2013 Conference Proceedings - University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Table 1Instructional TasksSquareTable TaskIf one person sits on each side of a square in this pattern, howmany people would sit around a train of 100 squares? Write yourrule.Pentagon task1 2 3Rule: y = 2x + 2How many people would sit around a train of 100 pentagontables. Write your rule for finding number of people that can sitaround a train of any number of pentagon tables.1 2 3Squarenumber taskRule: y = 3x + 2Predict number of dots for stages 5, 10, 100. Write your rule.1 2 3Function MachineRule: y = x 2If I put 1 into the function machine, 15 comes out.If I put 2 into the function machine, 25 comes out.If I put 3 into the function machine, 35 comes out.What is the rule for this function machine?Rule: y = 10x + 2ResultsFour routines of practice that supported mathematical connections are reported. Thesepractices are referred to as routines because they were teachers’ regular instructional moves andbecame part of the classroom norms. These routines are connecting ideas across the curriculum,strategies, representations, and tasks.Connecting ideas across the curriculumDuring enactment of these tasks, several connections were made across the curriculum. Thispaper describes connections made between the aforementioned early algebra tasks withmultiplications skills, exponents and properties of two-dimensional figures. The relationshipbetween addition and multiplication was used as a tool to bridge third grade students’ transitioninto multiplication. With the 2t +2 = p as a rule for the square tables train task, teachers used 2tProceedings of the 40 th Annual Meeting of the Research Council on Mathematics Learning 2013 182