Excerpts from Japanese Curriculum Materials
Research has shown that Japanese curriculum materials are focused, coherent, and rigorous. Now available in English is a new series, Excerpts from Japanese Curriculum Materials, which illustrates how mathematical ideas may be developed across grade levels in a coherent and rigorous manner. The series consists of 4 volumes, each focusing on a major theme of elementary school mathematics: (1) whole numbers & whole number arithmetic, (2) rational numbers & multiplicative reasoning, (3) geometry & measurement, and (4) algebra & functions. Each volume includes sections from Teaching Guide for Elementary Mathematics Course of Study, an elaboration document published by the Ministry of Education, and corresponding pages from Tokyo Shoseki's Mathematics for Elementary School. Teaching Guide segments clearly elaborate what we want students to understand, while textbook pages present concrete examples of how such an understanding may be developed through careful use of problems/activities and representations.
This series is an ideal resource for mathematics content courses for prospective elementary school teachers, content-focused professional development activities, and lesson study groups