top of page
Search
degpelomitdejunc

Good Questions: Great Ways to Differentiate Mathematics Instruction using Two Powerful and Universal



Now in its Fourth Edition--with more than 50 new questions and a new chapter on financial literacy--this bestselling resource helps experienced and novice teachers effectively and efficiently differentiate mathematics instruction in grades K-8. Math education expert Marian Small shows teachers how to get started and become expert at using two powerful and universal strategies: Open Questions and Parallel Tasks. This edition is even easier for teachers to use in all quality state standards environments, including direct links to content standards and standards for mathematical practice. Parallel tasks and question examples are provided at each grade band: K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. Along with each example, the text describes how teachers can evoke productive conversations that meet the needs of a broad range of learners.


"When I read Marian Small's work, I see the power of math revealed, but I also see her work opening that power to so many students who might never otherwise experience it...I am a disciple of her approach to differentiating math!"- From the Foreword by Carol Ann Tomlinson, University of Virginia;"Successful instruction causes students to wonder, conjecture, investigate, collaborate, and talk math. Good questioning is central to all the above, and for 'knowing what students know.' Small's book focuses on the big ideas of mathematics, with questions, examples, and parallel tasks that assess student understanding and promote learning. This book is a must-read for every preservice and inservice teacher."- Carole Greenes, professor emerita, mathematics education, Arizona State University;"In a classroom full of students, it can be hard to meet the needs of all learners. That is where this book has your back. Marian Small provides meaningful tasks while modeling how simple tweaks and intentional number choice can unlock students' mathematical potential."- Graham Fletcher, math specialist;"Throughout her career, Marian Small has shown that 'differentiation' in math class does not mean 'ability grouping' or breaking mathematics down into tiny, digestible subskills. Marian's kind of differentiation means focusing on big ideas, offering students choice, and being curious about students' thinking. In the 4th edition of this essential book, Marian teaches us powerful questioning techniques with her trademark clarity and provides plenty of specific examples across the content strands and grade bands. We can use these questions with our students immediately and internalize Marian's teaching strategies through practice. How lucky for us that she has crafted these questions that will encourage student thinking, build our curiosity, and teach us to craft good questions of our own."- Tracy Johnston Zager, math coach;"I just finished teaching an elementary math methods course to teacher candidates in a graduate program. I wish I had had Marian Small's Good Questions: Great Ways to Differentiate Mathematics Instruction in the Standards-Based Classroom to use with these preservice teachers. Small covers all the key content in the Common Core PreK-8 math curriculum, and she addresses the topic of open questions in a very accessible way. She walks the reader step-by-step through how to teach the big ideas in the CCSS PreK-8 math curriculum using specified open questions. At the same time, she provides a menu of choices so teachers can draw from their own expertise to select the open questions that they see fit. Each chapter explains math content in an easy-to-reference manner. It is like having a reference book and a teaching coach all in one book. This semester, I watched teacher candidates struggle with how to lead a Number Talk, because they were not sure which open questions to ask to facilitate learning. Small's book provides the guidance that they need. I look forward to using Small's book the next time I teach Elementary Math Methods to teacher candidates. Inservice teachers will also benefit from the practical ideas about how to promote higher-order math thinking by asking the open questions outlined in Good Questions."- Felicia Darling, math instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College




Good Questions: Great Ways to Differentiate Mathematics Instruction in the Standards-Based Classroom




This page lists books that help teachers integrate conceptual depth into their mathematics instruction. Most of the books support teachers' work with all students. Many of them contain ideas for building differentiation into whole-group instruction. Some of the books are targeted specifically to meeting needs of advanced students. These books are for teachers' learning. If you are looking for classroom materials, please see the Classroom Resources page.


