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CONT 931 Teaching Math through Story - Hannah, Tommy, Megan

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CONT 931 Teaching Math through Story - Hannah, Tommy, Megan

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Teaching Math as a Story

Teaching as a story has great benefits. As suggested by Tolen when teaching through story, “it’s not just regurgitating math facts, it requires them to process information differently.” By moving away from traditional math practices, students will have the ability to explore their identity, collaborate with peers and have discussions not normally found in the math class about characters, settings, plots, and much more. Along with these new skills, by incorporating the second element of story telling into math there is the potential for greater student buy in. Finally, storytelling has been used by First Nations peoples for decades. By incorporating storytelling into the classroom a teacher is inadvertently bringing in culture as well.

Story #1: Finance; choose your own adventure.

Students will be provided with a story that has many twists and turns. At the end of each chapter the student reading, who is the protagonist in their own story, must make a financial decision regarding either an opportunity for savings, a large expense, or an investment opportunity. As there are many outcomes and options to choose from during a choose your own adventure students will be expected to explain certain financial decisions after the adventure ends. The goal is to see which decisions leave students in debt versus who is prepared for their future. The students will justify the decisions they have made during the story to their classmates.

This could be used as an introduction and conclusion, for use before and after students have been exposed to making informed decisions that will benefit their financial futures. When reading it before, they may not take it as seriously, or may misunderstand the meaning or consequence of certain decisions (which is welcomed). After teaching about budgeting and savings plans students will be asked to re-read the story and see if any of their financial decisions have changed.

Reference:

Tolen, M. (2020, September 29). Learning math through story: Examples from one teacher's classroom. Ditch That Textbook. Retrieved May 7, 2022, from https://ditchthattextbook.com/learning-math-through-story/

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CONT 931 Teaching Math as a Story - Taiga and Grace

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CONT 931 Teaching Math as a Story - Taiga and Grace

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Incorporating stories would be a valuable tool when delivering mathematics instruction. Regardless of the grade level and classroom dynamics, we would read a math story to introduce a concept. Stories would serve as a strong hook to catch students’ attention and set the tone for the entire lesson. There are several ways narratives can benefit students’ understanding of mathematics. Due to its versatility, stories can be presented through words, pictures, videos, and audio. All of these forms give context to math concepts. Also, we have noticed that incorporating stories in mathematics enhances learners’ skills in solving word problems (Schley & Fujita, 2014). As a practice, students can create their own math problem that relates to real life scenarios.

A great activity would be to have students design their own math story. This open-ended project can be presented in any format: digital book, song, video, or picture book. Students making their own story in their preferred method would promote differentiated and student-centered learning. All learners are able to explore their interests and it is more engaging. An engaging resource that can be used in the classroom for creating story books is called BookCreator. This app is a digital book-making platform with endless tools and features. Students can include various styles of text, images, audio clips, and videos. These wide range of tools help support many students with various learning needs. Most importantly, students learn real-life applications of math. They can see, hear, and manipulate numbers.

References:

Schley, D. R., & Fujita, K. (2014). Seeing the math in the story: on how abstraction promotes performance on mathematical word problems. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5(8), 953-961.

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Math Stories in the Classroom - David and Bri

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Math Stories in the Classroom - David and Bri

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Many of our earliest math lessons came to us in story form from shows like Sesame Street and Barney & Friends. Arneja and Tyagi state that “Stories can engage children to critically think about the process that is involved and think about how things are going to relate to daily life. When children listen to a story, it creates mental images in their minds and connects to the content making learning more meaningful” (2020).

Stories can come from the teacher, or the students and can be in the shape of:

Written stories

Films/ silent films

Songs

Oral storytelling

Digital storytelling

Many word problems are set up as small stories. With some elaboration and a little bit of intrigue, they can be turned into proper stories. A great example of this is The Adventures of Small Number.

