One of the RSS feeds I read was "Using stories to Teach Math" by L.L. Barkat, published on December 22, 2017. This to me is an exceptional idea that I really enjoyed reading. It had to me smiling from ear to ear as I read it. I was smiling so big because the author, L.L. Barkat, is doing something that will eventually truly help students when they get older. All of the examples that Barkat gave were all in the early childhood and development of number sense stages of mathematics. This is what it just seems to be doing, but in reality it is preparing students for those dreaded word problems that everyone struggles with. There is always to much info we get lost in the words, don't know what is important, what is not important. These are all things students struggle with when it comes to doing math word problems. But through introducing math through a story, when we do use those story/word problems it can allow the students to still thrive when before they might have stalled.
Another reason this idea is an amazing way to introduce math is that every student has a weak subject and a strong subject. Typically it goes that if a student excels in mathematics, then they do not do as well in reading. The opposite goes as well, if a student excels in reading, then math is not their strong suit. What this teaching method does is it allows for development of both the reading and comprehension side of the classroom. As well as the numerical understanding and development of the classroom. For example if a student is really good at math but they struggle to understand the part of a story, having them put the story on what we are referring to as a number line can help them understand how the story flows. Then we can start saying things like when event number one on the number line is also the introduction to the story, and vise versa.
Not to mention like L.L. Burkart said "If your classroom is a busy place, I encourage you to take advantage of crossover approaches that teach both literacy and math skills at once. You’ll reduce your workload, and your children can enjoy the richness of dual-duty activities." Everyone has a busy classroom and students now have shorter attention spans unless there is a piece of technology in front of then. This is just because the technology allows them to discover the world at their fingertips, allows them to push past their peers and not be forced to slow down just so everyone can catch up. If as a teacher you can teach almost two lessons in one it engages more students at once and helps you allow them to get back to their passion.
Another reason this idea is an amazing way to introduce math is that every student has a weak subject and a strong subject. Typically it goes that if a student excels in mathematics, then they do not do as well in reading. The opposite goes as well, if a student excels in reading, then math is not their strong suit. What this teaching method does is it allows for development of both the reading and comprehension side of the classroom. As well as the numerical understanding and development of the classroom. For example if a student is really good at math but they struggle to understand the part of a story, having them put the story on what we are referring to as a number line can help them understand how the story flows. Then we can start saying things like when event number one on the number line is also the introduction to the story, and vise versa.
Not to mention like L.L. Burkart said "If your classroom is a busy place, I encourage you to take advantage of crossover approaches that teach both literacy and math skills at once. You’ll reduce your workload, and your children can enjoy the richness of dual-duty activities." Everyone has a busy classroom and students now have shorter attention spans unless there is a piece of technology in front of then. This is just because the technology allows them to discover the world at their fingertips, allows them to push past their peers and not be forced to slow down just so everyone can catch up. If as a teacher you can teach almost two lessons in one it engages more students at once and helps you allow them to get back to their passion.
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