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Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally

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This handy reference is particularly useful for elementary teachers who are changing grade levels and special education teachers who teach multiple grades and multiple ability levels.

Guide teachers to help all PreK-8 learners make sense of mathematics
Elementary and Middle School Teaching Developmentally illustrates how children learn mathematics, and then shows pre-service teachers the most effective methods of teaching PreK-8 math through hands-on, problem-based activities.
As you engage with the activities, you'll boost your own knowledge of the math and learn concrete, developmentally appropriate ways to incorporate problem-based tasks in your classroom. Examples of real student work and new common challenges and misconception tables help you visualize good mathematics instruction and assessment that supports and challenges all learners. An important reference to consult throughout your teaching career, this book reflects the Common Core State Standards and NCTM’s Principles to Actions, as well as current research and coverage of the latest teaching technology.

Also available with MyLab Education
MyLab is the teaching and learning platform that empowers instructors to reach every student. By combining trusted author content with digital tools and a flexible platform, MyLab personalizes the learning experience and improves results for each student. The interactive, authentic application exercises, video examples, math practice, and self-check assessments in MyLab Education for Elementary and Middle School Mathematics help future teachers build their understanding of math content and pedagogy.

You are purchasing a standalone product; MyLab does not come packaged with this content. Students, if interested in purchasing this title with MyLab Education, ask your instructor to confirm the correct package ISBN and Course ID. Instructors, contact your Pearson rep for more information.
If you would like to purchase both the physical text and MyLab Education, search

0134800346 / 9780134800349 Elementary and Middle School Teaching Developmentally plus MyLab Education with Enhanced Pearson eText -- Access Card Package
Package consists

720 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

53 people are currently reading
562 people want to read

About the author

John A. Van de Walle

60 books10 followers

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5 stars
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4 stars
131 (27%)
3 stars
95 (20%)
2 stars
33 (7%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Jonathan Peto.
282 reviews51 followers
August 7, 2010
Excellent, excellent book. I keep it on hand and refer to it all the time. I highly recommend it. Parents who are interested in helping their children understand math could read the initial chapters about the foundations of teaching math and then refer to section 2 when teaching specific concepts. If you home school and do not use this book you should probably be incarcerated, especially if you are not confident of your own math abilities. Parents who understand math could benefit from this book too, especially if you are frustrated that you are not transferring your knowledge successfully. I love this book so much I am probably going to buy the new edition and read it for a third or fourth time.
18 reviews
June 26, 2009
I actually used the 7th edition with my students this past semester but either way, this is a terrific book for pre-service teachers! The author(s) introduce pre-service teachers to think about steering away from teacher-led instruction and toward having a math class based on student thinking and building classroom norms centered on communication. I highly recommend using the my education lab on the computer with your students. The site compliments the book beautifully (once you get past a few bugs with the program - logging on can be difficult the first time). Also, the activities in the book and on-line are very thoughtful and easy to follow.
8 reviews
November 22, 2008
A wonderful resource about how to teach math, with a great developmental approach that meshes well with Montessori values. The book comprehensively explains the NCTM standards, and goes into depth on lots of different subjects from kindergarten through 8th grade. Lots of links to other resources as well, with annotated bibliographies including web sites.
Profile Image for Linda.
10 reviews
June 16, 2009
This is a developmental or foundational resource which I have used many times to try to identify and beef up gaps in a student's math foundations. Chocked full of strategies for teaching concepts and procedures, games, prompts for writing reflections and long list of references and on-line resources.
Profile Image for Amy.
128 reviews
May 8, 2009
Many great ideas and activities. The book is definitely all about the problem-solving approach and emphasizes cooperative learning.
1 review
January 17, 2013
The absolute best resource for "best practices" and content in mathematics. My dream would be that all math educators embraced and delivered instruction according to J Van de Walle.
Profile Image for Random Scholar.
243 reviews
February 26, 2020
This book has a lot of ideas for activities we can do to teach different math concepts like fractions, decimals, and multiplication. This book also has a lot of interesting ideas about how to introduce math concepts through activities that promote exploration and hands on learning. What I liked best about this book is that it had a lot of ideas about how to make math meaningful for students. I wish I had learned math the way this book illustrated it because many formulas and operations would have been more memorable and useful for me when I was growing up. Yet thankfully, I can teach this to my students so they can have a better experience!
Profile Image for Mel.
53 reviews1 follower
December 27, 2023
absolutely loved this book! read the eleventh edition this semester and it is full of resources that I am definitely taking with me once i’m in my own classroom. full of great lessons, activities, pedagogy; explores phenomena based teaching and inquiry based teaching in depth and in a way that is easy to follow along. learned a lot from this one! I definitely recommend for any future educators or teachers out there that are looking to incorporate more STEAM into their lesson plans.
Profile Image for E.A.G. E.A.G..
Author 3 books44 followers
October 9, 2017
Good content in general with some good methods and a good basis for understanding standards
Profile Image for Rachel.
Author 18 books2 followers
July 18, 2019
Good strategies, but very segmented.
Profile Image for Teresa.
872 reviews
December 24, 2020
Read this book during my Developing Mathematics Curriculum course. It was fun learning different strategies for teaching math.
Profile Image for Katelyn Osborne.
49 reviews
January 6, 2023
I read the tenth edition for an education class. I’ll be keeping this book in my future classroom for sure!
Profile Image for Eric.
1,087 reviews9 followers
July 9, 2024
Decent narrative throughout, but it's hard to stay interested when I don't care about teaching math on any level.
Profile Image for Dani.
198 reviews4 followers
May 17, 2015
What a stupendous textbook and reference material. It is not only provides fundamental pedagogy on how math is taught and learned, but it also has chapters how to best approach specific subjects within math. The book discusses best practices and provides example math problems. Features at the end of each chapter include online resources, reflection questions, and questions for discussion and exploration. I especially loved the frequently asked questions provided in some of the chapters because they asked the real (and sometimes tough) questions I want answers to. This book strongly advocates project-based learning and addresses questions such as: What if a lesson totally bombs? Will I have time to teach everything? Should I use drill and skill? and more.

