Number fact knowledge spans far beyond conventional automatic mastery practices involving rote learning. Having the ability to automatically recall number facts fluently does not mean students will have strong conceptual understanding. This article provides suggestions for how number fact thinking and fluency might be developed in primary…

The importance of ratio and proportional reasoning is regularly emphasised, however, the teaching and learning of these concepts continues to present challenges. In this article the authors explore a hands-on task, designed to encourage student visualisation of the concept of ratio. Teacher perceptions of this task were positive, indicating the…

This article describes part of a study in which researchers designed lesson sequences based around using a string number line to help teachers support children's development of relative thinking and understanding of linear scale. In the first year of the study, eight teachers of Years 3-5 participated in four one-day professional development…

Providing students with an opportunity to explore mathematical content through games allows teachers to include tasks that: (1) present alternative representations of the content; (2) welcome various expressions of mathematical reasoning; and (3) incorporate variations that empower all students to engage in the problem solving process. Games not…

In this article, the authors present two activities in which students explore angles and related geometric properties in the context of dance, namely ballet. The activities have been successfully implemented in pre-service numeracy classes at Monash University's two-year, post-degree teacher education program (MTeach). Specifically, the activities…

An engaging activity which prompts students to listen, talk, reason and write about geometrical properties. The "Bag of Tricks" encourages students to clarify their thoughts and communicate precisely using accurate mathematical language.

If you like taking your mathematics lessons outdoors then you will enjoy this issue's technology column! Maria Northcote and her students suggest a variety of different technologies and mathematical explorations that can be used in conjunction with a parachute.

Chris Brough and Nigel Calder share two scenarios in which students co-constructed their curriculum through generating their own problem solving and mathematical investigations. This article is a valuable exploration of the benefits of teachers working in partnership with their students.

This article by Elizabeth Reeve and Kim Beswick illustrates how primary children may engage with the Statistics and Probability content contained in the Australian Curriculum. Technology has opened up many possibilities for young children to engage with statistics. In the process the children learned a great deal more than just mathematics.

There are many classroom activities that can be implemented with primary students that introduce and immerse them in ratio investigations. Some enjoyable tasks include finding the ratio of tongue rollers to non-tongue rollers in the classroom; left-hand dominant to right-hand dominant; right-thumb over left-thumb when clasping the hands to…

About fifteen years ago, the author discovered an interesting activity in some materials that Malcolm Swan from the Shell Centre (University of Nottingham, UK) had developed for the English National Curriculum Council in 1991. The activity, one which has been used by several presenters in professional development workshops in Australia in recent…

The author recently read a research paper by Padberg (2002), in which the development of understanding associated with decimal fractions was studied. Padberg (2002) outlined the situation that existed in Germany, where students were introduced to decimal fractions in the sixth year of school. He claimed that it was assumed students would have a…