We can incorporate stories through the linear relations unit. An activity that my class (Bri) does is “Bungee Barbie” and we can incorporate a story of Barbie's experience bungee jumping.

In my undergraduate class on set theory (David), we taught the mathematical concept of different kinds of infinity using a play that we put on. The script can be viewed here.

We believe that at all levels, students can be engaged to make stories that relate the mathematics of the world around them to the classroom. The storytelling concept is inclusive to all students' learning abilities because it gives students the opportunity to write about their own experiences and can be expressed in the students' preferred method. The chance to express this kind of creativity in math class offers all kinds of cross-curricular connections.

References:

Chehak Arneja, Dr. Sneha Tyagi. The importance of using stories for teaching-learning of mathematical concepts. Int J Adv Acad Stud 2020;2(4):499-503. DOI: 10.33545/27068919.2020.v2.i4h.445

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proper fraction
improper fraction
equivalent
mixed number
millimetre
rotational symmetry
revolution
millilitre

A visual math dictionary for intermediate and up:
http://www.mathwords.com/

A visual math dictionary for elementary students:
(flash is required)
http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/dictionary.html

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A Maths Dictionary for Kids 2018 Interactive by Jenny Eather

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Interactive, animated maths dictionary for kids with over 600 common math terms explained in simple language. Math glossary with math definitions, examples, math practice interactives, mathematics activities and math calculators. © Jenny Eather 2001-2015.

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skip count
picture graph
bar graph
halves
fact family
expanded form
number before
number after
number line
hundreds chart

Some ideas to integrate Math and Writing:

- Word sorts and making connections with math words
- Math journals
- Visual Math word wall
- Interactive read aloud
- Project based learning
- Cross curricular units

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There always seems to be a new debate about the best way to teach math or which curriculum is the best. I also hear often from homeschool moms who love and feel confident teaching reading, yet feel uncertain and ill-equipped to teach math. Today I am not trying to put any debates to rest or say that I have the final answer to math education questions, I simply want to share some ideas to help you wherever you are, and hopefully show that teaching math doesn't have to be difficult or scary. You may also be surprised to hear it isn't as far away from teaching reading as it seems. Because you can actually use helpful and recognized literacy strategies to teach math!
*Please Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and help support the work of this site. Read our full disclosure here.*
I've recently been reading a book by Laney Sammons called, Building Mathematical Comprehension. It is an excellent resource and if you are interested in learning more and seeing more examples and in depth analysis of these strategies, I highly recommend it.

As I've read through and considered various literacy strategies, it has struck me that applying these strategies to math seems so obvious, and yet, it's not something I have heard or thought of before.

For instance, she makes the point that the goal of reading instruction is to comprehend and apply. The same is true of math! The goal of teaching and learning math is not to be able to compute or work through algorithms or memorize facts. It is to understand. To comprehend the meaning of all the numbers and their connections to each other and then apply that to real life.

So if you're familiar with these strategies, I hope this will give you new insight into how you can apply them to math instruction, and if you're not familiar with these strategies, I hope this will be packed full of useful information for you!

5 Ideas for Using Literacy Strategies to Teach Math:

1. Teach Math Vocabulary

In reading, vocabulary (and figuring out unknown words) is an essential component of comprehension. In math, the task of knowing and determining unknown vocabulary is even more challenging because there are words that are specific to math and not used in everyday conversation.

Math is a foreign language and it is important that we don't take for granted the language used to talk about and describe math problems and situations. The good thing is, there are lots of different ways you can teach and help kids understand math specific vocabulary.
Here are just a few ideas:

Have a "word wall" in your home or classroom to expose kids to math specific words and start discussions

Encourage students to explain their thinking when they solve a problem using math words. If they explain in a way that doesn't incorporate the correct vocabulary, rephrase it for them using appropriate terms

Use "word sorts" to allow students to make connections between various words and mathematical operations (for example, sort words like "add, altogether, in total, plus, etc." under the addition symbol

Have math talks and encourage (and model yourself) the use of math specific vocabulary

Incorporate writing into your lessons to allow students to write about mathematical experiences, or explain a solution in their own words using math vocabulary

Use graphic organizers such as a Frayer diagram or Venn diagram to compare words, find examples, etc.

