I chose math for several reasons, one being I am a math teacher. The second reason is because I see intelligent students struggle with math only due to the lack of mathematical literacy. Lastly I chose it to help some of my fellow colleagues also become more mathematically literate so they may someday pass it on to their students. In this great state of New York it is a known fact that to graduate from high school you need a regents diploma, which you cannot receive without passing a math Regents Exam. With a better understanding of math, our students will be able to pass these regents exams with ease. The larger more important rationale behind choosing this topic is that math is everywhere and we use it every day, and many students and adults are absolutely terrified of math. With these books, we can get people thinking differently about math and its uses in our everyday lives. My goal for every one of my students is to get them to enjoy at least some part of math, and I think these stories and videos may be the answer.
This bibliography is meant to help teachers of all subjects select a possible text for their classroom. I believe all the texts stated below could be used in a math or English classroom at anytime. These titles are meant to give teachers a wider range of books that could proverbially kill two birds with one stone. All of these texts have math woven into the story, with the exemption of one, so the students will not even realize they are learning or talking about math. These are meant to get students thinking critically about math and help them develop their math literacy, vocabulary, and erase their fears. I went a little off the beaten path and did not select all young adult literature. Four of the novels fall under the young adult genre entitled An Abundance of Katherines, A Higher Geometry, The Man Who Counted: A Mathematical Adventure, and My Thirteenth Winter. One book I would consider to be a workbook or text book, Real Life Math Mysteries. I have found a website with many videos related to math and doodling by Vi Hart entitled Vi Hart-Math Doodling. My last selection is What’s Your Angle Pythagoras?, a picture book that claims to be for younger learners but I believe it can be extremely beneficial to young adults. These texts vary in genres but all bring home the same idea, it is ok to like math, and math can actually be fun! Good luck and enjoy the read.
The Man who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures
Tahan, M. (1993). The man who counted: A collection of mathematical adventures. New York: Norton.
The Man who Counted is about a wise but humble Arabian sheep herder named Beremiz Samir set in the 13th century. Beremiz travels the land helping people solve problems using his mathematical prowess. This story is so incredibly different because Beremiz does not use his brain like a calculator, rather he uses the romance in mathematics for problem solving, much like a poet would use elegant language rather than mechanics to make their point. The author Malba Tahan uses an Arabian nights like style of storytelling to keep the readers focused and enthused. Tahan weaves the mathematics into the story so well that it becomes a necessary part of understanding. The book uses fables and stories within stories like dividing inheritance of camels, distributing bread, and halving prisoners' sentences (to name a few) to show how complex mathematics can be so elegantly simple and used on ordinary situations (for the time period).
This text appeals to all learners of all levels. The short story style makes it easier for struggling readers, yet the problem solving and logic makes it enjoyable for the most advanced students. The way this book puts the mathematics into the story helps our students manage cross-curricular activities and really opens their eyes to the beauty of mathematics. This book as shows the “other side” of mathematics, and introduces the mentality that Math is not all number crunching and balancing equations with variables. This book shows the subtle beauty behind the math. The most “mathaphobic” student can read this book and see the beauty behind the problem solving. This book would best be utilized for students who typically enjoy literature over numbers. I would use this book as a bridge between Math and English to get students more enthused and expose them to the concept of everyday mathematics. This would be a great read in English, and then a great way to talk about similar problems in math.
Abeel, S. (2003). My thirteenth winter: A memoir. New York: Orchard Books.
Thank you so much for multimodal presentations!!! I was a book short when My Thirteenth Winter fell into my lap. My Thirteenth Winter is a memoir written by Samantha Abeel and her trials and tribulations combating the disease known as dyscalculia. Abeel describes how although she looked like what would be considered a “normal” child, her dyscalculia made it so she was unable to tell time, count change, or remember her locker combination. Abeel brings a first person perspective to a debilitating mental disease. She shows how she made strides to overcome her disease and wrote this memoir to help others.
