GRAND Magazine - May 2009 - (Page 26)
A numbers game By Ruth NathaN Math literacy begins at home T here’s a wonderful song by dan Zanes, “Jump Up” . In the lyrics, day is breaking and Dan urges the kids to jump up and dance around, to get “shaking.” My grandsons and I love the song—it’s so positive and a lot of fun to sing. That’s why when I saw Shape Up!, a book about triangles and other polygons by David Adler , I couldn’t resist. It had to be fun, didn’t it? But then I wondered, Could math really be that much fun? What is a polygon? It’s a flat shape with all straight sides (Now that’s what I call a square meal!) With two slices of American cheese, a toothpick, pretzel sticks, plain paper, graph paper, a pencil, a plastic knife and a slice of bread you can learn more about them. You can also eat it if you get hungry. (see pg. 14 ) Sound fun? It is; my grandsons and I read sections of Shape Up! over and over again. I feel good because I know I’m providing them with some great beginnings for the mathematical challenges around the corner. And, challenges there will be. The new math standards for pre-K through grade 12 from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics are rigorous. And, according to the NCTM, research shows that there are big differences between children who come to school with some math sense and those 26 GRAND MAY 2009
http://www.danzanes.com/familydance/song_jump_up.shtml
http://www.amazon.com/Shape-Up-David-Adler/dp/0823416380
http://www.nctm.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - May 2009
GRAND Magazine - May 2009
GRAND View
Contents
GRAND Central
Watching Lily Bloom
GrandZ in the 'Hood'
Numbers Game
We're Taking In the G'Kids
Face-to-Facebook
SHMILY
Family Crews
Soul Food
Resources
GRAND Finale
GRAND Magazine - May 2009
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