This professional materials development project will create materials to support elementary teachers in creating classroom opportunities that enable children to move from arithmetic thinking to algebraic reasoning. Principal Investigators from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the University of California, Los Angeles, will collaborate in the design and development of the materials. The project builds on 12 years of cognitively-guided instruction professional development and research in addition to research on algebraic reasoning. The current materials will be appropriate for elementary teachers of grades K-6.
The teacher materials will consist of a book and a set of video episodes on CDs that include (1) an analysis of the development of students' algebraic reasoning, (2) narrative and video cases of children solving key problems, (3) classroom interactions that support the development of critical constructs, (4) problems that teachers can pose to their students that make student's algebraic thinking explicit, and (5) reflection questions and writing prompts that encourage teachers to make explicit their own thinking about the development of algebraic thinking, their understanding of algebra, and the ways in which they can engage students in their own classrooms. Leader resource materials will provide information to professional developers about paths teachers take in learning about students' algebraic reasoning and ways to support that development. These materials will include a description and discussion of activities for (1) developing teachers' mathematical understanding, (2) supporting teachers in constructing problems and developing classroom discourse, (3) conducting inquiry about the development of student thinking, and (4) developing communities that support inquiry and teacher learning.
