Developing Numeracy Through Literature

Why use children’s books? Children love books They love the stories and the illustrations Books present many mathematical situations in a story context Non-fiction books present information to help children make sense of their world

“Books extend and develop children’s ideas of the world, but at the same time these ideas are bounded by the confines and constraints of the story…this can help the children focus on the mathematical ideas within the text.” (Griffiths and Clyne, 1988, p 5)

“Literature goes beyond the story setting and provides a context which is interesting and meaningful to children, as well as presenting them with investigations which interest and excite them.” (Griffiths and Clyne, 1988, p 4)

Mathematics should not be imposed upon a work of literature….rather, the mathematics should flow from it, and be a natural part of the book. Children’s natural love of books should never be put at risk by imposing “activities” on them.

The purposes of the session are to: Introduce a number of books you may not have seen before View some student work samples Investigate some mathematics questions that have come across as a result of reading these books to children Increase our own mathematical knowledge

In the EYNRP (Dept of Ed, Vic) only 10.9% of reception children recognised all triangles 23.8% of Yr 1’s 35.3% of Yr 2’s 47.4% of Yr 3’s 59.2% of Yr 4’s

TASK Make a set of polygons showing how the triangle changed from having three sides and three angles to having many sides and many angles. RULE: Each corner of the every polygon must touch the circumference of the circle.

USING THE POLYGONS TO INVESTIGATE: Names (and the patterns in naming polygons) Uses of polygons in daily life Properties of polygons including: –Regular and irregular –Number of Sides and Angles –Symmetry –Diagonals –Tessellations –Triangles –Quadrilaterals

Use the sets of polygons to measure –Length of each side –Perimeter Discussing methods Finding and describing generalisations Developing formula

Measuring Area Discussing methods Finding and describing generalisations Developing formula QUESTION: In what ways can a triangle help in determining the area of regular polygons? – record this as a rule (formula)

Measuring Angles each angle sum of each interior angle QUESTION: What is the rule for finding the sum of interior angles for any polygon?

QUILTS