Read math stories (this is one of my favorites!)

Related: The Importance of Math Vocabulary
2. Use Schema (a.k.a prior knowledge)

Every child has a schema, or set of knowledge, that is unique to them. Each child's schema will be varied in its breadth and depth. Some may overlap, some may have a lot of prior knowledge (some may have a much larger vocabulary, for instance) while others may have virtually no prior knowledge.

It's important, however, in reading and math, to try and start with what they know and build on that knowledge. In fact, according to Marzano, research suggests that "what students already know about the content is one of the strongest indicators of how well they will learn new information relative to the content." (This also means you may need to spend time determining what they know before you start).

By starting with something familiar, students can then make a connection from the new concept to what they already know, helping to make sense of the new ideas, as well as helping with retention.

This is the reason the first few lessons in my introduction to multiplication bundle focus on reinforcing and understanding repeated addition. This allows kids to take something familiar (addition) and think about it in a new way (repeated addition) and then form a connection from repeated addition to multiplication.

So when you are planning math lessons, it is helpful for students if you start with the familiar and work towards building a bridge to new content.

But it is also important to help students see how they can do this on their own to help them solve problems. When they look at a math problem, have them first ask themselves, "What do I know?" and then write that down. Look for things that are familiar (such as known vocabulary words) and see if that provides any insight into how to solve the problem.

A popular method in reading instruction is to use a KWL chart (What do I KNOW, what do I WANT to know, and then what did I LEARN). This could easily be used when learning a new math concept as well, helping kids make those important connections!
Related: Teaching Readers to Use Their Schema
3. Make Connections

This leads me to the next literacy strategy: making connections. Helping kids use their prior knowledge gives them something to connect a new concept to.

But students can make connections in other ways as well, and this is a very useful strategy to help them learn, apply and remember new math concepts.
Types of math connections:
All of math is interconnected, and it's important to help kids see the connections between one math concept and another. We also then, have to find ways to make connections between the math they're learning and their life, and help them see math in the world around them.

One way you can help kids form connections is to plan lessons in which connections are abundant. Be intentional in the way you present new topics. Teach it in a way that uses all sorts of other math to see and learn the new math idea.

Sometimes it is helpful to point out these connections to students, and other times, encourage them to make the connections on their own. Eventually, you want seeing and making connections to be a habit, natural and automatic for kids.
Ideas for helping kids make mathematical connections:

Have a daily "how did you use math yesterday?" discussion

Keep math journals documenting math situations or connections

If you're a classroom teacher, encourage parents to have "math talks" or go on "math walks" at home

Read the book Math Curse and spend time discussing it and other ways we see and use math (get FREE resources to use with this book here)

Related: Making connections to help with reading comprehension
4. Make predictions

Making predictions and inferences is an important reading comprehension strategy, and adapting that to math instruction is vital. As Laney Sammons states,

"Students need to know that making predictions that are then proved or disproved is a process mathematicians have used throughout history."

Having an idea about how to solve a problem and then seeing that that is either a valid method or not is what we do as mathematicians. It's the crux of the problem solving process. Play around with ideas and numbers and see what happens.
Related: 8 reasons making mistakes in math is a good thing
The problem is, this is not normally how math is taught. Often, students are told, "Here is the process. Do each problem exactly like this." Students then memorize a procedure without understanding the concept or making any connections to prior knowledge or their world.

Instead, encourage exploration. Encourage mistakes, and then have students analyze why a method did or did not work. Then have them try again.

Help them look for patterns and see if they can generalize their observations.

Just as students can make predictions about how to solve problems, they should also be in the habit of predicting the solution. This is called estimating.

