoid them. All explanations support each other in a way that helps students tie new learning to the necessary prior knowledge. I have used this as a text in curriculum methods courses in three universities and most students come away with the feeling that this book is an incredible reference book that they wish to keep handy throughout their teaching careers.