Annotative Bibliography:

Unable to choose a direction to focus on because there are so many things that are

relevant when thinking about math that I wanted to explore them all! My first article explores the

benefit in using picture books: I chose this article because in our math class we were required to

make picture books and I wants to showcase it’s importance. My second article is about humour

in a math class: I chose this article because I believe that laughter brings people together,

therefore I think it can bring people and math together as well.

Rasch, Sally & McDonald, Sheri. (2004). Exploring Math, Picture Books and Math = Fun.

Book Links, November 20014.

Math picture books are a tool that most educators do not think of. They often verbalize

the concepts students have a hard time understanding in a visual and colourful way. These books

can demonstrate practical use for math from something everyone loves: colourful picture books!

As educators, we often look for cross-curricular activities, and this is an excellent way to knock

literacy and math together into one. Math picture books can have many different ways to show

themselves [math hidden within the story, some may be written in the story, or drawn] and it

makes the story more intriguing.

As we all know, math brings many anxieties to teachers and students alike. One of the

best ways to learn math is through literature. When you show a student a book, they are

stimulated visually and mentally. This article provides so many different resource that are useful

for any math class. Picture books can meet the needs of all students in our classrooms and there

are books that touch on all math concepts, it’s just a matter of finding them!
Matarazzo, K. L., Durik, A. M., & Delaney, M. L. (2010). The effect of humorous

instructional materials on interest in math task. Motivation and Emotion, 34, 293-305.

DOI: 10.1007/s11031-010-9178-5

When math is taught, it is usually taught in a dry manner. However, if it is at all possible,

teachers should try and make this as entertaining as possible. Humorous instruction in math can

have massive benefits. Keeping in mind that it is important to use this strategy carefully, students

who find the class dull, can share laughter, and feel intrigued as to why everyone in the class is

laughing. Students who have a low interest in math can benefit humorous instruction, but

students with a high interest in math begin to lose motivation when some of the seriousness is

taken away which is something teachers need to look out for. Therefore, humour must be used

carefully and strategically. That being said, delivering more humorous instruction can help

students who have a lot of anger, hostility, and resentment towards the subject of math can begin

to see the fun in the instruction and feel motivated to try harder.

Bofferding, L. & Yigit, M. (2014). Jumping as far as you can. Teaching children

mathematics, 20(5). 382-485

Kinesthetic math activities are extremely important in any classroom as they are a whole-

body experience. This article shares activities that can be done with students, outlining how to do

the activities as well as many possible approaches to the activities. It begins with asking students

what they know about the Olympic Games. Then the students are given information about the an

Olympic Long Jumper who jumped the farthest and after the review, the students must guess

how far they are able to jump compared the Olympian. After the students make their predictions,

they must try to jump from behind the starting line and measure how far [in feet] they have
jumped with base-ten blocs, paper and a ruler. Once everyone has jumped, all the students may

add their scores together to see if they were able to beat the score.

This article was very enjoyable for it shows a very engaging activity that students can

move their bodies with and work as a team to achieve a common goal: jump further than the

Olympian. The only thing I would change is the unit of measurement to centimetres rather than

feet. I would absolutely use this in my classroom for it would get students moving, thinking and

smiling. Math is fun!

Boote, Stacy K. (2016). Choosing the Right Tool. Teaching children mathematics. Vol. 22,

No. 8. April, 2016.

Division is a challenge to all first-time learners. An effective way to aid students in their

learning is by using every teacher’s favourite manipulative: base-ten blocks. From K-2, students

use many different models such as beans, counters and cubes to grasp addition, subtraction, early

fractions, multiplications, and early division. In 3-5, it is a little more challenging to use these

simple manipulatives to teach division. This article shares strategies in using base-ten

manipulatives for: partitioning division, connecting these to algorithms, etc.

Using base-ten manipulatives for division helps give an effective visual aid of what is

being asked by the teacher. Visual learners will appreciate seeing these visually represented

rather than using their imagination. It is also easy to be creative and use other manipulatives such

as popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, utensils, and more. Students will appreciate these.

Moone, G., & de Goot, C. (2006). Fraction action. Teaching Children Mathematics, 13(5),

266-271.
 A teacher uses ice-cubes trays and muffin tins to help students understand equivalent

fractions as well as what the difference between the numerator and denominator are. The teacher

then draws upon prior knowledge to see what the students already felt comfortable with, seeing if

they understood multiplications and base fraction concepts. The teacher then did the experiment

involving farming and dividing animals into their respected pens, to make the material relatable

for the rural school that was doing this experiment. The experiment was done over the span of

three days. Over the course of the three days, the students journaled their observations and saw

that 6/12 is equal to 2/4 that is equal to 1/2.

I found this to be a really good way to demonstrate fractions in a simple way that is

relatable to students. If we use every day concrete examples, students are able to explore

fractions instead of only caring about the answer itself. If we implement more inquiry-based

learning, we could get more involved students who take their learning into their own hands. This

piece of writing tells teachers exactly what they need in order to teach fraction representations

three different lesson in order to prolong the learning and to expand on it.

