Rich and Engaging Mathematical Tasks: Grades 5-9

Engage your students with rich content in proven mathematical tasks!

Promote real understanding of important mathematical concepts
Design and enact rich instructional experiences that encourage thinking and reasoning

Lessons follow key areas of mathematics featured in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM)

Mathematically rich and engaging tasks offer excellent opportunities for students to learn what mathematics is and how one does it. Such tasks, however, can often be the most difficult to implement effectively during instruction. Research shows that tasks that promote thinking, reasoning, and problem solving often decline during execution due to a variety of classroom factors. The result is students apply previously learned rules and procedures without learning the connection to meaning and understanding and opportunities for thinking and reasoning are lost.
This book, a collection of carefully selected articles from past issues of NCTM journals, includes activities for teachers to use with their students to promote the understanding of the mathematical content. Articles are arranged into content strands and ordered within a strand to promote the development of important areas of mathematics. These key areas are all highlighted in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) as important for students progress in mathematics. Each section of the book highlights articles on a key area of mathematics featured in the CCSSM:

rational numbers
proportional reasoning
numbers
number theory
patterns and functions
linear equations
measurement
geometry
probability and statistics

Each article in a section includes mathematical exploration on the focus topic to use with students.

Mathematical tasks that provide rich content and engage students allow them to not only understand what they have learned but remember and apply it as well. A valuable resource to any mathematics teacher, this rich collection of mathematical tasks will enliven students engagement in mathematical thinking and reasoning and help them succeed in the classroom.