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Name: Content Area: Topic: Grade:

Liana Zientek Mathematics (Algebra and Geometry) Mathematics in our everyday life Level: 10th

TEKS Addressed: (c) Knowledge and skills. (1) Mathematical process standards. The student uses mathematical processes to acquire and demonstrate mathematical understanding. The student is expected to: (A) apply mathematics to problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace.

1. Scieszka, J. & Smith L. (1995). Math curse. New York, NY: Viking Juvenile. Text type: Young adult picture book. Summary: This young adult picture book shows a different way to think about mathematics. The book illustrates some main mathematical ideas such as Fibonacci series and base numbers and how

people use them in everyday life. This book explains mathematical concepts using very interesting pictures, examples and very short sentences. This book is very short and fun to read for a very wide range of readers. Analysis/Evaluation: While this novel is appropriate for any student in the class, it will be especially helpful for struggling readers who are less proficient than their peers because of the novels short sentences and use of mostly mathematical symbols. This book will be very useful for English language learners. The illustrations and mathematical symbols help those learners to understand written English words. The mathematical concepts and fun way of introducing them to readers captures their interest of learning math concepts. The book will be helpful for frustrated students because of its easy and simple way of explaining difficult mathematical ideas.

2. Berlinghoff, W.P. & Gouvea, F.Q. (2002). Math through the ages. Farmington, Main: Oxton House Publishers. Text type: history book

Summary: This book consists of two main parts. The first part gives an overview of how mathematics grew in different times and different places. It started in the Ancient Near East, then developed in Ancient Greece, India, medieval Islamic empire, then this tradition found in LateMedieval and Renaissance Europe and all the way to twenty-first century. The second main part of this book is a collection of twenty-five historical sketches about some basic ideas of mathematics. The history of mathematics is the framework for those ideas. In addition, this book gives a large list of reasons for reading on similar topic. Analysis/Evaluation: This book will be helpful for deeper understanding of mathematics from a perspective of history. The information in the book gives a broad overview of mathematical ideas. It provides for students a big picture and explains why certain ideas were developed. It is good recourse for students for a research project about the life of a mathematician. Historical anecdotes and biographical information will capture the interest of students and make math lessons more fun to learn. This book is recommended for all students in the class, especially for advanced learners.

3. McKellar, D. (2012). Girls get curves: Geometry takes shape. New York, NY: Penguin Group. Text type: young adult non-fiction Summary: This book consists of explanations of big concepts of geometry such as proofs, triangles, polygons, circles and areas which are broken up in smaller chapters with the authors day-to-day personal life examples. The examples are given from the point of a view teenage girls experiences in everyday life. For example, chapter one of the book which gives introduction to logic and reasoning is called Hot guys and smelly socks. It explains the mathematical idea using interesting and simple examples from girls interests. Analysis/Evaluation: This book is addressed to girls. The author tries to empower young girls in understanding of geometry and uses personal real life examples to explain geometric concepts. Boys can benefit from this book as much as girls. It is a helpful book for any student who studies geometry. The

solutions of problems are easy for understanding and broken up into steps. For students who study Basic Math, Pre-Algebra and Algebra her previous books will be very useful. Those books are: Math Doesnt Suck, Kiss Math, Hot X: Algebra Exposed.

4. Benjamin, A. & Shermer, M. (1993). Mathematics: How to look like a genius without really trying. Los Angeles, CA: Lowell House. Text type: expository text Summary: The book about "art of rapid mental calculation" consists of nine chapters. These chapters teach you how to add, subtract, divide and multiply in your head faster than most people can do it with a calculator. The author compares math with magic and he argues that anyone can learn mathemagic with some effort and practice. He uses simple algebraic proofs to show how the tricks work. The book introduces different ways of solving the same problem, which can be used for many math problems.

Analysis/Evaluation: This book is a good source for improving mental calculations and increasing interest in mathematics. The teacher can teach students several tricks of fast calculation and students can impress their friends and family using those skills. The information in the book will be helpful for struggling math students by improving their basic skills.

5.