Unfortunately, this is a rarely taught skill, and is usually only seen in the form of, "How many balls do you think are in this jar?"

Helping kids get in the habit of estimating the solution is important though, because it will help them to self check and make sure that the answer makes sense in the context of the problem. They can use what is given in the problem as well as their prior knowledge to make predictions about the solution.

For instance, in an addition problem, students should know that the final solution must be larger than the numbers they are adding.

In more challenging problems, they should think about whether the solution should be positive or negative, large or small, a whole number or a fraction, exactly one solution or more than one solution, etc.

I think the best way to encourage this kind of estimating is to constantly model it for kids. Talk out loud as you solve a problem and explain why you think the answer will be large and positive. Then talk through your thinking as you do the math.

Related: Making predictions as you read and Using inferences to help with comprehension

5. Teach kids to visualize

Just like reading a story creates a visual image in our minds, math problems should as well. When using visualizing to help with reading comprehension, it's a good idea to underline or circle visual words (adjectives).

Kids can do this with math word problems as well. Circle words that paint a picture and provide important information, and then use those words to draw a picture.

Visualizing and drawing a picture is a helpful strategy because it provides kids with a mental image which will help them remember what they've learned.

It can also help them break down a problem into easier to understand parts to make sense of it. If a problem seems overwhelming at first glance, spending time circling visual words and then drawing a picture of the problem can help make it less overwhelming.
Related: Problem solving by drawing a picture
This is an exhaustive list of literacy strategies, or ideas for how you can apply reading comprehension strategies to math instruction. It is simply meant to give you a starting point and hopefully some good ideas for how you can encourage your kids to be thinkers and problem solvers who have a deep understanding of math and how it relates to the world around them.

And if you're looking for more strategies to help kids make sense of math, grab a FREE copy of my ebook, Strategies for Problem Solving: Equip Kids to Solve Math Problems with Confidence!
Click HERE to learn more and request your copy! References in this post:

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There always seems to be a new debate about the best way to teach math or which curriculum is the best. I also hear often from homeschool moms who love and feel confident teaching reading, yet feel uncertain and ill-equipped to teach math.

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-BEDMAS
-dividend
-composite
-coefficient
-Cartesian Plane
-Transformation
-Parenthesis
-Computational
-GCF/LCM
-Cuisrnaire Rods
-Adjacent

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Additional Math Vocabulary for Grade 6 - Andy

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Additional Math Vocabulary for Grade 6 - Andy

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- order of operations
- brackets
- BEDMAS
- Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
- Least Common Multiple (LCM)
- Composite
- Factor Tree
- Benchmarks
- Compatible
- Front End Estimation
- Base10
- Commutative Property
- Cartesian Plane
- Transformation

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Building Student Success - B.C. Curriculum

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to develop a sense of how mathematics helps us understand ourselves and the world around us (e.g., cross-discipline, daily activities, local and traditional practices, the environment, popular media and news events, and social justice)

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attributes
sorting
letter coding
elements
bigger
larger
smaller
same
core
repeating pattern
decreasing pattern
increasing pattern
predict

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This is a great resource for students.  There are visuals for each word and it is grade specific.
http://www.hbschool.com/glossary/math2/index6.html

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Count
Count on
Equal
Fewer
Less Than
More
Greater Than
Shorter
Taller
Heavier
Lighter
Longer
Shorter
A huge part of K math is number sense, and we can build this with verbal language. Questioning, noticing, number talks, partner discussions...

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This is one of a series, for each season. It's the same author as the previously mentioned Playground Math, and these are available in French too.
https://www.amazon.ca/Winter-Math-Walk-Finding-Nature-ebook/dp/B081QXCQZW

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Integrating Math and Writing

I especially like the think write share idea, the classroom book and the learning logs

List of Children Books with a Math Focus

Embed Literacy into Mathematics

This website provided some creative ideas. I liked how this site provided strategies and ideas of what this could look like in the classroom. One in particular that I liked and thought was creative was the idea of students writing stories using math data.

