helps students become more confident mathematicians;
allows students to use the knowledge they bring to school and helps them connect
mathematics with situations outside the classroom;
helps students develop mathematical understanding and gives meaning to skills
and concepts in all strands;
allows students to reason, communicate ideas, make connections, and apply
knowledge and skills;
offers excellent opportunities for assessing students’ understanding of concepts,
ability to solve problems, ability to apply concepts and procedures, and ability to
communicate ideas;
promotes collaborative sharing of ideas and strategies, and promotes talking about
mathematics;
helps students find enjoyment in mathematics;
increases opportunities for the use of critical-thinking skills (e.g., estimating,
classifying, assuming, recognizing relationships, hypothesizing, offering opinions
with reasons, evaluating results, and making judgements).