Mental Models for Math; Grades 6-12

“Excellent teachers use mental models to teach what is important in their discipline.” —Ruby K. Payne Mental models can help students: • Translate information from the abstract to the concrete • Learn abstract information more quickly • Hold abstract information in their head • Sort information • Understand the why of things • Understand a discipline or field of study • Understand the structure, purpose, or pattern of a body of knowledge The mental models in this book are presented primarily as: • Stories (cartoons, short stories, vignettes) • Pictures (two-dimensional visual representations) • Analogies • Metaphors