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Shayla- Comparing and Ordering Fractions Grade 4

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Shayla- Comparing and Ordering Fractions Grade 4

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place value

>, greater than, more than, larger than, bigger than

<, less than, fewer than, smaller than

compare, order, size

part, equal parts, one whole, set

half, quarter, eighth, third, sixth. fifth, tenth, twentieth

proportion, decimal, decimal place, hundredth, tenth, ones, tens, hundreds

Equivalent

Numerator

Denominator

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Peg + Chat videos: Mathematical problem solving stories
https://www.tfo.org/fr/univers/peg-chat?=filters100000183

A series of French guided reading books with math curriculum woven throughout
https://www.pearson.com/ca/en/k-12-education/mathology/mathologie/petits-livrets.html

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-combine
-together
-addend
-divisor
-dividend
- like/unlike denominators
-simplest form
-simplify
-common multiples
-common factors
-benchmark

Integrating math into writing:
https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/incorporate-language-into-math-instruction.shtml
https://elementaryassessments.com/integrating-literacy-into-math/

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Melinda-Math And Picture Books (Primary)

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Melinda-Math And Picture Books (Primary)

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https://www.the-best-childrens-books.org/math-for-kids.html

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Melinda-Math Words for Telling Time (Primary)

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Melinda-Math Words for Telling Time (Primary)

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-noon
-midnight, day, night
-interval
-second, minute, hour
week, month, year
-am, pm
-digital, analog
-time, o'clock, hands, shorter, longer
-clockwise, anticlockwise
-half past, quarter past, quarter to, quarter after

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Rosanne - Math words for place value and money for primary grades:

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Rosanne - Math words for place value and money for primary grades:

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Expanded form, tens, ones, hundreds, tally marks, more than 10, less than 10, written number, ten frames, base ten (place value)

Dollar, cents, nickel, dime, quarter, loonie, toonie, value, cost, change, buy, worth, skip count, add, subtract (money)

Teaching math through picture books:

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Picture books about math are the perfect cross-curricular tool to introduce your kids to complicated concepts and mathematical thinking. We chose some of our favorite authors and stories, both new and old, to add to your classroom library and inspire your students' mathematical minds.

Our picks for the best books about math are listed by grade level and math concept so you can easily find the right selection for your class.

1.by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

A sassy story about sneaky Triangle trying to play a trick on his friend Square that turns into a shape showdown. Kids will be mesmerized by this whimsically illustrated tale.

Math concepts: Shapes, relative size

Best for: Grades K-4

2. Place Value by David Adler and Edward Miller

Love the story about monkeys jumping on the bed? You'll adore this version that tells the story of the monkeys at Banana Cafe making one very large banana cupcake.

Math concept: Place value

Best for: Grades 1-5

Also by this author: Fraction Fun, Mystery Math: A First Book of Algebra, How Tall ,How Short, How Far Away, Shape Up!: Fun with Triangles and Other Polygons, Perimeter, Area and Volume: A Monster Book of Dimensions, Millions, Billions and Trillions: Understanding Big Numbers, and more.

Mr. and Mrs. Comfort are having a family reunion and need to arrange the tables so that everyone in the family can enjoy their fabulous spaghetti and meatballs. A witty tale by math guru Marilyn Burns.

Math concepts: Area and perimeter

Best for: PreK-Grade 3

Also by this author: The Greedy Triangle, Math for Smarty Pants, The $1.00 Word Riddle Book, This Book is About Time, and more.

Brave knights, a strong ruler, and a dilemma that needs to be solved using math. This book about math is great for introducing geometry concepts in a fun and accessible way.

Math concepts: radius, diameter, circumference

Best for: Grades 2-7

Also by this author: The Sir Cumference series has more than 10 books that explore math concepts from algebra and geometry to measurement and fractions.

