Computation of Fractions: Math Intervention for Elementary and Middle Grades Students

Bradley S. Witzel and Paul J. Riccomini

Computation and Fractions: Math Intervention for Elementary and Middle Grade Students

What really helps students learn math?

Inthis clear, insightful, and practical guide, Dr. Brad Witzel and Dr. Paul Riccomini present elementary and middle school teachers with functional strategies and activities for promoting academic success and aiding their students’ mastery of key mathematical concepts such as fractions. Teachers will gain confidence and insight into how they can help their struggling math students as Witzel and Riccomini coach them through lesson plans that move from concrete to representational to abstract concepts in math and provide them with assessment guides for placement and measurement and reviews that bolster students' content retention.

Drawing from a combination of their years of classroom experience and their extensive research and study, the authors provide in-service and pre-service teachers with step-by-step directions on how to implement each lesson plan effectively in their own classroom.

Dr. Bradley Witzel is an assistant professor of special education at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He has experience in the classroom as a teacher of students with both high and low incidence disabilities. Witzel has given numerous professional presentations and published research and practitioner articles concerning algebra education and math education for students with and without learning disabilities.

Dr. Paul J. Riccomini is an associate professor of special education at Clemson University and a former high school math and special education teacher. He runs numerous professional development workshops focused on improving mathematics education through the application of evidenced-based practices. Riccomini is the author of several research and practitioner articles concerning effective math instruction strategies.

Drawing on their years of classroom experience working with struggling students and their teachers, Dr. Brad Witzel and Dr. Paul Riccomini present elementary and middle school teachers with practical strategies and activities for promoting academic success and mastery of key mathematical concepts. They offer insight into what really helps students learn math including friendly descriptions of the concrete to representational to abstract sequence of instruction, procedural instruction that can be expanded from one topic to the next, assessment guides for placement and measurement, and retention of content through mixed reviews and assessments. In addition, the authors provide teachers with clear direction to implement each research-based lesson plan with answer sheets to grade student work as well as pictures of manipulations and accompanying vocabulary so that teachers know exactly how to show concrete and pictorial steps.

Give your students who struggle with fractions the support they need!

Dr. Paul J. Riccomini is a former high school math teacher and special education teacher. He provides numerous professional development workshops focused on improving mathematics education through the application of evidenced-based practices. Paul is the author of several research and practitioner articles describing instruction strategies to more effectively teach math.

Dr. Bradley Witzel is an assistant professor of special education at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He has experience in the classroom as an inclusive and self contained teacher of students with higher incidence disabilities as well as a classroom assistant and classroom teacher of students with low incidence disabilities. Dr. Witzel has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in educational methods for students with disabilities and secondary students with disabilities coupled with ELL and LEP needs, introduction to learning disabilities, introduction to special education, functional behavior assessment, motivation and behavioral methods, elementary math methods, learning theories and strategies, and he has supervised interns in elementary, secondary, and special education certification tracks as well as inclusion practices. He has given numerous professional presentations including strategic math, algebra instruction, word problem solving, community and parent involvement for reading programs, motivational classroom management, and student-led IEPs. He has published research and practitioner articles in algebra education and math education for students with and without learning disabilities as well as functional assessment and motivation procedures. Additionally, he patented an algebra technique and is the author of the book, Multisensory Algebra, a hands-on resoure of pictorial algebra techniques. Dr. Witzel currently focuses on the development of special education teachers and works to provide researched-validated practices and interventions to pre-service and in-service teachers. Brad holds his B.S. in psychology and special education from James Madison University and his M.Ed. and Ph.D. in special education from the University of Florida.