Using Literature in Math

Using Literature to Introduce Mathematical Concepts

In today's class our instructor introduced us to different types of shapes using the audio book "The Greedy Triangle" by Marilyn Burns.

Using literature in math is effective because students love a great story which contributes to enhancing students learning. I found this story to be very enjoyable and educational. In this story we are introduced to the Triangle who is a character that is not happy being a Triangle. So, it decides that it wants to change its shape and with the help of the Shapeshifter, it changes into different shapes such as: quadrilateral, pentagon, a circle and more. The author effectively introduces the attributes of each shape as well as explains where we find those shapes in the real world. I found that this is very effective because it provides the students a conceptual understanding of those shapes. 

In addition, I found that using a story to introduce a math concept really helps motivates students because it allows students to have a connection with the story. So, by reading or listening to a story the students learn that math is all around them and they begin to apply prior knowledge in order to connect the learned math concepts to the outside world. It is important to note that this can be used as an introductory lesson, however there should be an activity, discussion, or supplementary lesson to discuss and put to practice mathematical concepts that were highlighted in the book; this aides to reinforce those concepts.

 A potential activity could be dividing the class into groups and have them, on chart paper, find different real life examples of those different shapes or maybe using manipulatives.