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One of the most important principles in reform mathematics is allowing students to be challenged by mathematics problems. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM 2000) has called for changes in the problems that are typically posed to students, asserting that such problems should instead require students to reason, communicate, represent, problem solve, and make mathematical connections. Posing open-ended, extendable problems allows students to construct their own mathematical learning and understanding by building on previous experiences and making connections among topics and disciplines. One of the ways teachers can pose rich mathematics problems is by basing scenarios on stories from children's literature. In this article, the authors discuss how teachers can use children's literature in mathematics lessons and present three literature-based mathematics lessons. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

As the population of English language learners continues to increase, schools must implement educational practices that will help students develop the necessary linguistic and academic skills for success in school. Brain compatible teaching and the second language acquisition processes complement each other. Brain compatible teaching enhances students' ability to develop a second language successfully. Teachers at the Blanche Moore Early Childhood Development Center, a dual language school, provide the classroom environment incorporating brain compatible strategies into their daily implementation of the school curriculum to help students develop bilingualism and biliteracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]