About the Book
With 56 ready-to-implement, engaging math tasks, this is the guide to giving your primary students the deepest mathematical experiences possible.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Doing-Math Tasks: What Are They, Why Are They Important, and How Do I Plan for Implementation?
Chapter 2: Laying the Groundwork for Teaching With Doing-Math Tasks
Chapter 3: Implementing A Doing-Math Task-Based Lesson
Chapter 4: Operations and Algebraic Thinking – Representing and Solving Problems
Chapter 5: Operations and Algebraic Thinking – Multiplication and Division Foundations
Chapter 6: Operations and Algebraic Thinking: Understanding & Interpreting Operations
Chapter 7: Number and Operations in Base Ten – Using Place Value Understandings
Chapter 8: Number and Operations in Base Ten – Adding, Subtracting, and More
Chapter 9: Number and Operations in Base Ten – Adding, Subtracting, and Multiplying
Chapter 10: Numbers and Operations: Fractions – Partitioning and Representing
Chapter 11: Number and Operations: Fractions – Equivalence, Comparing, and Representing
Chapter 12: Measurement: Time, Money, Length and Weight
Chapter 13: Measurement and Data: Measuring and Representing and Interpreting Data
Chapter 14: Geometric Measurement: Measurement, Perimeter, and Area
Chapter 15: Geometry: Reasoning with Shapes and their Attributes
Chapter 16: Your Turn
Appendix A: Task-Lesson Template
Appendix B: Formative Assessment Tools
References
Index
About the Author :
Beth McCord Kobett serves as Professor and Dean in the School of Education at Stevenson University, where she works closely with early childhood, elementary, and middle school preservice teachers. She brings experience as a classroom teacher, mathematics specialist, and university supervisor. Beth served on the NCTM Board and served as president of Association of Maryland Mathematics Teacher Educators. Beth has authored ten mathematics education books and supports professional learning efforts nationwide. She has been honored with awards such as the MCTM Mathematics Educator of the Year and Stevenson’s Rose Dawson Award for Excellence in Teaching. Deeply committed to her students, she strives to create a supportive, strengths-based learning environment that fosters curiosity, collaboration, and meaningful growth.
Francis (Skip) Fennell is professor of education and Graduate and Professional Studies, emeritus at McDaniel College in Maryland. He is a former classroom teacher, principal, and supervisor of instruction, and past president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), the Research Council on Mathematics Learning (RCML), and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). He is a recipient of the Mathematics Educator of the Year Award from the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM), the Glenn Gilbert National Leadership Award from NCSM: Leadership in Mathematics Education, the Excellence in Leadership and Service in Mathematics Teacher Education Award from AMTE, the James Heddens Distinguished Service Award from RCML, and Lifetime Achievement Awards from both MCTM and NCTM. Skip’s many publications including Achieving Fluency: Special Education and Mathematics (NCTM, 2011), and The Formative 5: In Action (Corwin, 2024) have been influenced by his classroom experiences and decades long focus on assessment, number sense, fractions, elementary mathematics specialists and teacher education.
Karen S. Karp is a mathematics educator who focuses on the intersection of mathematics education and special education. She is a former professor at Johns Hopkins University and at the University of Louisville where she is professor emerita. Early in her career she received a Development Award from the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation to support more seamless integration between general education and special education. She is the author or co-author of numerous publications including Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Intervention in the Elementary Grades and Elementary and Middle School Mathematics. Karen was on the writing team of the NCTM/CEC Joint position statement on Teaching Mathematics to Students with Learning Disabilities. In 2024, she chaired the Topic Study Group on Teaching Mathematics to Students with Special Needs at the International Congress on Mathematical Education in Australia. She holds teaching/administrative certifications in elementary education, secondary mathematics, K-12 special education, and K-12 educational administration.
Desiree Harrison is an elementary mathematics coach for Farmington Public Schools in Michigan, where she works with individual teachers and teams of teachers on increasing student engagement and learning, and implementing math routines. Currently, she serves as a board member for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and is the immediate past president of the Detroit Area Council of Teachers of Mathematics (DACTM). In May 2020, Desiree became the latest recipient of the DACTM Christine Kincaid-Dewey Educator of the Year award, which is focused on service to the mathematics education community and increasing student engagement with mathematics. She is super passionate about and involved in the field of elementary mathematics education and hosts the Kids Math Talk podcast, which is for educators and parents of elementary students and is devoted to keeping the conversation about mathematics active and positive.
Review :
"This book’s title reveals its promise. Classroom-Ready Rich Math Tasks offers teachers an abundant collection of practical challenges for engaging their students in building mathematical fluency and developing strategic reasoning—exactly what all the Mathematics Standards expect."
"I highly recommend this book, which provides a research-based framework for engaging in rich tasks that are connected to and build on previous mathematical understanding, relevant contexts, and students’ experiences and resources, as well as connecting to mathematics teaching practice. The 55 high cognitively demanding tasks included support the development of important mathematics norms, practices, and concepts."
"By integrating the latest research with a powerful teacher voice, the authors have written a must-read for every teacher of mathematics who wants their students to have a more motivating and powerful classroom experience. But the authors don’t simply argue that teachers include high-cognitive demand tasks in their teaching—they take the next steps and actually demonstrate how to plan for, implement, and support these tasks so each student can authentically engage in doing mathematics!"
"This book answers the often-asked question, ‘Where can I find good tasks?’ The authors have assembled a collection of rich mathematical tasks and provided guidance on how to plan and implement lessons around them in ways that will support opportunities for students to learn mathematics with understanding. This book is a game changer for 2nd and 3rd grade teachers who want their students to do math!"
"The core of great math teaching is the high-quality task, brought to life through rich interactions. These tasks must be engaging and both mathematically and pedagogically generative—of interesting content and mathematical processes and practices. This valuable book is filled with such tasks, as well as guidance in planning and implementing them and materials for maximum enjoyment and benefit for teachers and their students."
"Classroom-Ready Rich Math Tasks, Grades 2–3 is an excellent resource for teachers, teacher educators, and professional development providers who want to engage students in high-level, cognitively demanding mathematics tasks. The book does an excellent job of explaining the why and the how of implementing doing mathematics tasks. To top it off, this book has a treasure trove of rich mathematics tasks for teachers to choose from."
"This book takes the mystery out of how to implement rich, engaging tasks. It supports teachers with appropriately facilitating productive struggle and formative assessment through strengths spotting, and includes loads of fantastically written tasks. No longer will teachers need to hunt for tasks to utilize in their classrooms or struggle with how to structure environments that promote deep learning."
"Finding the right task that invites young learners to think and reason mathematically isn’t always easy. This impressive book offers various high-quality tasks and addresses planning and implementation considerations. It is an invaluable resource for everyone who strives to provide worthwhile learning experiences for kindergarten and first grade mathematicians!"
