Reading and Math.
Many assume that these two subjects are polar opposites—that someone is
either a reading person or math minded, but that doesn’t need to be the case,
and teachers’ instructional strategies shouldn’t be limited by this
assumption.
In the paper “A Review and an Update on Using Children’s Literature to Teach Mathematics” published in 2008, author June Gatsón discusses how literature can be used to teach math. In her review, Gatsón found that when teachers use literature as a connection to and a resource for their mathematics instruction, students become more interested and motivated, develop better critical thinking and problem solving skills, are able to see connections between math and their lives, and are able to recognize that math is a life-long tool.
Reading + Math = Learning |
In the paper “A Review and an Update on Using Children’s Literature to Teach Mathematics” published in 2008, author June Gatsón discusses how literature can be used to teach math. In her review, Gatsón found that when teachers use literature as a connection to and a resource for their mathematics instruction, students become more interested and motivated, develop better critical thinking and problem solving skills, are able to see connections between math and their lives, and are able to recognize that math is a life-long tool.
Gatsón cites Welchman-Tischler (1992) when she lists seven
ways to implement literature into mathematics lessons:
- To provide a context or model for an activity with mathematical content
- To introduce manipulatives that will be used in varied ways (not necessarily as in the story)
- To inspire a creative mathematics experience for children
- To pose an interesting problem
- To prepare for a mathematics concept or skill
- To develop or explain a mathematics concept or skill
- To review a mathematics concept or skill
While this list does provide a foundation for how to implement a math-reading instructional strategy, it still remains somewhat abstract. To give more concrete and reproducible ideas, Gatsón
provides links to the following websites as resources for teachers interested
in using reading as an instructional tool when teaching math:
Website
|
Description
|
Comprehensive
list of books divided by category (fractions, add & subtract, Geometry,
etc.) and by grade level
|
|
Three
lessons that illustrate how literature and mathematics instruction can be
connected
|
|
Broad list
of lesson plans broken down by grade level or math strand
|
|
Story
mapping technology to create math stories
|
The books teachers use do not have to be math concept books
or even directly related to mathematics.
These types of books obviously can be very helpful when relating math
and reading since the content of the book clearly links the two together. However, any book can be used. Is there a book all students are reading? A
book they all love? A book they can’t stop talking about. Teachers can use these popular stories as a
background for mathematics instruction.
For example, it would be easy to make a mathematical story problems
based on important events in the book.
For additional strategies and for lists of resources, five more websites are listed below.
Website
|
Description
|
A
PowerPoint presentation in a pdf file that demonstrates how to use reading
and writing strategies to solve math problems
|
|
Discusses
effective math instruction using children’s literature in a Q&A format
|
|
A sample
lesson plan from scholastic
|
|
Provides an
overview and advice for starting literature-based mathematics lessons
|
|
Books
listed by math strand with ideas for instruction listed next to each book
|
Math and reading do not need to be separated. And in fact, when used in combination with one another, positive results are seen in student achievement.
What do you think? Do you or have you used reading in your math lessons? Would you ever try it?
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