Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Natthapoj, Vincent Trakulphadetkrai . The Times Educational Supplement ; London (Jun 21, 2019).
ABSTRACT (ENGLISH)
Let me enlighten you. Because what I am about to tell you could well change the way that you teach maths.
[...]GCF comes across 35/63, which is later revealed as the 5/9 fraction he has been looking for. Mathematical
story picture books are a specific genre of literature, and they are not (and should never be) maths textbooks or
worksheets in disguise. [...]as the above story shows, MSPBs are more than just counting books. [...]it has been
around for almost three decades, particularly in the early years setting.
FULL TEXT
Picture books are rarely used to teach maths beyond the early years - but here schools are missing a trick, argues
Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai. Maths-based stories help pupils to apply numerical concepts to real-life
situations - and they also have the added benefit of making lessons fun
If you are inspired by this article to teach mathematics to older primary pupils using mathematical story picture
books (MSPBs), I hope you will find MathsThroughStories.org - my non-profit research project's website - useful.
The website contains the world's largest database of recommendations for MSPBs (500-plus), reviews of MSPBs,
MSPB-based lesson ideas, exclusive interviews with MSPB authors and a list of relevant research studies on the
topic, among several free resources. MathsThroughStories.org also organises the Young Mathematical Story
Author (YMSA) competition, an annual international competition set up to encourage young mathematics learners
(aged 8-13) from around the world to embed their mathematics learning in a meaningful and engaging context
through creating their own MSPB.
When was the last time you read a maths-based picture book? I am guessing: not recently. I also assume that you
are not altogether sure what I am talking about.
Let me enlighten you. Because what I am about to tell you could well change the way that you teach maths.
What is a mathematical picture book? Just like any story picture books, mathematical story picture books (MSPBs)
have a plot, a cast of characters and page illustrations. What makes MSPBs unique is that mathematical concepts
are explicitly or implicitly weaved into the plot to either demonstrate the concept or show how the concept can be
used by characters to solve a problem found in the story.
Take, for example, Fractions in Disguise (Einhorn, 2014). This story is about George Cornelius Factor (who happens
to share the same acronym, GCF, with - wait for it - the greatest common factor!). GCF invents a machine, called
"Reducer", to help him find a very sought-after fraction (5/9) that has been stolen from a fraction auction, and has
been disguised as another fraction by the villainous Dr Brok.
While at Dr Brok's mansion, GCF uses his knowledge of equivalent fractions (in the form of the Reducer machine)
to reveal the true form of a range of fractions (eg, 3/21 is really 1/7; 34/63 is already in its true form; 8/10 is really
4/5; and so on).
Finally, GCF comes across 35/63, which is later revealed as the 5/9 fraction he has been looking for.
Happy ending.
When we examine the above story structurally, we will see that mathematical knowledge (ie, knowledge of
equivalent fractions) is required to help the character solve the problem. The page illustrations also help readers
visually to see how 35/63 is, in fact, the same as 5/9.
Mathematical story picture books are a specific genre of literature, and they are not (and should never be) maths
DETAILS
Section: News
ISSN: 00407887
LINKS
Linking Service