Math Memories You Can Count On.

Math Memories You Can Count On recognizes that students’ positive experiences in the math classroom increase their optimistic attitudes towards mathematics and their ability to learn the subject. Also, it suggests a literature-based approach in teaching mathematics, and assists teachers in selecting children’s fiction and non-fiction books they can use to help students become better learners through problem solving, reasoning, communication, and representing math in real-life situations. The book discusses the benefits of the literature-based approach in mathematics teaching and learning, and for each benefit it introduces a children’s book which describes the related benefit and students’ learning by using such an approach.

One of the chapters in the book introduces a list of criteria for selecting and organizing children’s book for teaching mathematics. The criteria includes “accuracy of the content in the text and illustrations,” enhancing “mathematics concepts and skills,” “mathematics and story complement each other, the text incorporates vocabulary familiar to mathematics teaching.”

The book not only encourages teachers to use physical manipulatives to play the story in the literature, it also provides the names of many children’s books which contribute to the use of manipulatives in mathematics teaching. This helps students to visualize the mathematics concept in the literature and manipulate the concrete objects for exploring and a deeper understanding of the concept.

Assessment and evaluation strategies are discussed, which makes the book more complete. Different assessment methods such as rubric, performance, and journals are suggested for evaluating students’ math learning. The book ends with a discussion on how to implement the literature-based approach in teaching the five mathematics strands.

Math Memories You Can Count On shows teachers how literature can be utilized in teaching mathematics and provides them with many valuable resources.