Dr. Marian Small has written a landmark book for a wide range of educational settings and audiences, from pre-service math methods courses to ongoing professional learning for experienced teachers.Understanding the Math We Teach and How to Teach It, K-8 focuses on the big mathematical ideas in elementary and middle school grade levels and shows how to teach those concepts using a student-centered, problem-solving approach. Comprehensive and Readable: Dr. Small helps all teachers deepen their content knowledge by illustrating core mathematical themes with sample problems, clear visuals, and plain language Big Focus on Student Thinking: The book's tools, models. and discussion questions are designed to understand student thinking and nudge it forward.Particularly popular features include charts listing common student misconceptions and ways to address them, a table of suggested manipulatives for each topic, and a list of related children's book Implementing Standards That Make Sense: By focusing on key mathematics principles, Understanding the Math We Teach and How to Teach It, K-8 helps to explain the "whys" of state standards and provides teachers with a deeper understanding of number sense, operations, algebraic thinking, geometry, and other critical topicsDr. Small, a former dean with more than 40 years in the field, conceived the book as an essential guide for teachers throughout their career: "Many teachers who teach at the K-8 level have not had the luxury of specialist training in mathematics, yet they are expected to teach an increasingly sophisticated curriculum to an increasingly diverse student population in a climate where there are heightened public expectations.They deserve help."