This is the perfect book for struggling math students. This book helps them see that other, “normal” people have problems with math, but with hard work and dedication they too can be successful. This would be a great book to use for grades 7-12. This is the second book on my list and I believe it would be an extremely valuable resource everyone. This would benefit the struggling mathematicians more, but even the most advanced students will gain from it. Utilizing this book would be a great way to start off the year. It shows students that it is ok to fear math and not enjoy it, but those fears need to be overcome and with effort, all goals can be achieved. One great activity that comes to mind would be making this a social justice activity. Have students wear thick glasses that make the numbers harder to read or figure out and have them do the same problems as the other students in the class. I believe this would be an eye opening experience for students that excel in math. This would help explain why some students struggle in math and how it is not fair to make fun of them and ridicule them because they struggle with a concept.
Green, J. (2006). An abundance of Katherines. New York, NY: Dutton Books.
Meet Colin Singleton an anagram loving, problem solving, “mathamagician”. He is a 17 year old child prodigy who has just graduated from high school, and was recently dumped by his 19th girlfriend Katherine. I make it a point to say his 19th girlfriend because the 18 girlfriends before her were also named Katherine, all the same spelling. Colin’s best friend Hassan decides that the only thing that will bring him out of his funk is a good old fashioned road trip. Colin and Hassan find themselves in Gutshot, Tennessee where they have decided to stay for the time being. Colin is looking for his chance at glory, and feels he is not living up to his child prodigy status. He has not come up with his as I call it “ah ha” moment. Colin spends most of his time determining how the function of love can be graphed and predicted. Colin's amazing discovery works for every one of his past 19 relationships, so he is very nervous when he falls in love with Lindsey, a local he is staying with. His algorithm shows that they will only date for 4 days before she will dump him. Lindsey and Colin's relationship lasts longer and Colin comes to the realization that his theorem cannot predict the future of a relationship; it can only shed light on why the relationship failed. The book also contains an appendix in the back explaining the complex mathematics used throughout the book
I chose this book as literature for students who already enjoy math. The complex mathematics done in this book are hard to understand, but the student who already enjoys the mechanics and complexities of math will be intrigued. I would use this book to help students who feel ostracized by their intelligence and show them that it is ok to be smart, or even nerdy. This book would be best utilized in an advanced class of students who can understand the mathematics but also the wit and humor used in this book to help navigate the slower portions of the reading. Between the anagrams and algorithms there are a slew of activities that can be done involving problem solving. One activity would be to have students come up with anagrams for their names or have them write a pretend algorithm expressing how they feel about love. The possibilities are endless with this book, however, I want to reiterate my opinion that this should really only be used for the more advanced mathematics student.
Moranville, S. B. (2006). A higher geometry. New York: Henry Holt.
Say hello to Anna Conway, a 15 year old intelligent mathematician. She is the main character of A Higher Geometry which is set in the post WWII 1950's. Anna comes from a place where women should be seen and not heard. It is a woman’s duty to become a good house wife and an even better mother. Anna had the gift of mathematical intelligence in a time period when it wasn’t accepted for a female to do so. As the book unfolds Anna finds herself in quite the predicament. She is focused on going to college, with the dream of helping America find brilliant young minds to beat Russia’s Sputnik to the moon. Anna faces an internal struggle between leaving for college in Chicago, or staying and making her father and boyfriend Mike, the star basketball player, happy. This book brings romance, coming of age, and mathematics all into one beautifully written young adult novel.
Anna is a strong female protagonist that enjoys mathematics. I would use this text to really target the female population in my classroom. I would show the students that its ok for women to be smart and to have better math skills than their male counterparts. This text has excellent romance and coming of age components to hook the readers and get them involved. The story demonstrates how being smart in math is not a negative, but howit can open doors for Future opportunity. I would use this text in a more advanced math class. I would especially utilize this for the young women in the class to show them there is nothing wrong with being good at math. My thought is in the English setting this would be a great book to do a literature circle for. I would give it to a group of young ladies and have them discuss their thoughts and feelings of how Anna handled her situation. This text would be beneficial for girls to meet the smart and successful Anna, and how she never gave up on herself or her intelligence.
