E-Book Overview
Raising students' math achievement doesn't mean ripping up your planning book and starting over. In Accessible Mathematics Steven Leinwand (author of Sensible Mathematics) shows how small shifts in the good teaching you already do can make a big difference in student learning. Accessible Mathematics is Leinwand's latest important book for math teachers. In it he focuses on the crucial issue of classroom instruction. He scours the research and visits highly effective classrooms for practical examples of small adjustments to your teaching that lead to deeper student learning in math. Some of his 10 classroom-tested teaching shifts may surprise you and others will validate your thinking. But all of them will improve your students' performance. Thoroughly practical and ever-aware of the limits of teachers' time, Leinwand gives you everything you need to put his commonsense ideas to use immediately. His extensive planning advice will help you streamline your teaching to get more from everything you do. Classroom examples from every grade level model teaching language and instructional moves. And his suggestions for professional learning help increase your effectiveness through the power of collaboration. Steven Leinwand shares your priority: raising the mathematical understanding and achievement of every one of your students. Read Accessible Mathematics, try his 10 suggestions in your practice, and discover how minor shifts in your teaching can put student learning into high gear.
E-Book Content
Accessible Mathematics 10 Instructional Shifts That Raise Student Achievement Steven Leinwand Dedicated to Teachers™ Accessible Mathematics Accessible Mathematics 10 Instructional Shifts That Raise Student Achievement Steven Leinwand HEINEMANN Portsmouth, NH Heinemann 361 Hanover Street Portsmouth, NH 03801–3912 www.heinemann.com Offices and agents throughout the world © 2009 by Steven Leinwand All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review, with the exception of reproducible pages (identified by the Accessible Mathematics copyright line), which may be photocopied for classroom use only. “Dedicated to Teachers” is a trademark of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. The author and publisher wish to thank those who have generously given permission to reprint borrowed material: Appendix 3, “Research Matters / Teach Mathematics Right the First Time” by Steve Leinwand and Steve Fleischman was originally published in Educational Leadership (Volume 62, Number 1, September 2004). Reprinted by permission of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Credits continue on page 113. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Leinwand, Steven. Accessible mathematics : ten instructional shifts that raise student achievement / Steven Leinwand. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-0-325-02656-5 ISBN-10: 0-325-02656-4 1. Mathematics—Study and teaching. 2. Effective teaching. I. Title. QA11.2.L45 2009 510.71—dc22 2008047626 Editor: Emily Michie Birch Production service: Matrix Productions Inc. Production coordinator: Lynne Costa Cover design: Joni Doherty Typesetter: Aptara Manufacturing: Valerie Cooper Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 13 12 11 10 09 VP 1 2 3 4 5 To the thousands of teachers of mathematics who have welcomed me into their classrooms, and with love, to Ann, the best teacher I know. Contents Introduction: It’s Instruction That Matters Most ix 1 We’ve Got Most of the Answers 2 Ready, Set, Review 3 It’s Not Hard to Figure Out Why Reading Works Better Tha