Manipulatives:

Pattern Blocks

Pattern blocks are an excellent resource for any

classroom. Pattern blocks are one of the most useful

math manipulatives around. We often use them in

elementary grades for patterning and model fractions.

These manipulatives can be used for sorting, to explore

transformations, to compose and decompose shapes, to talk about symmetry, to explore

congruency, adding and subtracting fractions, working with angles, probability, geometry, and

algebra.

Base Ten Blocks

Base Ten Blocks consist of cubes (one's value), rods

(ten's value), flats (hundred's value) and blocks

(thousand's value). They are a fantastic way to learn

place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication,

division, and fractions. The great thing about base

ten blocks is that students do not have to know what

the symbols mean before starting (as they would with dice); they can use a hands approach to

help them wrap their minds around concepts.

Two-Colour Counters

These are great manipulatives to use for a number of

concepts. They are a different colour on each side,

yellow and red. These manipulatives can be used for

sorting, categorizing, patterns, counting, skip counting,

addition, subtraction, as well as early probability and

estimation exercises. When words cannot be used to

explain problems, these manipulatives make modelling the concepts much easier.

Interlocking Cubes
 These manipulatives are very useful and can serve several

purposes. Interlocking cubes help students develop spatial

sense. They can also be used to teach operations, numbers,

patterns, fractions, probability, squares/square roots, slope,

algebraic rules, and volume. The cubes can be linked

together like rods and ten frames (as shown above), which

means they can replace those manipulatives if you are in a

pinch. I used these the other day for a lesson on place value and counting. Students were given

several handfuls of products (cubes) that had to be packed into boxes of tens (made ten frames)

in order to be shipped to the retailers. Given the cubes and shown how to make ten frames, the

students were able to complete the hands-on task and then diagram the outcome.

Geometry Boards

Geometry boards are a great way to help students

understand shape. Students can create 2-D and 3-D shapes

as well as create patters. The possibilities for a geo board

are endless when students are given the opportunity to

explore all forms of geometry. You can use it during a

lesson or have a center activity based on this.

Mathematic Technology

Big Book – e book/flip book [Please see PDF]:

This big book was created, by myself and Samantha

Fraser, to be cross curricular with LA, art and also with science.

We made a physical big book, but also downloaded it online as

a flip book, that students can then use on the smartboard to add

the numbers and animal photos needed. The story tells of a

young girl that visits a zoo and sees all sorts of animals and

learns about their habitats, sizes, etc. We wanted to make it

interactive for students so that they can match the photos with

the animals they read about, and they can also answer simple

math questions. There are also pages where they can draw, read and answer questions about their

favorite animals.

Hersey’s Milk Chocolate Fractions Book!

Pallotta, J. (1997). The Hershey Milk Chocolate

Fraction Book. New York. Holiday House

Publishing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDxFb0wZlf0

This book is an excellent way to share

fractions with children. The book takes you page

by page on a journey on how to devide a Hersey’s chocolate bar into all kinds of fractions in

simple terms children would understand and it’s a really enertaining book that can help students

grasp harder concepts. When students are stimulated visually and mentally, they are more apt to

remember what they are being taught. Picture books can meet the needs of all students in our

classrooms and there are books that touch on all math concepts, it’s just a matter of finding them!

Kahoot!

https://play.kahoot.it/#/?quizId=8215d064-3e85-4554-

9236-6058df919f26

This has got to be the best way to involve a

student with technology in class with an exit slip. It is a

simple way to do a formative test because they can play

as a whole class or individually as you can see the see

each person’s score. If you see that some students are

struggling with some of these fraction concepts, then you can revisit those concepts.

Technologies.

Math playground activities.

HTTPS://WWW.MATHPLAYGROUND.COM/GRADE_4_GAMES.HTML
 This is an excellent resource for it has multiple activities, games, problem solving tools,

and explanations of concepts that may be harder to grasp. Students can choose activities that

intrigue them, or the teacher can select games she wished for them to play specifically game for a

certain unit or activity they are doing in class at the particular time.

Flying high— Multiplication.

http://www.multiplication.com/games/play/flying-high-multiplication

This is a multiplication game that tests a student’s ability to think quick. If you get a

wrong answer the plane explodes, but if it’s correct you continue flying. It’s a very interactive

way to make students engage in multiplications. It would be useful during math stations or if a

student finished an activity before the rest of the class.

Peter’s perfect pizza Powtoon

https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/flBlOI6BCEz/fractions-powtoon/?mode=movie

This is an excellent way to explore a first-time learner to fractions. This video helps with

visual and audio learning with colours, authentic material as well as an excellent story the

children can relate to. Watching this can help student grasp fractions, what a numerator and

denominator are, how to evenly divide a circle, and more!