Q:? In planning for this school year, I've put all of my materials together yet I need help in one area. Expanding literature into my math curriculum would complete and connect two vital subjects. It would be wonderful to see such books listed in Books and Beyond.
Thank you,
Sandra Dahl, 5th Grade Teacher
Owens Intermediate School
Houston, Texas
A: Recently there have been a number of new books that acknowledge the importance of integrating math with other subject areas. Teachers like you, who are attempting to help students see the connection of themes in all areas of life will be supported with the new books in this column. As you requested, we have suggested specific math books; we urge you to go a step further. Take a theme, like patterns, that runs through every arena of life and use that as a focus for study.
The first way most children come to pattern is through rhyme and rhythm and that's what inspired Patricia Polacco to write Babushka's Mother Goose (Philomel, $17.95; ages 4-9). Polacco, who learned the love of words in her grandmother's lap, now offers young children word play, rhymed prose, and other language pattern delights. The book spans a number of years as it could be used to compare with a traditional Mother Goose or as a great way to launch a study of the patterns of poetry. For instance, young children can gain practice auditorily identifying patterns of rhyme by singing poems put to music. Try Shel Silverstein's "I'm Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor" - always a thriller for this age group! Once children know these songs by heart, they can build sight vocabulary by identifying on written charts the words that create the pattern of rhyme. This can then become a natural introduction to learning about "word families" that rhyme.
Children Just Like Me (Dorling Kindersley, $16.95; ages 6-10) is a collection of interviews and engaging photographs of children from thirty countries from around the world. Children are contemporary in thought and appearance and they speak of family, home, food, games and more. Patterns of similarity and dissimilarity would be an interesting vantage point from which to view this tremendous resource. Encourage children in your class to survey each other about their own favorite games (e.g. soccer, volleyball, basketball), food preferences (e.g. pizza, ice cream, tacos), etc. and compile these data using bar and/or line graphs. These graphs could be compared with the information included in Children Just Like Me or with graphs developed by other classes in your school. Students can work cooperatively as they analyze the information to identify patterns of similarities and differences in their lives.
Barbara McGrath's The M&M's Counting Book (Charlesbridge, $6.95; ages 5-8) uses children's favorite candy as a math manipulative to teach counting, sets, and multiplication. The book is bright and colorful, sure to produce yummy interaction, and unites a scrumptious sensory experience with early math learning. Young children will enjoy using M&Ms to duplicate patterns of colors they find in strings of beads, unifix cubes, and other common classroom objects. Extend these activities by challenging children in groups to develop their own patterns, gluing M&Ms in patterns on popsicle sticks, (eg. three yellow, three green). Then bring together two groups and ask them to estimate and then multiply to discover how many M&Ms of each color will be needed for their groups to reproduce each pattern.
Jerome Wexler's Everyday Mysteries (Dutton, $14.99; ages 6-10) challenges children to look with different eyes at objects they see daily. Common things when viewed in part, close up, in cross section, or in silhouette become true mysteries. Pattern recognition provides the clues to this captivating thinking book . Set up a Discovery Center in your classroom with a microscope for examining other "everyday mysteries" (e.g. fabrics, classroom objects, etc.) using magnification to reveal underlying patterns. This will motivate students to think divergently and solve problems collaboratively as they gain experience using a microscope to stump their classmates with mystery patterns.
Phillip Isaacson has written two books that reveal patterns in art and architecture. Round Building, Square Buildings, Buildings That Wiggle Like a Fish and A Short Walk Around the Pyramids and Through the World of Art . (both from Knopf,$22.00; Round Buildings is available in paperback at $13.00; ages 8-12). In both volumes the magnificent photographs reveal not only well known architectural monuments and art work, but give a sense of how techniques, materials, and patterns of creativity bring alive feelings in the humans who experience them.
Extend the study of these books through an integrated unit on patterns in art and architecture. Provide choices for cooperative learning projects. For example, one group could take a walking field trip around the school's neighborhood to record on graph paper their observations of architectural patterns that can later be replicated in 3-D form in the classroom. Another group could study the mobiles of Alexander Calder before creating their own carefully planned patterns of color/shape. A third group might research Cleveland's new Museum of Rock and Roll and other buildings designed by I.M. Pei before constructing their own modern architectural models.
*The duo who dare to be different, writer Jon Scieszka and illustrator Lane Smith, take us into the world of numbers in Math Curse (Viking, [($3.25+ $1.75) X3] + $1.99 = $16.99; ages 8 and up) . They add math and literature and get the story of a young heroine whose questions multiply when her teacher, Mrs. Fibonacci, tells the math class, "You know, you can think of almost everything as a math problem." The young girl is spun into the world of mathematics. Problems she encounters include simple arithmetic processes, mathematical systems, money, measuring, and geometry. The mathematical facet of the book is equaled by playful references for those who love to wonder, encouragement of divergent thinking, and of course, the humor which gains the book exponential power.
Explore with students the meaning of this fictional teacher's name by researching the work of twelfth century mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci who discovered a special sequence of numbers that applies to the patterning of artichokes and pineapples as well as to rhythms in poetry and songs. Students could work on Fibonacci projects in cooperative learning groups to create new sequences of numbers and challenge classmates to discern their patterns.
Jack and David Coffland, Football Math: Touchdown Activities and Projects for Grades 4-8; Basketball Math: Slam-Dunk Activities and Projects for Grades 4-8 (Harper Collins, $9.95). Math skills and patterning revealed through sports. Perforated pages make for easy reproduction.
Ron Van Der Meer & Bob Gardner, The Math Kit: A Three Dimensional Tour Through Mathematics (Macmillan, $35.00; ages 10 and up) A highly interactive and extremely visual kit. Expense and fragility merit putting this special resource away and taking out for special sharing.
Fifi Weinert, Fun With Pattern: From the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Viking, $22.50; ages 11 and up) An interactive kit with ink pad and 24 pattern stamps that can be combined in all kinds of ways.
Bayha and Burt, Pattern Block Activities (Dale Seymour, reproducible book and task cards; for early childhood teachers, grades K-3)
Alison Abrohms, Literature-Based Math Activities: An Integrated Approach (Scholastic; for teachers of grades K-3)
Trudi Garland Fascinating Fibonaccis: Mystery and Magic in Numbers. (Dale Seymour Publications; for intermediate and middle school teachers)
Estimation Investigations: More than 65 Activities That Build Mathematical Reasoning and Number Sense (Scholastic; for intermediate and middle school teachers.)