5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions, by Margaret S. Smith, and Mary Kay Stein. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2011.Creating productive discussion in the mathematics classroom is at the heart of effective instruction. This book draws on the latest research in how students learn math to offer a clear five-step approach: anticipating, monitoring, selecting, sequencing, and connecting. The authors describe the five steps and bring them to life with examples of classroom conversation around specific tasks carefully designed to elicit deep thinking. They analyze each conversation and draw helpful conclusions. Near the end, they provide tools that guide teachers through the lesson planning process.


The Teaching Gap, by James W. Stiegler and James Hiebert. Free Press, 1999.The authors describe what we have learned from a video study that was part of the TIMSS (Third Internations Mathematics and Science Study), a cross-cultural investigation of mathematics instruction and learning. A couple of their key insights are that teaching is the key component in improving students' learning and that teaching mathematics is a cultural activity. The cultural nature of teaching explains why it is so challenging to make changes even when we know more about how students learn than ever before. The authors emphasize that it is not a question of teachers' competence, but of teaching strategies. This book provides specific examples of classroom practice in different countries and introduces the concept of "lesson study" as a template for moving forward.


The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) promotes differentiating math instruction for differences in learning as well as differences in talent, interest, and confidence. NCTM advises that the need is greater in middle and high school, as higher-level math relies on more complex reasoning. When you differentiate your math instruction, you support all learners by targeting and addressing specific needs of groups and individual students.


Do you need ideas for how to differentiate your teaching to be sure your math students are progressing? Below are seven differentiation strategies for math instruction, along with ways that you can use them in your math classroom. They serve as examples of differentiated instruction in math and may work better for some classrooms and math topics than others. Customize these ideas however you need to serve you and your students.


HMH offers a variety of math classroom solutions to help you reach every student. Just looking for more articles and resources to help you differentiate math instructions? Try one of these to keep reading!


As a tool, it combines video from five middle school classrooms with lesson plans, extensive background mathematics for each lesson, and other resources. Discussion questions provoke reflection on the standards-based content, pedagogy, and principles.


In order to meet the needs of all the learners in my classroom, I will use Differentiated Instruction. Differentiated Instruction is an approach to teaching content in ways that address a variety of learning styles and needs of students while maximizing the potential of all learners. This will help me to accommodate the diversity of academic needs present in my classroom. My instruction as well as the students' research can be differentiated in a variety of ways. I will be able to differentiate according to content, process, or product. Through differentiated content students will have access to a varied level of texts and/or websites and could possibility be "buddied" with a partner at a different level to assist with the learning. Differentiated process refers to activities that help the students make sense of the skills being taught. These activities can be modified to enable students of varied readiness to work on their level. When differentiating products, students are given choices to create different products based on their individualized learning style.


This course equips experienced and beginner educators with the essential knowledge and skills to implement differentiated instruction (DI) successfully in their own classrooms. In a highly interactive learning environment that models the DI principles and processes, class members will gain expertise in understanding and implementing a broad range of strategies associated with the essential, distinguishing components of DI.


Research-based strategies for the instruction of diverse learners in inclusive settings will be examined in this course. Participants will examine effective teaching practices including the research and theories to support such practices. Students will apply the practices to an educational setting. Instructional strategies such as Differentiated Instruction, Universal Design for Learning, co-teaching, differentiated instruction, Understanding by Design/ (UbD), formative assessments, and other effective inclusive classroom practices will be explored.


LAI 574 Teaching the Exceptional Learner The purpose of this course is to aid in understanding diversity by preparing teachers to offer direct and indirect services to students within the full range of disabilities and special health-care needs in inclusive environments. Students will be provided with techniques designed to enhance academic performance, classroom behavior, and social acceptance for students with disabilities and special needs. Students will learn skills enabling them to (1) differentiate and individualize instruction for students with disabilities and special needs, (2) become familiar with instructional and assistive technologies, (3) implement multiple research-validated instructional strategies, (4) formally and informally assess learning of diverse students, (5) manage classroom behavior of students with disabilities and special needs, and (6) collaborate with others and resolve conflicts to educate students with disabilities and special needs. 2ff7e9595c


0 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page