Following this logic through Chapters 3 and 4, one cannot ignore the importance of helping our students look beyond the memorization of solution steps in the traditional way. Instead, students must choose an algorithm based on their understanding of what the numbers and operations represent. Each chapter of Math Matters presents opportunities for new knowledge. Chapter 1, Number Sense, develops the notion of what it takes for a student to become numerically powerful, and the importance of the teacher's understanding about number and number systems in this process. Find out, in this chapter, how activities involving even and odd numbers and activities surrounding rectangular dimensions and factors aid in the process of understanding numbers.
Computation means more than memorizing algorithms.
Check out Chapter 2 for why and how to address teaching computation. Discover ways to encourage flexible thinking. Consider the various meanings of the operations. Help your students connect concrete objects and their manipulation to the written symbols, and then to the abstract ideas inherent in the operations.