This is a systematic exposition of a major part of the mathematics of grades 5 to 8 (excluding statistics), written specifically for Common Core era teachers. It differs from other books for teachers in that the mathematics is correct, in the sense that all the concepts are clearly and correctly defined, and a grade-appropriate explanation (that is, proof) is given for every assertion. For example, it gives a precise definition of percent and explains how to use the definition to do all the standard problems about percent in an entirely routine manner. It also gives a leisurely explanation for “negative times negative is positive”. Another key feature is an intuitive introduction to plane geometry via rotations, translations, reflections, and dilations that, instead of treating these transformations as merely fun activities, shows how they make sense of the usual geometric topics in middle school, including congruence, similarity, length, area, and volume. In short, the readers will find in this volume a clear explanation of whatever was once puzzling to them in the mathematics of grades 5 to 8.

From the blackboard to the graphing calculator, the tools developed to teach mathematics in America have a rich history shaped by educational reform, technological innovation, and spirited entrepreneurship. In Tools of American Mathematics Teaching, 1800–2000, Peggy Aldrich Kidwell, Amy Ackerberg-Hastings, and David Lindsay Roberts present the first systematic historical study of the objects used in the American mathematics classroom. They discuss broad tools of presentation and pedagogy (not only blackboards and textbooks, but early twentieth-century standardized tests, teaching machines, and the overhead projector), tools for calculation, and tools for representation and measurement. Engaging and accessible, this volume tells the stories of how specific objects such as protractors, geometric models, slide rules, electronic calculators, and computers came to be used in classrooms, and how some disappeared.