Engage students in mathematics using growth mindset techniques The most challenging parts of teaching mathematics are engaging students and helping them understand the connections between mathematics concepts. In this volume, you'll find a collection of low floor, high ceiling tasks that will help you do just that, by looking at the big ideas at the third-grade level through visualization, play, and investigation. During their work with tens of thousands of teachers, authors Jo Boaler, Jen Munson, and Cathy Williams heard the same message that they want to incorporate more brain science into their math instruction, but they need guidance in the techniques that work best to get across the concepts they needed to teach. So the authors designed Mindset Mathematics around the principle of active student engagement, with tasks that reflect the latest brain science on learning. Open, creative, and visual math tasks have been shown to improve student test scores, and more importantly change their relationship with mathematics and start believing in their own potential. The tasks in Mindset Mathematics reflect the lessons from brain science that: There is no such thing as a math person - anyone can learn mathematics to high levels. Mistakes, struggle and challenge are the most important times for brain growth. Speed is unimportant in mathematics. Mathematics is a visual and beautiful subject, and our brains want to think visually about mathematics. With engaging questions, open-ended tasks, and four-color visuals that will help kids get excited about mathematics, Mindset Mathematics is organized around nine big ideas which emphasize the connections within the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and can be used with any current curriculum.

Engage students in mathematics using growth mindset techniquesThe most challenging parts of teaching mathematics are engaging students and helping them understand the connections between mathematics concepts. In this volume, you'll find a collection of low floor, high ceiling tasks that will help you do just that, by looking at the big ideas at the third-grade level through visualization, play, and investigation.During their work with tens of thousands of teachers, authors Jo Boaler, Jen Munson, and Cathy Williams heard the same message--that they want to incorporate more brain science into their math instruction, but they need guidance in the techniques that work best to get across the concepts they needed to teach. So the authors designed Mindset Mathematics around the principle of active student engagement, with tasks that reflect the latest brain science on learning. Open, creative, and visual math tasks have been shown to improve student test scores, and more importantly change their relationship with mathematics and start believing in their own potential. The tasks in Mindset Mathematics reflect the lessons from brain science that:* There is no such thing as a math person - anyone can learn mathematics to high levels.* Mistakes, struggle and challenge are the most important times for brain growth.* Speed is unimportant in mathematics.* Mathematics is a visual and beautiful subject, and our brains want to think visually about mathematics.With engaging questions, open-ended tasks, and four-color visuals that will help kids get excited about mathematics, Mindset Mathematics is organized around nine big ideas which emphasize the connections within the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and can be used with any current curriculum.

Introduction 1Low-Floor, High-Ceiling Tasks 2Youcubed Summer Camp 3Memorization versus Conceptual Engagement 4Mathematical Thinking, Reasoning, and Convincing 5Big Ideas 9Structure of the Book 10Activities for Building Norms 17Encouraging Good Group Work 17Paper Folding: Learning to Reason, Convince, and Be a Skeptic 21Big Idea 1: Solving Problems with Data 23Visualize: Tongues, Tails, and in Between 25Play: Inspector Graph-It 36Investigate: Data Tells Us about Ourselves 41Big Idea 2: Thinking around Shapes 51Visualize: Get Your Arms around It 53Play: 36-Unit Walk 59Investigate: Shapes on a Plane 65Big Idea 3: Thinking in Equal Groups 75Visualize: Sharing Crackers 78Play: Dozens of Dice 85Investigate: Playing with Pairs 91Big Idea 4: Tiling to Understand Area 99Visualize: Cover Up 101Play: A Whole New Alphabet 111Investigate: Sharing an Area 119Big Idea 5: Seeing Multiplication as Area 125Visualize: Rods Around 127Play: Squares and Near-Squares 132Investigate: Connecting Area and Perimeter 142Big Idea 6: Understanding 1 2 149Visualize: I Spy 1 2 151Play: Spotting 1 2 160Investigate: The Many Shapes of 1 2 171Big Idea 7: Seeing Fractions: The Parts and the Wholes 183Visualize: Seeing Parts and Wholes 185Play: Cover, Cut, and Sort 191Investigate: Taking a Fractional Walk 202Big Idea 8: Being Flexible with Numbers 209Visualize: How Many Do You See? 211Play: How Close to 100? 217Investigate: Tile and Table Patterns 222Appendix 231¼´´ Grid Paper 232Grid Paper 2331´´ Grid Paper 234¼´´ Dot Paper 235Centimeter Dot Paper 236Isometric Dot Paper 237Hundred Grids 238About the Authors 239Acknowledgments 241Index 243