Children's Literature and Math?
These two-strands sound complete opposite from each other. Until I saw children's picture books being used to teach math, I was a skeptic myself.
Activity: Storybook Spaghetti and Meatballs for All
The video is a reading of the book Spaghetti and Meatballs for All by Marilyn Burns. This storybook can be used as a tool to teach students about perimeter and area.
While you read the storybook before reading the ending, pause and get students to try and solve the problem themselves. You can give students manipulatives to help visualize how they will have to arrange the seating plan and tables for everyone to be able to have a seat.
Ex. Students were given 8 square blocks and given 32 counters to represent the guests. They were told that only one person can fit on each side of the square blocks. Students were allowed to push tables together to help fit everyone.
Accommodating for Gifted Students
This problem can be adjusted to accommodate different learning levels in your class. If you have a student who is gifted in math, you can make the problem more challenging for them so that they can still be incorporated into the lesson in class. A way to make it more challenging is by changing the problem for them so that one adult and one child could sit on one side of the square table or telling them that 3 children can fit on one side of the square table.
Connection to Curriculum
This activity seems to be most appropriate for a grade 5 math class when teaching the measurement strand. Although this activity can be modified to make it more challenging or less challenging for different grade levels.
Grade 5:
M1: Estimate and record perimeter, area, temperature change, and elapsed time, using a
variety of strategies(p.80).
M1.9: Determine through investigation using a variety of tools and strategies, the
relationships between the length and
width of a rectangle and its area and
perimeter, and generalize to develop
the formulas (p. 80).
Benefits of Using Children's Literature to Teach Math
1. Engagement
2. Brings meaning to mathematical concepts
3. Gives students a visual to help understand math concepts
Additional Resources
These two sites have a great list of storybooks that you can use to incorporate picture books as a tool to teach mathematical concepts to your students. They also include some activities that can go along with the picture books.
References
Glenanne Seraceno. (26 Mar 2014). Spaghetti and Meatballs for All. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/lNuhAkMGLPc.
UniofReading. (11 Mar 2019). What if maths was taught through storytelling?. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/x9lW2w1aI0E
No comments:
Post a Comment