Using Stories to Teach Math Concepts
Anyone who knows me – even casually – knows that I love books. I mean, I really love books. Growing up, I was not a big fan of math. Luckily, the Montessori training changed all that, but I still like using storybooks to teach math concepts. I think they work really well in a classroom, and can provide a boost for children (like I was) who aren’t naturally gifted in math. The more learning styles you cover, the greater the chance of success for everyone!
All of these books are all available through Amazon or other retailers; a quick Google search should turn up many options (including other books by the same authors). I’ve categorized them loosely, but due to the nature of the stories, they can probably move up or down age-wise based on the child’s interests. Most of the books in the 6-9 category, for instance, could overlap with 9-12.
For Preschool (3-6):
Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
Busy Bugs: A Book About Patterns by Jayne Harvey
Counting Caterpillars and Other Math Poems by Betsy Franco
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
The Go-Around Dollar by Barbara Johnston Adams
For Lower Elementary (6-9):
The Coin Counting Book by Rozanne Lanczak Williams
Can You Count to a Googol? by Robert E. Wells
The Great Graph Contest by Loreen Leedy
How Much is a Million?, Millions to Measure and If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz & Steven Kellogg
Apple Fractions, Count to a Million, and One Hundred Ways to Get to 100 by Jerry Pallotta & Rob Bolster
The Count Your Way through… Series (11 different countries) by Jim Haskins
The Grapes of Math by Gregory Tang
For Elementary (9-12):
The Sir Cumference Series and Mummy Math: An Adventure in Geometry by Cindy Neuschwander
What's Your Angle, Pythagoras? A Math Adventure by Julie Ellis
The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math in Surprising Places by Cora Lee
Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales and The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat by Theoni Pappas
All of these books are all available through Amazon or other retailers; a quick Google search should turn up many options (including other books by the same authors). I’ve categorized them loosely, but due to the nature of the stories, they can probably move up or down age-wise based on the child’s interests. Most of the books in the 6-9 category, for instance, could overlap with 9-12.
For Preschool (3-6):
Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
Busy Bugs: A Book About Patterns by Jayne Harvey
Counting Caterpillars and Other Math Poems by Betsy Franco
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
The Go-Around Dollar by Barbara Johnston Adams
For Lower Elementary (6-9):
The Coin Counting Book by Rozanne Lanczak Williams
Can You Count to a Googol? by Robert E. Wells
The Great Graph Contest by Loreen Leedy
How Much is a Million?, Millions to Measure and If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz & Steven Kellogg Apple Fractions, Count to a Million, and One Hundred Ways to Get to 100 by Jerry Pallotta & Rob Bolster
The Count Your Way through… Series (11 different countries) by Jim Haskins
The Grapes of Math by Gregory Tang
For Elementary (9-12):
The Sir Cumference Series and Mummy Math: An Adventure in Geometry by Cindy Neuschwander
What's Your Angle, Pythagoras? A Math Adventure by Julie Ellis
The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math in Surprising Places by Cora Lee
Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales and The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat by Theoni Pappas
Comments:
We love all of these, and here's one of our favourites: One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi. My daughters were amazed by that one!
One I really liked because it's so "real world" in its scope is A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, by John Allen Paulos.
I'm still working at undoing a lifetime of feeling like a number bumbler, but I'm getting there and I'm making sure my girls never feel that way!
I know how you feel - I am so glad that my kids like math! I hope that continues throughout their lives. I wish I had enjoyed math more as a child.
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