Danielle Brewer

Bachelor of Education: Elementary Math

March 2018

Annotated Bibliography of Math Interests

Acar, E., Ozsoy, N., & Yilmaz, A. S. (January 01, 2012). Elementary Math Teachers’ Classroom

Performance from the View Points of Elementary School Students. Procedia - Social and

Behavioral Sciences, 46, 3, 4328-4333.

This article presents a study that’s purpose is to understand the imagination of elementary school

students and how the perceive their math teachers. The study followed 44 first grade students in

Aydin City in Turkey. To better understand their imaginations and perceptions the researchers

had this focus group draw and write freely to later evaluate. From the 44, 5 students were chosen

for interviewing to analyze their expressions. The collected data was reviewed by specifying and

breaking down the drawings to determine their themes. The writing was also analyzed to

determine themes. From the results, researchers concluded that children’s imaginations regarding

their math teachers change based on their age group, prejudices and experiences.

Crosnoe, R., Morrison, F., Burchinal, M., Pianta, R., Keating, D., Friedman, S. L., &

Clarke-Stewart, K. A. (May 01, 2010). Instruction, Teacher-Student Relations, and Math

Achievement Trajectories in Elementary School. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 2,

407-417.

In this article, the reality that children start elementary school at a variety of different academic

levels in core subjects is the central theme. No matter if it is attributed to lack of aptitude or

preparedness, these skill differences commonly develop into further difficulties in achievement

in time. This article presents three possible solutions to this problem. The first being to offer

basic skills interventions, enriching through higher order instruction, and/or training students to

use socioemotional strategies. Data collected from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute

of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

showed that students entering elementary school with low, average, or high math skills achieved

relatively similar results up through the fifth grade. However, when students were placed in

inference-based instructional classrooms, the students who originally had the low math skills

drastically improved their skills so long as they had a good relationship with their teacher.

Another group of students with low math skills entering elementary school were tested for

achievement in an instructional setting that focused on basic skills for comparison and it did not

produce academic gains like the inference-based classroom.

Powell, S. R. (2012). EQUATIONS AND THE EQUAL SIGN IN ELEMENTARY

MATHEMATICS TEXTBOOKS. US National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health,

112(4), 627-628. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374577/
This article focuses on the relational understanding of the equal sign. It suggests that students

may need an exposure to a wide range of equation types (i.e., 3 = 8 − 5; 2 + 3 = 1 + 4; 9 − 3 = 6)

to fully comprehend what the equals signifies. This study tested the effectiveness of eight

different elementary curricula for the level of exposure to the equals sign within and found that

with the exception of one, the curricula did not expose students to nonstandard equation types

that help develop understanding of the equals sign. In diving further into these 8 curricula and

the accompanying teacher manuals, it is suggested that students’ little exposure to what the sign

means and therefore how it is used. Little instruction on the equals sign can be found in k-2

curricula and even more minimally in grades 3-5.

Ramirez, G., Gunderson, E. A., Levine, S. C., & Beilock, S. L. (January 01, 2013). Math

Anxiety, Working Memory, and Math Achievement in Early Elementary School. Journal of

Cognition and Development, 14, 2, 187-202.

Math anxiety is a growing area of interest for researchers globally. Math anxiety is linked to a

poor understanding of mathematics and lower math achievement. Findings presented in this

article shows the connection between math anxiety and math performance has been researched

predominantly in young adults leaving a gap of understanding of the connection between mat

anxiety and performance amongst young children. This is the basis for the research in this article.

This study explored whether young children do in fact experience math anxiety. 154 grade one

and two students were observed for their math achievement based on their working memory. The
students were also observed some days later to assess their math anxiety using a newly created

gage. Much like with adults, these young children were seen to have a negative connection

between math anxiety and match achievement for students with higher working memory. Young

children with high working memory were seen to rely heavily on working memory intensive

strategies which were possibly interrupted when math anxiety crept in. This article argues that

with early recognition and support for math anxieties, we can help students feel good about math

so that those with high potential do not avoid math courses and careers in their futures.

Riccomini, P. J., & Witzel, B. S. (2010). Response to intervention in math. Thousand

Oaks, Calif: Corwin.

RTI (Response to Intervention) is a new yet promising system that math teachers could really

benefit from. This book looks at the advantage of using RTI in mathematics and presents

planning, designing and delivery guidelines for teachers to use when teaching the general

population and more specifically, struggling math students and those with learning disabilities.

Every chapter starts with an overview of how RTI can be used in the presented area of math as

well as examples of RTI procedures that are case study supported. Every chapter also includes

common concerns teachers may have and how to address them using interventions related to the

presented math area. In this book, the authors argue and explain the need for effective

interventions and increased research. It also includes easy to follow interventions for math and

interventions for small group instruction.

 Schielack, J., & Seeley, C. L. (February 01, 2010). Transitions from Elementary to

Middle School Math. Teaching Children Mathematics, 16, 6, 358-362.

This article looks at the journey from elementary to middle school from a mathematics

perspective. It is noted that students face major changes instructional strategies, work

expectations, school dynamics and increased level of material difficulty. Research in this article

suggests that these sudden changes-in general-lead students to experience major academic

decline throughout the transition from elementary to middle school. More specifically, research

showed that students attitudes towards math was also negatively impacted in this transition. One

way this article suggests to combat this issue is to align math curricula between the two grade

brackets. By effectively aligning major concepts over the course of grade 3-8 we can better

support students making it an easier transition. This along with supportive teachers, counselors,

and parents is what this article proposes as the best solution at this time.