Many students today are not motivated by mathematical concepts, so it is the teacher’s job to find different ways of motivation. Reading is not the first thing that comes to mind when in a math class, but using texts that provide different ways of looking at concepts can be very interesting. Five texts that would enrich a high school or middle school math class would be: Mathletics, The Greedy Triangle, Do the Math: Secrets, Lies, and Algebra, http://www.khanacademy.org/, and http://www.coolmath.com/. These books and websites are all texts that would help motivate students to ask questions and look differently at why they are learning about certain skills. Students who are in middle school math through Calculus can benefit from these texts, but I would use them each in a specific unit in order to gain their interests. The books relate statistics to sports, geometry to everyday objects, and algebra to everyday life. The websites enrich students understanding by provided examples and possibly an alternative way of working out a problem by showing condensed notes or videos.
Tradebooks:
Winston, Wayne Princeton , NJ Princeton University
ISBN: 978-0691139135
ISBN: 978-0691139135
Flesch-Kincaid readability estimate: 11.4
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Mathletics-Gamblers-Enthusiasts-Mathematics-Basketball/dp/069113913X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316562312&sr=8-1
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Mathletics-Gamblers-Enthusiasts-Mathematics-Basketball/dp/069113913X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316562312&sr=8-1
Mathletics is an interesting book when it comes to relating sports to math. It helps answer the question that many students have: when will I ever use this? Students who are interested in sports would find this book useful because it contains chapters on baseball, basketball, and football. Some concepts in statistics are very confusing such as finding the probability of multiple events. Therefore, I would use this book on a probability unit concentrating on one chapter at a time, such as the chapter on making decisions in a football game. The book discusses different situations when a coach must make a decision like whether or not to go for a first down during the fourth down when the ball is at the 30 yard line. Mathletics discusses the probability of these events and explains the mathematics behind them. A student who likes football might be very interested to find out the exact chance that his/her team might make the next field goal. Along with football, there are chapters on baseball and basketball which discuss the statistics in managing players and teams. It contains up to date names which can easily be recognized by a sports fan.
I would not assign this entire book to be read at once because it is at a higher reading level than the average student reads. Those that are taking Statistics would most likely be in eleventh or twelfth grade, but their reading level could be lower. Therefore assigning one chapter at a time would be more beneficial to prevent frustration. During a unit on probability I would introduce the concept and assign a chapter such as “Football States
Burns, Marilyn (2008). The Greedy Triangle. New York , New York
ISBN: 978-0545042208
Lexile Reading Estimate: AD580L which is approximately on the fifth grade level
The Greedy Triangle is a silly book about a triangle that can be many different objects such as a bridge support, instrument, or sail on a sailboat. The triangle becomes bored with his life and gets greedy for more sides. After adding one side, the book gives examples of where we might find quadrilaterals. Throughout the book, the original triangle becomes greedier for more and more sides. He transforms to a pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, and many more. After the triangle gets too many sides, he can no longer stand straight because he is almost a circle!
The Greedy Triangle could be used in a middle school math unit on geometry, or a high school geometry course to introduce the many different kinds of polygons. The average reader in these classes should have no problem reading the entire book at once, therefore I would begin by having students read this book and make a chart of the properties that they notice about each different shape. After discussing the properties students could work on a hands-on activity where they make their own shapes or find shapes out in nature.
Lichtman, Wendy (2008). Do The Math: Secrets, Lies, and Algebra. New York , New York
ISBN: 978-0061229572
Lexile Readability estimate: 1050L which is approximately on the 7-9 grade level
Do the Math is a fictional narrative about a girl, Tess, who loves math. She is in middle school and relates her life to many different algebraic concepts. First, Tess uses the greater than and less than symbols to compare herself to peers in her class. For example, she says that Richard > Tess, but later on she says that Richard is < Tess because she catches him cheating on a test by stealing a copy of it. She uses symbols in her notebook such as a Venn Diagram to compare herself to friends, and exponents to describe her one friend who exaggerates everything. One day, Tess finds out that her mother’s friend committed suicide, but her mother thinks that it might have been murder. As Tess investigates, she relates her exploration to different concepts such as tangents, parallel lines, and extraneous solutions. By the end of the book, Tess helps her teacher discover who cheated on the exam and finds out that there was a police investigation on the murder and it did turn out to be a suicide.
This book would be a great motivator for an Algebra I class. Algebra I students should already have multiple exposures to the inequality symbols, so the beginning chapter would not be frustrating for middle school students. As the book continues, more and more concepts are introduced which can create some interesting questions about mathematical topics. The author explains these clearly by relating them to a middle school student. I would have students start reading this book during a unit on inequalities and continue from there. The chapters are fairly short, so I would assign one chapter every two days allowing students time to read. From the reading, students might have questions on certain topics which would allow for discussion and predictions about other units. For example, I could refer back to the book during a unit on exponents or the quadratic equation.
Websites:
Along with using these websites at home, they may be helpful in class while instructing a lesson. For example, during a unit on slope, I would show the video in class. It might raise interest on the topic and students can have access to the video at any time. After the video I would assign students to test themselves on the website. There is a hint button under practice, but students’ progress is set back when they use this. Therefore, students will learn to refer back to the video or notes in class in order to help them. The website has thousands of videos, so I would use this site often which will help students become familiar with it.
Cool math is a great website that is very colorful and eye catching. There are so many links on the page which might be somewhat confusing, but the words are big and easy to read. The site also contains many graphics which is appealing to students in lower levels. I would estimate this site to be on a fourth or fifth grade level. There are lessons and practice on subjects that range from pre-algebra to pre-calculus. There is also a math dictionary to help students with terms that they may not understand.
I would use this site in an Algebra I class during a unit on writing a solving equations. There is a great lemonade stand game which would be a motivator to the students when introducing the concept. I would let students play the game, and then discuss an example on how to write an equation for the profit of selling lemonade. After being introduced to this site students can then use it to enrich or supplement any unit by reviewing a concept or practicing the skill.
