Student Section

Written by: M. Shane Owens

ED 324 “Teaching Mathematics in the Primary Grades”

Summer 2002

Editing, Graphics, and Formatting by:

Dr. Beth McCulloch Vinson

1. What did I learn from the web site?

http://www.athenslimestone.lib.al.us/Go%20Figure.htm

The Go Figure! Exhibit’s web site was full of information. It provides its viewers with many hyperlinks to other great sites. It has links to math sites, the Minnesota Children’s Museum’s site, and the American Library Association’s site. By clicking the hyperlink on books, I was given a list of books that the Athens-Limestone Public Library carries that deals with math concepts. I did not realize the vastness of children’s books that were written to promote mathematical concepts.

2. What mathematics content, literature connections, and technology did I observe and/or interact with at the Go Figure! Exhibit?

The Go Figure! Exhibit consisted of five stations. The first station covered size and measurement. The story that went with this mathematical concept was Goldilocks and the Three Bears by James Marshall. This is one of my all-time favorite stories as a child; it was nice to see a math connection incorporated with it. After we read the story to the children, we measured them against a small wall. We did not focus on standard measurements; however, we did focus on nonstandard measurement. We asked each child to count the number of spoons/pencils high he/she was. We asked a few questions like, “How many spoons/pencils high is Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear?” Then we asked if anyone in his/her family was taller than Papa Bear.

The second station covered shape. The Go Figure! Exhibit featured book for this particular station was Frog and Toad Are Friends: A Lost Button by Arnold Lobel. After the story was read to the kids, they sorted a variety of buttons. Once again, we asked each child a few questions. “Do you only sort by shape? Can you group things according to color?” The younger children really seemed to enjoy this station.

The third station of the Go Figure! Exhibit covered the mathematical concept of number sense. The story that went along with this post was Pat Hutchins’ The Doorbell Rang. The smaller children loved this story. They were very eager to jump in with the line “Nobody makes cookies like Grandma.” The chocolate chip display was also a winner with the small toddlers. They loved maneuvering the chips into position and counting them aloud. However, they enjoyed pushing the chips out just as much.

The fourth station of the tour dealt with problem solving. The featured book for this station was Arthur’s Pet Business by Marc Brown. This story seemed a little more popular with five- and six-year-olds. After the story was read, the children constructed a calendar that went along with the book. Smaller children couldn’t read the tiles with the dates on them, so they were a little hesitant to participate with this activity. Nonetheless, they did love to knock the calendar down with the push of the button.

The last station of the tour concentrated on pattern. The book that went along with this post was Ann Jonas’ The Quilt. If I had to name the most popular station of all, it would have to be this one. Everyone, even the parents, loved the touch-screen. After the story was read to the children, they had a chance to construct a quilt with their fingertips. There were different patterns that the kids could choose from to arrange a quilt. With the smaller kids, I tried to get them to follow some sort of format with the different patterns. It did not take much time to get them to do it on their own. Nevertheless, this was the only station that incorporated technology. I must say, I enjoyed playing with the screen myself.

3. What did I learn from the Go Figure! experience that I can translate into my classroom?

This particular field experience provided me with a great deal of insight into teaching math. When I entered into ED 324, I hated the thought of taking a math class to teach me how to teach children math. I hated math! I knew that I was going to have to cover the subject in my classroom; however, I wanted to ignore it. Along with what I learned in ED 324, which by the way, taught me a tremendous amount about the subject, this program showed me that math can be fun. These concepts surpassed the way that I was taught math when I was in school. We did not have an opportunity to work with manipulatives. We were taught by direct instruction. “This is the way things are done, so do it this way.”

Another thing that I learned from the Go Figure! experience is that, almost all of the books in children’s literature have some sort of math relation within them. I find this intriguing. A teacher has the ability to take a story and apply concepts from math, reading, English, and quite possibly even science and social studies, with one book. I did not realize the magnitude of this genre of literature. I can honestly say, that I will take what I have learned and, I hope I will make math fun for my students.