ED 411/518 Teaching Children Mathematics

Fall 2004

Teaching Segment #2: Read a Mathematics Book Aloud to a Class

A variety of interesting children’s books focus on or involve substantial mathematics. For example, a pair of Japanese authors named Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno have designed a number of interesting books, including Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar. The story introduces the complex notion of factorials in ways that are accessible to upper elementary children.

Most teachers read aloud regularly to their students. There are diverse purposes for sharing a mathematical read aloud with students. Purposes include:

increasing your students’ opportunities to engage with mathematical ideas and reasoning.

launching problems or other mathematical work

reviewing concepts

exposing students to content not covered in regular curriculum

supporting development of literacy by reading books that appeal to different interests

To be able to do this, you need to work on developing a list of books, and skills for using this kind of children’s literature.

  1. Begin developing a list of good children’s books that involve mathematics. You will get a basic list in this course (p. 3 below), but you should be on the lookout for others to add to your list. Your cooperating teacher, staff or library at the school where you are doing your fieldwork, books like D. Whitin’s Read Any Good Math Lately or M. Burns’ Math and Literature Series, or creative exploration of the web could be other good sources for learning about these books. It would be useful to create a file for yourself that includes the book’s title, its mathematical content, length, and approximate age range. If you read or use the book, you might also keep track of uses to which you have put the book, and suggestions for future uses. (See slide #14 in Class #3.)
  2. You also need to develop skills for reading mathematics books aloud. You are already developing skills at reading other children’s books aloud; these skills will support your reading of math-focused books.

To prepare for this teaching segment:

Read a few math books of the type described above and note the mathematical ideas that are involved. If there are puzzles or questions, you should work these out for yourself before trying to read the book to a class.

Decide which read-aloud book would be appropriate and useful to share with the students in your field placement.

Practice reading the book aloud, including how to hold the book and how to manage pointing at particular details on certain pages. Try to practice reading to a person, not just for yourself. This will prepare you to use the book productively.

Practice for Reading a Mathematics Book Aloud (Teaching Segment #2)

  1. Select a book to read to your class. Why is this a fitting book for your students and your mathematical goals for them? Confirm your selection with your cooperating teacher.
  2. Prepare for the read aloud by
  3. Deciding how you will introduce the book to the class before you start reading it. Is there anything to point out or ask about the book’s title, author, or front cover? Do you want to ask students a global question or give them a general focus for listening?
  4. Deciding on places in the book where you plan to stop reading and ask the students some questions, or where you want to give them time to work on questions posed in the book itself. Think ahead to how you want to solicit comments or answers from your students, and whether the nature of the questions suggests that you might write (or ask students to write) on the board to make it easier to discuss the mathematics.
  5. Read the book to your class. Have someone observe you (your cooperating teacher would be a good choice) and, if possible, audiotape yourself.
  6. Discuss the read aloud implementation with your observer or review the tape of the event to begin thinking about what you would do differently or what you learned.
  1. Write an entry about your work on this teaching segment, focusing on (a) - (c) below.

a)Design: What book did you select? What mathematical issues are central, and why did you pick this for your class? What decisions did you make regarding introduction of the book or questioning? What was your goal?

b)Implementation: Describe and appraise how you implemented reading your book aloud to your students. What did you ask, and how did they respond? How well were you able to read the book to your class (clarity, expression, classroom management, etc.). Is there anything you would change about how you implemented this segment?

c)Reflection: What did you learn from practicing this teaching segment? Does your choice of book still seem appropriate? Why or why not? In what ways did you reach or fall short of your goals? What insights do you have into the work of teaching or yourself as a teacher from your read aloud experience?

Examples of Mathematics Literature

Place Value and Large Numbers

  • Can You Count to a Googol? – Robert E. Wells
  • How Much is a Million? – David M. Schwartz
  • The King’s Commissioners – Aileen Friedman
  • On Beyond a Million – David M. Schwartz
  • One Grain of Rice – Demi

Multiplication

  • Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream – Cindy Neuschwander
  • Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar – Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno
  • Counting by Kangaroos – Joy N. Hulme
  • Each Orange Had 8 Slices – Paul Giganti, Jr.
  • The Grapes of Math – Greg Tang
  • One Hundred Hungry Ants – Elinor Pinczes
  • Sea Squares – Joy N. Hulme
  • Ten Times Better – Richard Michelson
  • Two of Everything – Lily Toy Hong
  • Two Ways to Count to Ten – Ruby Dee
  • What Comes in 2’s, 3’s, & 4’s? – Judy Sierra

Division

  • 17 Kings and 42 Elephants – Margaret Mahy
  • The Doorbell Rang – Pat Hutchins
  • A Remainder of One – Elinor Pinczes

Fractions

  • Eating Fractions – Bruce McMillan
  • Fraction Action – Loreen Leedy
  • The Fraction Family Heads West – Marti Dryk
  • Fraction Fun – David A. Adler
  • Gator Pie – Louise Mathews
  • The House – Monique Felix
  • If You Hopped Like a Frog – David M. Schwartz
  • Picture Pie – Ed Emberly

Geometry & Measurement

  • A Cloak for the Dreamer – Aileen Freidman
  • Grandfather Tang’s Story – Ann Tompert
  • The Greedy Triangle – Marilyn Burns
  • How Big is a Foot? – Rolf Myller
  • Inchworm and a Half – Elinor J. Pinczes
  • Jim and the Beanstalk – Raymond Briggs
  • Measuring Penny – Loreen Leedy
  • Sir Cumference and the First Round Table – Cindy Neuschwander

Chapter Books

  • The Number Devil – Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Rotraut Susanne Berner, Michael Henry Heim
  • The Phantom Toolbooth - Norton Juster, Jules Feiffer

On-line resource: ( Click on the link “At-a-Glance Chart of Children's Literature” for a list of books used in the new series, Math, Literature, and Nonfiction.

Mathematics Methods Planning GroupPage 1 of 3

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