Carpenter, Thomas P. : University of Wisconsin System Office
Fennema, Elizabeth : University of Wisconsin System Office
Review
I recommend this easy-to-read book to educators of students of all ages and to instructors of other content
areas.
--Teaching Children Mathematics
Heinemann Web Site
March, 2000
Summary
The key to effective math learning lies not in the regurgitation of isolated facts but in the ability to reason
with and use what is learned -- in understanding the concepts. But what does it mean to design a classroom so that
understanding is the primary objective? What would a system of instruction look like if we took seriously the goal
of helping all students understand mathematics?
In this ground-breaking book, James Hiebert and his colleagues arm teachers with the best current research-based
ideas for designing -- and defending -- classrooms that support students' mathematical understanding. It is based
on the authors' work in four separate research programs, all of which investigated the effects of specific instructional
approaches. Out of their ongoing discussions emerged a striking consensus about what features are essential and
what features are optional, which they share in this book. They also provide glimpses into their individual projects
and into the classrooms from which they have drawn many of their ideas.
By describing the essential features of classrooms that support students' mathematical understanding and by offering
pictures of several classrooms that exhibit these features, Making Sense provides a valuable framework within
which elementary teachers can reflect on their own practice and think again about what it means to teach for understanding.
Table of Contents
1. Introducing the Critical Features of Classrooms
2. The Nature of Classroom Tasks
3. The Role of the Teacher
4. The Social Culture of the Classroom
5. Mathematical Tools as Learning Supports
6. Equity and Accessibility
7. A Day in the Life of One Cognitively Guided Instruction Classroom
8. A Day in the Life of a Conceptually Based Instruction Classroom
9. Student Talk in a Problem-Centered Classroom
10. Snapshots Across Two Years in the Life of an Urban Latino Classroom
11. Revisiting the Critical Features of Classrooms