Clarke, B. (2003). Challenging logic puzzles. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Text type: puzzle Summary: Each puzzle begins with a short narrative and a table, list, diagram, or illustration. In order to solve the puzzle students have to see the problem as an abstraction. Then they need to figure out the best way of solving it. The difficulty increases with each puzzle. The book includes the answers and explanations of how the answers are determined, so students will be able to build their problem solving skills.

Analysis/Evaluation: This book will be beneficial for all students in the classroom It will improve the thinking process and analytical skills of students. Short comical narratives will help improve students reading skills. Diagrams and illustrations will help students with different abilities to better understand the riddle and use those ideas for solving mathematical problems. Students who like to solve puzzles will enjoy coming to the mathematical classroom because of increased interest in activities offered by the teacher.

6. Pappas, T. (1990). Math talk: mathematical ideas in poems for two voices. San Carlos, CA:

Wide World Publishing/Tera. Text type: poetry Summary: The book presents mathematical ideas through poetic dialogues intended to be read by two people. Short poems and pictures introduce mathematical concepts such as operations, variables, triangles, tessellation, imaginary numbers, radicals and infinity. Mathematical ideas can be learned through art, role play and reading, including poetry.

Analysis/Evaluation: While this book is appropriate for any student in the class, it will be especially helpful to those students who struggle with text or who need ELL support because it gives many visual examples to help them through the text. Students can work in pairs with different academic level students which helps all students to learn. The fun activity helps students to increase the interest in subject. Students who love poetry will enjoy the process. It will be one of the ways to bring literacy into the math classroom. Students can create their own short mathematical problems for extending their creativity and improving thinking skills.

Enzensberger, H.M. (2000). The Number Devil: A mathematical adventure. New York, NY: Henry Holt. Text type: Young adult literature 7. Summary: This book describes the adventures of a boy who with the help of a Number Devil, solves mathematical problems during his dream adventures. In twelve dreams, Robert, a boy who hates

math, meets a Number Devil, who leads him to discover the amazing world of numbers: infinite numbers, prime numbers, Fibonacci numbers, numbers that magically appear in triangles and many mathematical concepts. Every dream takes the reader further and further into mathematical theory. The Number Devil takes Robert to Number Paradise, where he meets different mathematicians, but the Number Devil makes up funny names for them such as for Carl Friedrich Gauss - Professor Horrors, Georg Cantor is called Professor Singer, and Leonhard Euler is Owl. Analysis/Evaluation: This fun adventure book will help students to see math from a different perspective. The fun storyline and pictures will capture students attention and help them learn mathematical concepts without even knowing that they are studying math. This book is appropriate for any student in the class, but especially for unmotivated students. The fun stories will increase interest in learning mathematics for those students. Funny names of mathematicians will help students to memorize their names and increase knowledge of history and develop a deeper understanding of how mathematical ideas were discovered.

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8. Text type: Reference book Glenday, G. (Ed.). (2013). Guinness world records 2014. New York, NY: Guinness World Records. Summary: Guinness World Records 2014 book is filled with pictures, facts, numbers, and short reading information for each subject. This book includes topics such as engineering, science and technology, earth, urban life, society, circus, animal experiments and sports. The book covers a very wide variety of information for any reader. Analysis/Evaluation: This book will be helpful and interesting for all students in the classroom. The information in the book gives amazing facts about the world around us. Students can get knowledge about different topics and develop a deeper knowledge in the topic of interest in the future. The data provided in the book can be used during learning new mathematical ideas in the classroom. Great photographs and short readings will be beneficial for English language learners and struggling

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students. New knowledge and discoveries can be the first step for deeper research of the ideas for advanced learners.

9. Teacher tube
http://www.teachertube.com/

Text type: Website Summary: TeacherTube is a video sharing website. It is designed to allow teachers and students in the education industry to share educational resources such as video, audio, documents, photos, groups and blogs. The site contains a mixture of classroom teaching resources and other resources designed to aid teacher training and help students. Analysis/Evaluation: This website will be useful for different learners. Auditory and visual learners highly benefit from watching videos and listening to instructions. Using the learning resources of this site will be helpful for struggling students and English learners. Students can review the information at their convenience and repeat the information for better understanding. Advanced learners can use more challenging topics for researching.

