Collection of Math Lessons, A: Grades 1-3 (Math Solutions Series)

I purchased this book to use in my homeschool and since I am familiar with Marilyn Burns' work and the reviews here exalted it to be wonderful, I gave it a try. Well, I agree with another reviewer that this book is "too wordy". I am more of a visual person and would have benefited more from clear illustrations and more well-chosen instructions in order to explain the math game or activity. I understand that the examples were used to help you understand that dialogue is very important but it is overly used and distracting. I really wanted to like this book since I love other books by the author (mostly children's math literature) but I could not get excited about using any of her lessons. Her lessons might have been wonderful and even useful but the presentation was spoiled for me. I found other books more helpful in this area.I did not use any of the lessons, but passed the book along on Paperback Swap.

Super helpful, written by a wonder woman in math instruction.

Wonderful activities for Kinder through 2nd. Love the problem solving involved and the kids love them too. Hands on inductive lessons are the best way to teach math that these kids will use for a lifetime!

I used this book to write lesson plans. It is full of concept ideas that have detailed instruction on how to use them in the classroom.

I love Marilyn Burns and this book was does not disappoint. I love that the book is written in a format using stories to explain her thinking. I love the ideas and have implemented several in my own classroom.

Interesting, easy to implement immediately.

A great collection of math lessons that are meaningful, engaging, and easy to use. Students will have fun learning math!

Another reviewer mentioned that the vignettes are "too wordy." However, I think the format of describing actual lessons is the most valuable part of this resource. Anyone can abstractly and theoretically "plan" a lesson, but it's in the actual implementation of a lesson with real children that the learning does or does not occur. The authors are master teachers -- and we get to learn from them. We learn how the teacher organizes the materials, how she presents the new activities, how she evaluates what needs to be clarified by explicit instruction and/or group discussion, and how she resolves any problems that come up in the lessons. We also get to hear the conversations and reasoning of real children, who sometimes make amazing connections, but at other times fail to grasp what the teacher thought would be a simple concept. We see unedited examples of their work, we view the spectrum of responses, we observe the various ways in which children approach and solve the same problem.I felt that the authors' honesty about what does and does not work in a math lesson was the strongest aspect of this book for teacher training. We even learn what the teacher had in mind to do, but did not do because the children struggled to cooperate or were not interested! This is a window into REAL TEACHING, not some formulaic script for a perfect lesson. If you want that, purchase Hands-On Standards (Learning Resources), which is also good, but different in concept. I learned more about teaching math from reading, studying, and implementing the concepts in A Collection of Math Lessons than I have from any other resource or course on teaching math. An excellent resource for anyone -- teacher, tutor, homeschooler, parent -- who wants to not just "use manipulatives," but wants to understand why AND how to do it with real children in real classrooms.

Pages look old, but in vary good condition and a fantastic price