Math for Elementary School Teachers

Introduction

Mathematics concepts are often tied to the language children use to express these ideas. Opportunities for discourse in both reading and mathematics instruction promote children's oral language skills as well as their ability to think and communicate mathematically. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) emphasized the important role that communication plays in helping young children construct mathematical knowledge and form links between their informal notions and the abstract symbolism of mathematical ideas. It is through this interaction with both written and oral language that students have opportunities to build their reading and mathematical abilities in meaningful ways.

Communicating To Think Mathematically

In the elementary grades, the use of children's literature to develop mathematical concepts is a natural connection. Children begin school with a basic understanding of many mathematics concepts. They have been exposed to the use of comparing words such as shorter, equal, or more (Fennell p 288). They may have also developed a naive understanding of counting. Additionally, fraction terms like half referring to half of a cookie, or quarter referring to quarter after five on a clock, may be a part of their informal mathematical knowledge, but not connected to their language development. These experiences contribute to children's mathematical understandings and prepare them for learning the language of mathematics.

Mathematics Concepts in Children's Books

There are literally hundreds of children's books that naturally develop mathematical concepts. See the Sidebar for a list of selected titles, grade levels, and authors. These books are excellent selections for a school or a classroom library. These titles not only provide children with the enjoyment of literature, but also serve as a natural starting point for discussions and investigations into a variety of mathematics concepts.

Literature, mathematics, and real-world contexts

Both literature and mathematics help us to organize and give order to the world around us. The use of language, in both oral and written forms, and the use of numbers to count, compute, and generate statistical information, provide information that allows us to make decisions daily (Dedyna p 63). When language skills are embedded in meaningful contexts, they are easier and more enjoyable for children to learn. In the same way, numbers and their operations, when embedded in meaningful real-world contexts, give children the opportunity to make sense of mathematics and to gain mathematical power (Thompson p 568).

Placing mathematics in the familiar context of children's literature ...