Teaching Methods According to Patricia

Teaching Methods According to Patricia S. Moyer in her article entitled "Communicating mathematically: Children's literature as a natural connection," mathematics should be taught to elementary school children within the easily accessible context of children's literature. Rather than being divided into two separate subjects in school, literature and math should ideally be combined. According to Moyer, who bases her article on a review of literature and on the ideas presented by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), reading and math skills go hand-in-hand.

Moreover, a wealth of math-based children's literature exists already. As the author notes, the problem is that most teachers do not incorporate these books into their curriculum or into their classroom or school libraries. Moyer's article describes why reading can promote the development of mathematics skills: "Children's literature provides a context through which mathematical concepts, patterns, problem solving, and real-world contexts may be explored," (247). Through the media of a story, children can place mathematical concepts like addition, subtraction, and division into the context of real-world situations.

Children will be more able to digest abstract mathematical concepts when they are conveyed in a human context rather than on their own as problems in a text book. Moreover, the protagonists in math stories use mathematical knowledge to solve everyday problems, illustrating for children that many math problems have more than one solution. Often textbooks present mathematical concepts as if one right answer exists for each problem.

Stories also clothe mathematical concepts in the signs and symbols of language, facilitating the child's development of linguistic and mathematics skills at the same time. Incorporating mathematical concepts into children's literature promotes optimal learning; children are more able to internalize complex mathematical concepts when they are placed in context. Moyer also cites literature showing that learning math through literature involves higher cognitive processing, potentially increasing the rate of absorption of knowledge. Main points of Moyer's article include the following.

One, children's literature can promote enhanced learning of mathematical concepts, and two, a plethora of math-related children's literature already exists and therefore teachers should actively try to incorporate those books into their everyday curricula. Finally, the author emphasizes that math-related children's literature is beneficial for the simultaneous development of language and math skills. Literature is actually an ideal medium for the conveyance of mathematical concepts. Moyer's article is based on a review of literature and on expert opinion.

The author also offers several examples to back up her statements, and therefore the article is well-researched and reliable. The ideas the author presents are instrumental for elementary school teachers who might otherwise rely too heavily on textbook-taught mathematics, neglecting the wealth of literature-based materials that can make learning math more fun and more.