Book excerpt: Schwartz Powerful Ideas in Elementary Mathematics: Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teachers, 1/e ISBN: 0205493750 "This book would be a great tool for helping [today's future elementary teachers] acquire a 'gut level' understanding of mathematics concepts." - Hester Lewellen, Baldwin-Wallace College, OH "The writing in this text is very clear and would easily be understood by the intended audience. The real-world examples put the various math concepts into a context that is easily understood. The vignettes at the beginning of each chapter are interesting and they get the reader to begin thinking about the math concepts that will follow. Each of the chapters seem to build on one another and the author often refers back to activities and concepts from previous chapters which is meaningful to the reader because it lets the reader know that the information they are learning builds their conceptual understanding of other mathematical concepts. " - Melany L. Rish, University of South Carolina, Aiken Organized around five key concepts or "powerful ideas" in mathematics, this text presents elementary mathematics content in a concise and nonthreatening manner for teachers. Designed to sharpen teachers' mathematics pedagogical content knowledge, the friendly writing style and vignettes relate math concepts to "real life" situations so that they may better present the content to their students. The five "powerful ideas" (composition, decomposition, relationships, representation, and context) provide an organizing framework and highlight the interconnections between mathematics topics. In addition, the text thoroughly integrates discussion of the five NCTM process strands. Features: Icons highlighting the NCTM process standards appear throughout the book to indicate where the text relates to each of these. Practice exercises and activities and their explanations reinforce math concepts presented in the text and provide an opportunity for reflection and practice. Concise, conversational chapters and opening vignettes present math contents simply enough for even the most math-anxious pre-service teachers.