Math+Literacy+resources

Message from Wilma: Following Task Force statewides and Dolores Burton's timely question about math Quality Indicators, I did a little surfing and came up with a few resources.

**About "Let's Read Math™"** Americans love to hate math. Let’s Read Math//™// is about building positive attitudes towards math. No more “I hate math.” No more “I could never do math.” These are messages that children don’t need to hear. We work with children and the adults who care for children – their parents, grandparents, teachers, after school daycare providers, camp counselors, scout leaders, and others. Let's Read Math - a PIE (Projects in Education) website - provides extensive strategies for using children's literature to explore math - their statement: We believe that children’s mathematics learning is enhanced by connecting the reading of children’s books to real life experiences, to drawing and writing, using hands on manipulatives and models, and sharing ideas with others through listening and speaking. Let's Read Math PD Activity There is also a free online PD activity for using Let's Read Math.

Learning and Mathematics Writing Math by Joan Countryman (1992). This book emphasizes the practical aspects of using writing to teach math.

The next link provides some operationalization of her ideas, including a scoring rubric for a math journal http://www.geocities.com/kaferico/writemat.htm

Knitting, Literacy and and Math Study. And finally, I (Wilma) could not resist sending this final link. Many of you have seen me knitting or crocheting in meetings - here is someone who believes in this handwork, perhaps even more than I do. Professor Linda Williams has been awarded a New Faculty Research Support Award, effective January 7, 2008. This grant from Eastern Michigan University will help launch this important research on how learning to knit and crochet affects academic skills. Professor Linda Williams was a teacher at the Detroit Waldorf School for 5 years prior to her earning her Ph.D in Literacy Education from Michigan State University. Prof. Williams’ teaching experience inspired the following research questions:
 * 1) How does knitting and learning to knit help children cognitively, emotionally, and socially?
 * 2) How does engaging in craftwork improve student achievement?

 Free Online Math Games A collection of loads of fantastic free online maths games to help you practice maths skills including counting, addition and subtraction, times tables, fractions, measuring, shapes, angles, telling the time and lots more.