Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Math and Children's Literature

Here are some websites that connect Math and Literature:

NCTM Illuminations (i've mentioned this one several times before--this is a specific math and literature page)

This collection of five lessons on the NCTM Illuminations website uses children's books to teach math topics ranging from algebraic thinking in the primary grades to data analysis, geometry, and measurement. A fellow OCT had this to say about the website: "This website gives 3 lesson plans for 3 different pieces of literature. One of the lessons is from a Shel Silverstein poem - Shapes - from A Light in the Attic. I love Shel Silverstein and have used a few of his other poems for math - Bandaids - for adding, Smart - for money. One lesson is Counting on Frank for estimating volume and the other is How Big is a Foot? - using non-standard units for measuring." ANY use of Shel Silverstein is fine by me!


This site breaks down the literature into topics you are trying to teach. When you click on the topic it gives you a comprehensive list of books you could use.


This site includes some of the site author's professional articles, as well as some of the lessons and titles that she uses to teach math concepts.


A fellow OCT describes this site as "a website that contains lists of literature suitable for every subject area. In the ‘About Us’ section of the website, the company is described as one started by teachers and parents, for teachers and parents. The founder of the site is and has been an elementary teacher for some time. The site was created to be a comprehensive resource for teachers and parents searching for literature connections to curricular areas.
The web site has a menu of curricular areas down the left hand side. Included in this list are also things such as Tips for Teachers and Parents, Features for Teachers (which includes links to a variety of different educational web sites, web sites for teachers with lesson plans, activities, etc.), Educational Games, and Tips for Readers. The menu down the right hand side of the page contains a series of reading lists; selecting a particular grade (pre-school to Grade 5) will bring the user to a list of texts useful for the grade, in any subject area.

The main area on the home page contains highlighted books “Picks of the Month.” I use this site for lists of books for Science, Social Studies, and Math. When you select Math Literature from the menu on the left, you are brought to a page that lists math skills such as, for example, “addition / subtraction”, “fractions,” “place value,” “perimeter / area,” etc. Each of these is hyperlinked and will bring you to a further page that contains lists of books related to these topics. Each title is accompanied by an image of the book. Clicking on the image provides a summary of the book. Of course, the summary contains a product number and a cost, as all of the books are available for order from the site. I have never ordered from the site: rather, I use this as a research tool and, when and if I find a title that I would like to invest in and add to my own library, I order it from Indigo, where it is often less expensive and where my irewards discount applies!"


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