10. Khan Academy www.khanacademy.org/ Text type: Website Summary: This free website includes conceptual videos and worked examples from basic math through college level mathematics. Students can search any math concepts and watch a video with an

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explanation of the topic, including interactive challenges and assessments. It is like having a personal instructor in your computer. In addition students can learn for free about art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Analysis/Evaluation: Students with different academic levels can benefit from this website. If a student did not understand the topic during classroom instructions and activities the student can use the website for reviewing the topic over and over for full comprehension of the idea. Assessments provided on the website help the student to practice learning skills. Video instructions will help English language learners to understand the math concepts and learn new vocabulary. Advanced learners can use more challenging topics and assessment to move forward with their mathematical progress in studying subject.

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Text collection process My first step was choosing my topic for the book selection. I decided that application of mathematical concepts and ideas to real life experiences will be very helpful for students understanding of the subject. Then I went on the internet site Amazon.com and searched for books for my math library. I read reviews of many, many books. I made my selection and order some of my books. The website offers good reviews of different books. The website was very helpful for me. I was thinking that a possibility I would not use all of my ordered books for my project was very high. So I decided to have a bigger selection of books (more than ten). I visited my local library in Leander. I found some of my selection of sources. I enjoyed going to the library with my children. First of all it was helpful for me. I found different math books in the library and I got chance to read some parts of the books and glance through the book. It gave me an idea about the level of difficulty and how the book was organized in terms of pictures, diagrams and general appeal for students. The trip to the library was a good example for my children and beneficial for them for improving their reading and increasing interest in learning. They helped me with the book selection by showing me which book would capture their attention first. After that, I made a trip to one of the Barnes and Noble book stores. They have a very wide selection of books. I usually find the books I want there. I noticed some books I reviewed online were in the store. I had time to read and look through the books. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered some appropriate books for my classroom math library. When I received the books I ordered from Amazon.com I realized that I will not be able to use all of them for my project. After reading the books, I thought that some of them would be too boring and difficult for students to read. I think the books of my mathematical library in the

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classroom should invite my students to pick one of those books and spark interest in learning in my future students. I think this project was a very useful for my future job as a teacher. It gave me more ideas for my classroom activities and gives me the directions in which I should be moving in educating my students.

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Reflection on the library as a whole My mathematical library is a collection of resources about how we use mathematics in our everyday life and application of mathematical ideas. The information provided in the books and electronic resources will equip students with a better understanding of algebra and geometry through their everyday experiences. The wide variety of my selections will appeal to different learners with the diverse interests. Students who love history, poetry, puzzles, magic tricks, fiction and non-fiction books will find the appropriate selection in my library. The selected resources are filled with tables, sketches, graphic organizers, and photographs, including young adult picture books and videos. Those selections will help to better comprehend mathematical concepts by the students. Unmotivated students will find interesting subjects in the wide range of types of texts. If a student enjoys reading fiction books outside of school that student can find this type of book in my mathematical library. It will help to increase interest in learning mathematics. In addition, this library of resources will help build students academic understanding of mathematics because of experiencing and learning mathematics using day to day students lives. For example, McKellar in her book Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape explains mathematical concepts using real life examples of teenage girls. This gives clear understanding of mathematical ideas because students experienced it by themselves. It helps to activate schemas in their brains and build up new knowledge using existing knowledge. My mathematical library will benefit all students in the class with a wide variety of mathematical knowledge, reading levels and comprehension. The books I have selected have different levels of difficulty of concepts and problems. They offer higher levels of reading challenge and understanding of mathematical ideas for advanced students. For example, Math

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through the ages will be appropriate for offering challenging research for students in the classroom. I can use my classroom library for classroom activities. I can offer some short activities during my lessons using these books. I can model for students how they can use these books and choose interesting examples for everyone to understand. The short introductions of parts of the books will increase students interest and chance that they will pick up those books and read on their own. I would like my students to expand their knowledge of math and feel comfortable thinking about everyday experiences through lenses of mathematics.