Ways to promote students thinking and reasoning, implement cooperative group learning, use concrete materials, and integrate writing into mathematics instruction are modeled. The lessons are written as vignettes based on the authors and others experiences teaching these lessons to children in grades 3 to 6. The vignettes describe how lessons are introduced, how children respond, and what a teacher might do to build on student reasoning. Although the lesson vignettes are arranged by grade level, the authors note that lessons may be used in any order and may be suitable for other grade levels as well as the one identified. The authors also suggest that students may benefit from exploring some activities more than once since they can build on their previous experience and increased maturity.
Some lessons require several class periods.
The second day continues the activity of the first, and the process of summarizing the findings begins. The third day, students begin creating a multiplication table. The fourth and fifth days are spent exploring patterns on the multiplication table. The introductory chapter provides suggestions for organizing group work and describes the role of the teacher as well as providing suggestions on how to use the book.