The book is separated into two sections. Section one is Teaching Mathematics: Foundations and Perspectives and chapters include: teaching mathematics in the 21st century, exploring what it means to know and do mathematics, teaching through problem solving, planning the problem-based classroom, building assessment into instruction, teaching mathematics equitably to all children, and using technological tools to teach mathematics.

Section two is Development of Mathematical Concepts and Procedures and chapters include: developing early number concepts and number sense; developing meanings for the operations; helping students master the basic facts; developing whole-number place-value concepts; developing strategies for addition and subtraction computation; developing strategies for multiplication and division computation; algebraic thinking: generalizations, patterns, and functions; developing fraction concepts; developing strategies for fractional computation; developing concepts of decimals and percents; proportional reasoning; developing measurement concepts; geometric thinking and geometric concepts; developing concepts of data analysis; exploring concepts of probability; and developing concepts of exponents, integers, and real numbers.
Profile Image for Shinemoos.
175 reviews
March 1, 2022
I don’t normally think highly of big textbooks but this one surprised me! This Canadian edition is very relevant and up-to-date, and most importantly, it’s fun to walk through the problems together. There’s no boring piling up of theories, rather, the writers are demonstrating to us that doing math right is showing a good attitude: “willing to work through uncertainties, reflect back on both correct and incorrect approaches to a task, and take risks” (4). It’s only 454 pages for 23 chapters, lots of hands on, problem solving, and reflection. It helps me to think out of the box. Teaching math right will be more challenging than I thought, but as teachers, we will grow and enjoy the process too.

I think this is the best edition! The newest edition is just too much, adding way more information than needed, making it a more micromanaging game than teaching big ideas!
Profile Image for Ryan.
84 reviews20 followers
July 9, 2007
Jon understands math well and presents some strong samples to support his network of ideas of proper math instruction.
Profile Image for Nickoleta.
3 reviews3 followers
July 26, 2008
I'm learning that I am a much bigger math geek than I imagined possible.
Profile Image for Brittany.
18 reviews8 followers
April 3, 2009
I am reading the sixth edition of this book.
Profile Image for Mary Christensen-cooper.
16 reviews1 follower
April 17, 2009
I got to see Van de Walle speak at the Colorado Council for Teachers of Math conference, and he was amazing. Such a great leader in reform math education.
Profile Image for Liz.
56 reviews
October 12, 2011
has some good ideas, but is not always clear with material outside of the activities.
Profile Image for Rebeka.
113 reviews3 followers
January 24, 2014
Είναι ένα εξαιρετικό βιβλίο και το συστήνω ανεπιφύλακτα. Κάθε δάσκαλος ή καθηγητής Μαθηματικών πρέπει να το διαβάσει, έχει μεγάλη ποικιλία βοηθητικού υλικού και πολλές ιδέες για κάθε ενότητα.
1 review
Want to read
August 30, 2015
I need too read this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews

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