Introduction to Connections, Grades 3-5

Susan O'Connell has decades of experience supporting teachers in making sense of mathematics and effectively shifting how they teach. As a former elementary teacher, reading specialist, and math coach, Sue knows what it's like in the classroom and her background is evident throughout her work as she unpacks best practices in a clear, practical, and upbeat way.

NCTMs Process Standards were designed to support teaching that helps children develop independent, effective mathematical thinking. The books in the Heinemann Math Process Standards Series give every elementary teacher the opportunity to explore each one of the standards in depth. And with language and examples that dont require prior math training to understand, the series offers friendly, reassuring advice to any teacher preparing to embrace the Process Standards. In Introduction to Connections, Honi Bamberger and Christine Oberdorf familiarize you with ways to help students see the relationships between and among mathematical skills and content. They offer an array of entry points for understanding, planning, and teaching, including strategies that help students build upon and link mathematical thinking across units and lessons instead of merely moving on to the next chapter in their textbook. Full of activities that are modifiable for immediate use with students of all levels and written by veteran teachers for teachers of every level of experience, Introduction to Connections highlights the importance of encouraging children to develop understanding and insight by recognizing connections between math concepts while also recommending ways to implement connection-based teaching without rewriting your curriculum. Best of all, like all the titles in the Math Process Standards Series, Introduction to Connections comes with two powerful tools to help you get started and plan well: a CD-ROM with activities customizable to match your lessons and a correlation guide that helps you match mathematical content with the processes it utilizes. If your students arent making connects between mathematical concepts. Or if youre simply looking for new ways to work the connections standard into your curriculum, read, dog-ear, and teach with Introduction to Connections. And if youd like to learn about any of NCTMs process standards, or if youre looking for new, classroom-tested ways to address them in your math teaching, look no further than Heinemanns Math Process Standards Series. Youll find them explained in the most understandable and practical way: from one teacher to another.