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(Download PDF) Common Mistakes in Teaching Elementary Math and How To Avoid Them 1St Edition Fuchang Liu Online Ebook All Chapter PDF
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Common Mistakes in Teaching
Elementary Math—And
How to Avoid Them
Learn the most effective ways to teach elementary math, no matter how much
experience you have with the subject.€In this book, Fuchang Liu takes you
through many common mistakes in math instruction and explains the mis-
understandings behind them. He points out practices that should be avoided,
helping you to adjust your lessons so that all students can achieve success.
You’ll discover how to.€.€.
RTI in Math:
Evidence-Based Interventions for Struggling Students
Linda Forbringer and Wendy Fuchs
Fuchang Liu
First published 2017
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Taylor & Francis
The right of Fuchang Liu to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without
intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Liu, Fuchang, 1957–
Title: Common mistakes in teaching elementary math : and how to avoid
â•… them / by Fuchang Liu.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2017.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016043892| ISBN 9781138201453 (hardback) |
â•… ISBN 9781138201460 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Mathematics—Study and teaching (Elementary)
Classification: LCC QA135.6 .L58 2017 | DDC 372.7—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016043892
ISBN: 978-1-138-20145-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-20146-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-51177-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Palatino
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To the memories of
Jixuan Liu and Sulan Sun, who instilled in me the love of books,
and to
Zhenglian, my wife, and Isabelle, my daughter.
Contents
1 Counting����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���1
Counting Shouldn’t Start at 0 ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���1
What Are Tally Marks for?����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���������3
It May Not Be Fast—the Purpose of Skip-Counting ����������������������������������尓�4
Our Number System is Base-10, Not Base-12����������������������������������尓�������������6
2 Number Properties����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���������������������8
A Red Marble Isn’t More Than a Blue One����������������������������������尓�����������������8
Playing Cards and Dice Aren’t Ideal Things to Make
Multidigit Numbers With ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���13
It’s Odd Not to Consider 0 as Even ����������������������������������尓���������������������������15
14 and 37 Don’t Belong in the Same List����������������������������������尓�������������������16
3 Addition����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓�18
4 + 4 Isn’t Simply 8 Bars Put Together����������������������������������尓�����������������������18
Make Pictorial Representations More Than a “Literal”
Translation����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓�����������������������������19
Don’t Hop from Square One ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���22
You Can’t Add Apples and Oranges Together����������������������������������尓���������23
4 Subtraction����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���������������������������������25
Don’t Make the Kittens Disappear����������������������������������尓�����������������������������25
Don’t Ever Say “Subtract the Smaller Number from
the Larger One”����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���������������������27
“Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be”—Why We
Shouldn’t Borrow ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓�����������������28
Can We Subtract a Larger Number from a Smaller One? �������������������������29
10 + 5 − 7 = 15 − 7: No Way to Make It Easier?����������������������������������尓���������31
5 Multiplication����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���������������������������34
The Formidable 169-Cell Multiplication Table����������������������������������尓���������34
“You Must Put a Zero in the Ones Place” ����������������������������������尓�����������������39
viii╇ ◆╇Contents
6 Division ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓�45
The Larger Number Doesn’t Always Go Inside����������������������������������尓�������45
What’s 0 ÷ 0? ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓�����������������������������46
Division Isn’t Always Repeated Subtraction����������������������������������尓�������������48
“Dad, Mom, Sister, Brother, Rover”: Where Is Dad?���������������������������������50
Division Doesn’t Always Yield a Smaller Number ����������������������������������尓�51
8 Algebra����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���62
An Equal Sign Means Equal ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���62
What Does Adding Up Numbers Landed Have to Do with
Finding Factors? ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓�������������������65
Timelines Aren’t Good Candidates for Teaching
Negative Numbers����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���������������68
