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This study investigated children's ability to write number sentences for simple addition and subtraction word problems. First graders taught to represent problems with open number sentences (e.g., 5 + □ = 8) represented a variety of problems with number sentences that directly modeled the action in the problems. First graders taught to represent all problems with number sentences in standard form (a + b = □, a − b = □) were limited in the problems they could represent. Second graders could represent problems directly with open number sentences or transform them to number sentences in standard form. The results, consistent with research on solutions using modeling and counting strategies, suggest that open number sentences may provide mathematical symbolism that allows young children to build upon informal strategies for representing and solving simple word problems.

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Forty-five first graders were categorized into three levels according to their informal strategies for solving addition and subtraction word problems. They were taught to write canonical and noncanonical open number sentences to symbolically represent the structure of eight types of Change and Combine word problems. Their performances on the posttest indicated that children at each level were successful in learning to symbolically represent and solve the instructed problem types.

This article describes the first year of a collaboration between school faculty in an urban elementary school and university faculty in a nearby college of education for the purposes of enhancing the learning of mathematics and science by the schoolchildren and of providing quality urban field experience sites in mathematics and science for preservice elementary teachers. The article describes the history of the partnership and some of the specific activities, such as the regular partnership meetings, the field experience sites, the Family Math program, and the classroom research activities. The final section provides critical reflections about the partnership in relation to current themes in the collaboration literature.