About Teaching Math

by Marilyn Burns

About Teaching Mathematics A K-8 Resource by Marilyn Burns. This Resource book addresses the challenges of teaching mathematics for the 1990's and beyond. This informative book demonstrates why traditional math teaching, based on paper and pencil computation, has little relevance to the way mathematics is learned or actually used in everyday life. ABOUT TEACHING MATHEMATICS presents a case for teaching math through problem solving and includes more than 240 classroom tested activities.

Genres: Education, Mathematics, Teaching, Nonfiction

275 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 1977

About the author

Marilyn Meinhardt Burns is a mathematics educator and the author of over a dozen children's books on mathematics.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marilyn Burns is considered THE guru in the mathematics field and for good reason. What I value most about her approach is the focus is on the process rather than the product. She is less concerned about children arriving at the correct answer, instead she cares how children solve the problem. Her emphasis is on children understanding the reasoning for the answer rather than rote memorization. Burns preaches the value of encouraging students to be investigators, honing their problem-solving skills, employing whatever means needed to come to an answer. She discourages the use of kill-and-drill exercises favoring algebraic equations even in the very young.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would highly recommend this resource if you teach math from k-5. It goes through a lot of the teacher logic and it has hundreds of problems and examples you can use. At the end of the book there are pages you can photocopy for your kids! 10/10

[Faythe]

Great math activities!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rock on, Marilyn Burns, my new math hero.

I want to meet her and chat about math over tea. She seems like a spunky old lady...and her lesson plans aren't half bad either!

[Mary Christensen-cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that changed the way I look at math education. A must-read for math educators.

[Emily Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas for manageable projects to incorporate into your math curriculum as well as a good intro to her excellent teaching philosophy, if you haven't read her work before.

[S Agung · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a recommended good book for one who wants to teach mathematics in schools.

I read this while I was primary school teacher. Now, I use this book as a reference to train other teachers.

[C. Simpson]

CCS Spring 2023 All-Staff Yearly Reading - pg. 191, inventing own algorithms, teaching kids to solve problems while still commuting facts to memory