The Worst Example in Teaching Exponents ����������������������������������尓�������������70
11 Time-Telling ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓�����������������������������93
“A Quarter in Time Means 15” ����������������������������������尓�����������������������������������93
Does 1 on Analog Clocks Mean 5 Minutes? ����������������������������������尓�������������94
“Why Does the Time on My Analog Clock Look Weird?” �����������������������97
Which Hand Pointing to 12 Makes 12:00?����������������������������������尓�����������������99
Why We Shouldn’t Jump Around Between 8:00 and 9:00�����������������������100
12 Fractions����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓�����������������������������������103
A Condition for Using Fractions: Equivalent Parts ���������������������������������103
“Bottom Number” and “Top Number” Aren’t Nearly
Sufficient for Defining Denominators and Numerators���������������������105
What Does 1/2x Mean? ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���������106
A Fraction Doesn’t Address “How Many” ����������������������������������尓�������������109
Denominators Should Be Substantially Different for Easy
Comparison����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓������������������������� 110
Percentage Shouldn’t Be Juxtaposed with Fractions
and Decimals����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓����������������������� 112
13 Decimals����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓����������������������������������� 114
Changing the Value Scheme of Base-10 Blocks Is Not
a Good Idea ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓������������������������� 114
When Is It Appropriate to Read a Decimal as a Fraction?����������������������� 115
25.0 and 25 Aren’t Exactly the Same����������������������������������尓������������������������� 118
Keep a Few More Decimal Places when Rounding at
Intermediate Steps ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓������������� 119
15 Measurement����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���������������������������131
Why Do We Need Nonstandard Measurement? ����������������������������������尓���131
What Is Standard Measurement? ����������������������������������尓�����������������������������132
What Are Centimeters Used to Measure?����������������������������������尓���������������134
Leave Out Units of Measure at Intermediate Steps���������������������������������135
How Do You Say the Word for “1000 Meters”? ����������������������������������尓�����136
Fractions Don’t Belong with Metric Measurements���������������������������������137
x╇ ◆╇Contents
16 Computational Estimation����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓���140
Is Computational Estimation an Educated Guess? ���������������������������������140
Are All Estimates Good Ones? ����������������������������������尓���������������������������������141
How Practical Is an Estimate If It Takes 4 Minutes?���������������������������������142
Be Extremely Careful When Rounding 1-Digit Numbers�����������������������144
There Is Often More Than One Way to Round a Number�����������������������145
Dr. Fuchang Liu has been an educator for more than three decades, first as an
English teacher in China and then as a math teacher in the United States—in this
latter role he was named Teacher of the Year in 2002 (he has always been more
of a numbers person!). Currently he is associate professor of math education at
Wichita State University, working with pre- and in-service elementary teachers
on a daily basis.
Dr. Liu’s research interests include computational estimation, math anxi-
ety, and mental representations of fractions. He is the author of more than
20€research articles on these topics and coeditor of Locating Intercultures,
a book on global learning and multicultural understanding. He regularly
makes presentations at national and international conferences on issues cen-
tering around American children’s learning of mathematics.
eResources
The Study Guide found in the Appendix of this book is also available as a free
download on our website, so you can easily print and distribute it for meet-
ings. You can access the download by visiting the book product page on our
website: www.routledge.com/9781138201460. Then click on the tab that says
“eResources,” and select the file. It will begin downloading to your computer.
Preface
Jane Smith has been teaching elementary school for a few years now. She
loves her children and has been doing a fantastic job teaching them knowl-
edge and skills they’ll need for years to come. Nevertheless, like most elemen-
tary teachers across the United States, she didn’t undergo formal, specialized
training in any of the basic subject areas taught in elementary schools: math,
language arts, science, and social studies. Rather, her training was elementary
education, a major that mainly focuses on methods, the courses that discuss
instructional strategies, assessment, and management of those subject areas.
Jane has a strong love for the English language and can handle teaching lan-
guage arts with high proficiency. Science and social studies also come natu-
rally to her. Deep down, though, she sometimes feels a bit unsure about the
math topics she teaches. Of course, most of the time she has no difficulty at
all. It’s just a few minute details that sometimes she’s not quite certain about.