Delightful illustrations and a dreamy young girl pondering the vastness of the universe make a very difficult concept approachable and interesting in this book about math.

Math concept: Limitless numbers and infinity

Best for: Grades K-5

Watch as this busy construction crew creates impressive structures by grouping bricks by twos, fives, and tens. Kids will love the catchy repetitive verse and charming illustrations.

Math concept: Counting in quantities

Best for: PreK-Grade 2

Ethan wakes up one morning with a strange cat on his head and the only way it will agree to get it off is if Ethan agrees to play a game of probability with it. This kooky book about math will entertain your students as it teaches a difficult concept.

Math concept: Probability

Best for: Grades 2-5

Also by this author: Fractions in Disguise: A Math Adventure

Kids will love this fun story with delightful cartoon illustrations that teach the importance of zero as a placeholder in our number system. Without Zero the Hero, we wouldn't be able to count beyond the number nine!

Math concept: Concept of zero

Best for: Grades 1-5

A beautifully illustrated book about math that shows how flips, slides, and turns can create amazing symmetrical images.

Math concept: Geometry, symmetry

Best for: Grades 1-3

A playful book with silly characters and perfect rhyming that teaches not just the basics of telling time, but the tricky concept of relative time.

Math Concept: Time

Best for: Grades 1-4

Also by this author: Cleary has written a whole series of books called Math is CATegorical, including The Mission of Addition, The Action of Subtraction, A Dollar, a Penny, How Much and How Manym, A Fraction's Goal- Parts of a Whole, and more.

Mouse and her friends want to play a game of tug-of-war but have a hard time making the sides fair. This charming story teaches the concept of balance and equality.

Math concept: Equality

Best for: Kindergarten-Grade 3

Two more rhyming tales with colorful, busy illustrations that kids will love. In each of these books about math, a boy wakes up one day and finds that things are kookily out of order. Great as a read-aloud or for independent readers who will love hunting through the detailed pictures to find the odd or even items.

Math concepts: Odd and even

Best for: Kindergarten-Grade 3

Your students will love quirky Henry and his wild imagination as he uses his dog Frank as a unit of measure. Henry thinks about real life objects and how they can take up specific spaces. This story will get kids thinking creatively about numbers and many other math concepts.

Math concepts: Problem-solving, measurement, estimation, and calculatio n.

Best for: PreK-Grade 3

Colorful fish bob, glide, and swish through the ocean until POP, a shark appears! Kids not only love hearing and seeing this story, it will get them interested in learning and creating their own patterns.

Math concepts: Patterns and variations of pattern types

Best for: Kindergarten-Grade 2

16. A Remainder of One by Eleanor Pinczes and Bonnie MacKain

The 25th Beetle Army Corp is trying to solve the problem of how to divide their troops into equal groups for the parade march without leaving any stragglers. A fun, rhyming book about math that will get kids thinking about how numbers are put together and pulled apart.

Math concept: Grouping, division

Best for: Preschool-Grade 3
What picture books have you used in your math lessons? Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook. Plus, Why It's Important to Honor All Math Strategies.

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16 Picture Books About Math to Inspire Curious Kids - We Are Teachers

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Picture books about math are the perfect cross-curricular tool to introduce your kids to complicated concepts and mathematical thinking. We chose some of our favorite authors and stories, both new and old, to add to your classroom library and inspire your students' mathematical minds.

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Keri-Additional Math Words for upper elementary

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Keri-Additional Math Words for upper elementary

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-right triangle
-rotate (position, direction, movement)
-theoretical and experimental (probability)
-toonie, loonie, quarter, dime, nickel, dollar ($) (Money)
-discrete and continuous (data)
-acute, obtuse, reflex angles (shape/space)

IDEAS for integrating Math into Language Lessons:

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Teachers often find it difficult to integrate writing and mathematics while honoring the integrity of both disciplines. In this article, the authors present two levels of integration that teachers may use as a starting point. The first level, writing without revision, can be worked into mathematics…