Teaching Numeracy: 9 Critical Habits to Ignite Mathematical Thinking

"Margie Pearse and Katie Walton have given us a rich treasury of research-based beat math practices. This book offers practical, engaging numeracy strategies to support our struggling students and sets the bar high for our advanced young mathematicians."
―Mary Dunwoody, Director of Secondary Curriculum and Professional Development
Southeast Delco School District, Folcroft, PA

Transform mathematics learning from "doing" to "thinking"

Do some of your students arrive at wildly wrong answers to mathematical problems but have no idea why? If so, they are not alone. Many students lack basic numeracy―the ability to think through the math logically, solve problems, and apply math outside the classroom. This book outlines nine critical thinking habits that foster numeracy and details practical ways to incorporate those habits into instruction. Referencing the new common core standards, NCTM standards, and established literacy practices, the authors include "How Can I Do This in My Math Class…Tomorrow?" applications throughout the book that shows you how to:

• Monitor and repair students′ understanding
• Represent mathematics nonlinguistically
• Develop students′ mathematics vocabulary
• Create numeracy-rich lesson plans

Teaching Numeracy will help you move your students from simply "doing the math" to a deeper understanding of how to think through the math.

Margie Pearse has over 30 years of teaching experience with certifications in mathematics, elementary education, English as a Second Language (ESL), and Pennsylvania Quality Assurance Systems (Certified Instructor – PQAS 2014). She is presently at Chester Community Charter School as a Math Coach and in graduate education, training pre-service teachers how to create deeper, more numeracy based lessons.

Margie’s passion is to share a love of math with teachers and students! Her goal is to empower every student with the tools and strategies needed to be fluent and flexible with numbers. Margie’s educational philosophy can be summed up as such, “Why NOT reinvent the wheel! Yesterday’s lessons will not suffice for students to succeed in tomorrow’s world. We need to meet students, not just where they are, but where they need to be. There is great potential in every child. It is our job to empower students to discover that potential and possess the tenacity and self-efficacy to reach it.”

Published Books: Teaching Numeracy: 9 Critical Habits to Ignite Mathematical Thinking, released by Corwin in 2011; Learning That Never Ends, released by Rowman & Littlefield in 2013; and Passing the Mathematics Test for Elementary Teachers, by Rowman & Littlefield, February 2015.

Kate Walton has taught at both the elementary and middle school levels for twelve years. Although Kate’s primary passion and expertise is with language arts, she feels Numeracy transcends and is, at its very core, deep, logical thinking, which she has always encouraged in her classroom. She believes that a well crafted lesson and a healthy obsession with creativity are the keys to inspiring students to think deeply. Currently, she coaches teachers and conducts original professional development days on best practices.