For example, she’s always telling her children that a rectangle has two longer
sides and two shorter sides. To her, this feature is what distinguishes a rect-
angle from a square. But just recently she heard a colleague mention that it
wasn’t quite correct to explain it that way; that is, the two pairs of sides of a
rectangle don’t have to be different. Jane knows for certain that a few other
teachers in her building teach the same thing concerning rectangles as she
does, and now she’s not sure if she herself is right or if her colleague is right.
If you are an elementary school teacher like Jane, this book is for you.
Written in plain language without using much mathematical jargon, this book
examines about 100 common mistakes in teaching elementary school math by
analyzing the misunderstanding behind them and then offers advice on how
to correct or how not to make them based on the underlying mathematical
principles and reasoning.
These mistakes are arranged by topic, such as counting, addition, geome-
try, and fractions, to name a few, and they’re all made by our fictitious teacher
Jane Smith. Certainly no one would make this many mistakes, but to make
their analysis and discussion easier, this book has to have someone play this
bad-guy role. For each mistake, first Jane is quoted as saying something prob-
lematic, followed by analysis of what she says, often with the aid of figures
or text examples, and then some advice is offered. To help with the flow of
the narration, the part about how to avoid making the mistake just discussed
is often addressed directly to the reader by using the second person, such as
xiv╇ ◆╇Preface
The number 0, in contrast, came into the picture very late. Its concept as
used in modern times originated in the 7th century, and this number was
introduced into the decimal system as late as in the 13th century (the Roman
numeration system, the numerals often used on the face of analog clocks
and opening pages of books, still doesn’t have a means for expressing 0).
This indicates that the representation of 0 is for its “nothingness” instead of
counting.
If we add this 0 to the set of natural numbers, then we have whole num-
bers. That is, natural numbers are 1, 2, 3, 4.€.€. and whole numbers are 0, 1,
2, 3, 4.€.€. . Unfortunately, the distinction between natural numbers and whole
numbers is not unanimously agreed on. Sometimes 0 is included in the set of
natural numbers. To avoid this confusion, numbers 1, 2, 3, 4.€.€. have come to
acquire a new name: counting numbers.
It may become clear now. Counting numbers, as the term indicates, are
numbers used for counting, and they start at 1. If you ask a child who has just
learned the first 10 or 20 numbers to count, regardless of the language back-
ground that child is from, you will most likely hear “one, two, three, four .€.€.”,
not “zero, one, two, three, four .€.€.”.
You may ask, “Are there detrimental consequences for counting starting
at zero?”
There are two major problems with counting from 0. First, 0, with its
meaning of “nothingness,” is very difficult for a young child just learning
how to count (believe it or not, even for older children and adults retrieving
multiplication facts, the reaction times are longer when a fact contains a 0,
such as 3 × 0, than when a fact doesn’t, such as 3 × 4). Most young children
learn their first numbers through a one-to-one correspondence between a
number and the quantity of actual objects that number represents, as the
number 1 and one toy soldier, the number 2 and two toy soldiers, and so on.
Imagine, however, how you would teach a young child to call out 0 with no
toy soldiers in sight.
Second, to determine the number of objects by counting, such as deter-
mining how many apples there are on the table, many children would touch
or point to the first apple and say “one,” then move on to the second apple
and say “two,” and continue in this manner until all the apples are counted
(many adults do this too). If we start at 0, we would have to touch nothing
and say “zero,” but then we would have to start touching apples and calling
out “one, two, three,” and so on. This can be very confusing because there
would be a need to stress when to touch (with a one-to-one correspondence)
and when not to touch (without a one-to-one correspondence). If a child
accidentally touches an apple while saying “zero,” then the total number of
apples would be off by 1.
14╇ ◆╇ Number Properties
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