National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

(1) that they learn to value mathematics, (2) that they become confident in their ability to do mathematics, (3) that they become mathematical problem solvers, (4) that they learn to communicate mathematically, and (5) that they learn to reason mathematically. (copies).

Ideally a mathematics curriculum should enable a student to meet all five of these goals. The student and teacher editions of a mathematics textbook form the outline and basis of a mathematics curriculum. The ability of a textbook to meet the goals of the NCTM is critical to the capability of a mathematics curriculum to meet these same goals.

The first goal of the NCTM for students to learn to value mathematics is based on the premise that students should be able to place mathematics in context. A student should be exposed to a multitude of experiences which use mathematical concepts and constructs across disciplines, in contemporary life and society. Students should gain an awareness of the historical conditions which fostered the development of mathematics and the impact of mathematics on our society and culture.

The NCTM's second goal, of having students become confident in their own ability to use mathematics, means that students will be able to apply the concepts that they have practiced in the clas

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ent situations where numbers are added together to form number sentences. Lesson 2 uses dice as the example to introduce the concept of an unknown quantity being represented by a letter. Place value is taught in lesson 5 through the use of money. The bill denominations used are $100, $10, and $1. Most children are intrigued by money. Consequently, it is a motivating factor in addition to tying a math concept to real life situations. Other concepts are also taught using examples and instruments found around the house and at school. Rulers, thermometers and speedometers are used to teach the reading of a scale. Students should be familiar with these instruments from their daily lives. As mathematical concepts are taught, the vocabulary associated with them is introduced and learned. This meets the goal of having students learn to communicate mathematically. Vocabulary terms are presented in bold type. Lesson 15 presents the signs <, >, and =. Each of these is accompanied by the term name and instructions on how a numerical sentence using these signs should be read. Other standard mathematical signs are presented in the same manner. The Saxon series of textbooks uses some non-standard ways of classifying word pr
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Approximate Word count = 1649
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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