Ellis, J., & Peacock, P. H. (2004). What's your angle, Pythagoras?: A math adventure. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
Hopefully we all remember the wonderful Pythagorean Theorem used to find the missing side of a right triangle. If not then that’s ok, I have the perfect book for you. In this book we follow the inquisitive young Pythagoras as he and his father travel from Samos to Alexandria. Pythagoras meets a builder named Neferheperherksekeper, who uses a rope with knots to determine if the wall of a building is perpendicular (at a 90 degree angle) with the ground. Pythagoras ends up discovering the Pythagorean Theorem by observing this builder and making notes of all the right triangles he sees in the real world. There is fun word play and great pictures, that makes the story both fun and interesting to read. Most students probably won’t even realize they are learning a math formula until the book is over and they get their homework!
This is my picture book selection. This is ideal for middle school classes and provides a much needed break from the monotony that can sometimes become math. This book is fun and uplifting and should put the students in a good mood. I would do a read aloud with the students and maybe have the pictures blown up on the projector so they can really get a good feel for the book. This falls perfectly in line with the curriculum and is a different way of getting the point across. I would also bring in a bunch of ropes with knots in it and have students checking for right angles throughout the school. I think this book is perfect for motivating all students by providing a change of pace and giving them a story to help them remember the math with.
Washington, M. F. (1995). Real life math mysteries: A kids' answer to the question, "what will we ever use this for?". Waco, Texas: Prufrock Press.
This is my somewhat off the YA theme text. This book doesn’t contain a plot, a climax, a protagonist or antagonist. This book is precisely what it says it is in the title. This is more or less a work book for students to do math in. I chose this book to be a part of my bibliography because of how the problems connect themselves to real life situations. Many of the problems involve things like paying bills, APR financing, and other important real life situations in which mathematics gives us the solution. The reading in this book is simple, but every question is a real life situation. I know all of my fellow math teachers will back me up when I say the more real life situations you can provide for the students, the more successful and willing they will be to partake in the activity.
This would be an amazing book to use in any reading class. It would be helpful to show the students how to use chunking methods to break down the problem into smaller, more manageable pieces. This could also be used to help with reading for meaning. This text would be an excellent cross-curricular book that could be used in many different curricular areas, particularly English. This could be integrated into any business, finance or accounting classes as well as social studies and economics. The book is bringing mathematics into the classroom and helps to show that it is everywhere and no matter who you are or what you do, you use it! This book would be a vital tool in spreading math literacy in many different areas and subjects, hence why it is on my bibliography.
Hart, V. (n.d.). Vi Hart: Math Doodling. Vi Hart: Blog. Retrieved April 2, 2011, from http://vihart.com/doodling/
Vi Hart’s doodling in math class videos show a fun and playful approach to several very difficult math concepts. I’m not sure I enjoy all of the math teacher bashing she does in her video’s but I think the students would see the humor and enjoy it. Vi takes the time to show an artistic approach to looking at mathematics. Her website covers different approaches to math, including using food, balloons, beadwork and music. She shows a great passion for art and math and is dedicated to conveying the beauty of the two disciplines coming together.
Her website would be beneficial for all students in high school math classes. She talks about relevant subjects and really makes them fun and playful. Students would really benefit from seeing traditionally tougher problems displayed to them with pictures and manipulatives. With her upbeat tempo and excellent artistic skills her videos have the potential to motivate even the most unmotivated students. I would utilize her practice of doodling and allow students to doodle and see if they can determine the mathematics behind what was done. Another opportunity is giving students instructions for a doodle game and see if they can finish the picture. Some students will get different pictures but arrive at the same mathematical answer, and that is a perfect way to show the different approaches to solving mathematical equations. These are just a few ideas; I highly recommend visiting her sight and seeing her many other videos and activities.
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