How good are you at embracing learners’ mathematical mistakes? In this remarkable book, John SanGiovanni reminds us that mistakes are not random, and when we take the time to “mine the gap,” we can dispel misunderstandings before they take root.. Let’s embark on this journey together and empower our students with the mathematics skills they need to thrive!
SanGiovanni lays out 160 high-quality tasks aligned to the standards and big ideas. The tasks are all downloadable so you can use or modify them for instruction and assessment. Each big idea offers a starting task followed by:
- what makes it a high-quality task what you might anticipate before students work with the task
- 4 student examples of the completed task showcasing a distinct “gap”
- commentary on what precisely counts for mathematical understanding and the next instructional steps
- commentary on the misconception or incomplete understanding so you learn why the student veered off course
- three additional tasks aligned to the mathematics topic and ideas about what students might do with these additional tasks
It’s time to break our habit of rushing into re-teaching for correctness and instead get curious about the space between right and wrong answers. Mine the Gap for Mathematical Understanding is a book you will return to again and again to get better at selecting tasks that will uncover students’ reasoning—better at discerning the quality and clarity of students’ understanding—and better at planning teaching based on the gaps you see.
Together, we will discuss the concepts in this book and plan for implementation of strategies included in the book. Participants will need to purchase their own book.
For the K-2 participants, Mine the Gap for Mathematical Understanding, Grades K-2 ISBN: 9781506337685
For the 3-5 grade level, Mine the Gap for Mathematical Understanding, Grades 3-5, ISBN: 9781506337678.
Full details and registration available here.
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