Figuring Out Fluency – Operations With Rational Numbers and Algebraic Equations
A Classroom Companion
- Jennifer M. Bay-Williams - University of Louisville, KY, Kansas State University, USA, University of Missouri, USA, Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Lima, Peru)
- John J. SanGiovanni - Howard Public School System
- C. David Walters
- Sherri Martinie
Corwin Mathematics Series
“This book is awesome! What stood out to me was the deep understanding I was able to have about what fluency actually means. Too often the message has been fluency and accuracy, especially at the middle school level. By providing teachers with tools for building fluency with integers, expressions, and algebra, this book shifts that message to also focus on flexibility and strategy selection.”
Lindsey Henderson
Secondary Mathematics Specialist, Utah State Board of Education
Salt Lake City, UT
Because fluency practice is not a worksheet.
Fluency in mathematics is more than adeptly using basic facts or implementing algorithms. It is not about speed or recall. Real fluency is about choosing strategies that are efficient, flexible, lead to accurate solutions, and are appropriate for the given situation. Developing fluency is also a matter of equity and access for all learners.
The landmark book Figuring Out Fluency in Mathematics Teaching and Learning offered educators the inspiration to develop a deeper understanding of procedural fluency, along with a plethora of pragmatic tools for shifting classrooms toward a fluency approach. Now, teachers have the chance to apply that inspiration through explicit instruction and practice every day with the classroom companion Figuring Out Fluency—Operations With Rational Numbers and Algebraic Equations. With this book, teachers can
- Dive deeper into the Significant Strategies for fluency explained in the anchor book as they apply to rational number operations
- Explore how these strategies can be applied for proportional reasoning, solving equations for unknowns, and solving systems of linear equations
- Access over 100 classroom-ready activities, including worked examples, routines, and games.
- Find activities to explicitly teach students how to use and choose strategies to operate on rational numbers and solve algebraic equations
- Download all of the needed support tools, game boards, and other resources from the companion website for immediate implementation
Give each and every student the knowledge and power to become skilled and confident mathematical thinkers and doers.
Free resources
Activity 7.7: "Would You Rather..." Routine
There are two versions of this routine with systems of linear equations—choosing different strategies (e.g., Use Tables or Use Graphs) and making choices within a strategy (e.g., For which variable will I substitute? Or Which variables will I eliminate?).
Activity 6.10: The Transformer Game
This game is a fun way to give students opportunities to choose and use different basic transformations to start solving equations.
Activity 5.7: Worked Examples For Ratios and Proportions
Use this activity for worked examples for ratios and proportions. Correctly worked examples and partially solved worked examples benefit students so that they can understand strategy.
ACTIVITY 4.11: Quotient Connect Game
This game is an engaging way to practice division using Partial Quotients. It is played similarly to the classic board game Boggle as students find quotients through connected digits.