Mathematically Inclined - Part 2

Encouraging and nurturing the love of mathematics can be a challenge both at home and in the classroom. Here are some of the things I do to support reluctant math lovers of all ages.

Read about math.
There are lots of great books that include mathematical content and encourage readers to explore mathematical ideas. Some of my favorites include:

• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster - Take a journey with Milo, a young boy who drives through a magic tollbooth into the Lands Beyond and embarks on a quest to rescue the maidens Rhyme and Reason from exile and reconcile the estranged kingdoms of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis. This is a great book for kids enamored of words and/or numbers.

• The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger - With full color illustrations, this book tells the story of a twelve year old boy and math hater named Robert, who meets the Number Devil in his dreams. Over twelve nights the Number Devil introduces Robert to the exciting world of math.

• Brown Paper School Math Books - Don't let the publication dates fool you into thinking these are out of date (one was first published in 1975!). These are great books for helping kids see that math is fun and for everyone.
  
• The I Hate Mathematics! Book by Marilyn Burns
• Math for Smarty Pants by Marilyn Burns
• The Book of Think: Or How to Solve a Problem Twice Your Size by Marilyn Burns

• Books by Greg Tang - Greg Tang has written a series of books that encourage children to look for patterns in math and find more "economical" ways of solving problems. These picture books can easily be used in grades K-5.
• Grapes of Math: Mind Stretching Math Riddles
  
• Math for All Seasons: Mind-Stretching Math Riddles
  
• The Best of Times: Math Strategies That Multiply
  
• Math-terpieces
• Math Appeal
• Math Fables: Lessons That Count
  
• Math Potatoes: More Mind-Stretching Brain Food
  
• Math Fables Too: Making Science Count

• Books by Theoni Pappas - Written in the same vein as the Brown Paper School Books, Pappas has written many books about math, my favorites of which are those where a cat explores the math in and around his house.
• The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat
  
• Further Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat

Play board and strategy games.
Playing games is a great way to develop problem-solving skills as well as practice skills in arithmetic. I had a game corner in my classroom where students could play games when their work was finished. We also had game day on Friday for 20-30 minutes if we'd had a good week. While I know most of these can now be played electronically, there is something to be said for actually sitting down on the floor with some kids and rolling dice and moving pieces around a board. Some of the games on my shelf included:

• Dominoes
• Yahtzee (Download the rules of play and score sheets.)
  
• Monopoly (For younger kids consider Monopoly Junior.)
• Shut the Box
  
• Battleship (You can also play a paper and pencil version. Here is a strategy guide.)
• Mastermind
• Pente (Download the original directions.)
  
• Othello
• Mancala
• Connect Four
  
• Checkers
• Chinese Checkers
• Chess
• BINGO (In addition to traditional bingo, try making boards to practice addition and multiplication. Here are some additional ideas.)
  

Solve puzzles.
By puzzles I mean not only logic puzzles and Sudoku, but jigsaw and geometric puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles help develop skills in orientation and visual discrimination. Puzzles like tangrams also help students to think deeply about the orientation of shapes in space and how they can be put together to make new shapes. Here are some of the puzzles I like to provide.

• Tangrams - The linked site provides a good description of tangrams. When I use these I actually solve the puzzles, trace the outline of the finished shape on cardstock and then laminate. For younger students, these outline shapes help them fit the pieces into the puzzle. Once students are comfortable with using them, I use the shapes to teach area, fractions and angle measure. Try them out online. Then make your own set and try to build some shapes. Here's another good resource.

• Pentominoes - A pentomino is a polyomino composed of five congruent squares connected edge to edge. Can't picture them? Download a set. While you're working with them, try reading Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett with your kids. You can even play online.

• Sudoku - If you like puzzles and numbers and haven't tried sudoku, you're missing out. For kids who may need some concrete help, try a sudoku board. If you want something more kid-friendly (less abstract way) to develop reasoning skills, try a version with pictures.

• Logic Puzzles - You know the ones I'm talking about here. John, Karen, Tim, Ellen and Sam attend a party. The gifts they bring include a car, a giraffe, a watch, walkie-talkies and blocks. The information keeps coming and it is your job to figure out what each person wore, brought and ate. Phew! These can be great fun!

• Geometric Puzzles - I own a number of puzzles created by Kate and Dick Jones, owners of Kadon Enterprises. They are all challenging and extremely well made. You can even try some online before you buy. All puzzles come with books explaining the math and offering many variants on play.

Connect math and art.
Using art in math class is one way to develop visual and spatial skills, as well as pattern recognition and basic geometry skills.

• Origami - Paper folding is a great way to develop spatial reasoning abilities. It's also fun! You can get great paper at Origami Corner. Try making this origami crane. If you have trouble reading origami directions in print, try following along with the videos on this site. Since we connect math and reading around here, think about using Fold Me a Poem by Kristine O'Connell George and Lissy's Friends by Grace Lin.

• Spirograph - If you haven't seen a real spirograph, look here. Kids love making art with these kits. Restoration Hardware sold a simple one last year. Once a few designs are made, consider the ways to color the design so that a pattern emerges.
  

• Tesselations - If you like the art of M.C. Escher, you know all about tesselations. Creating them from cut paper or drawn shapes can be challenging and fun. Why not try tesselating some lizards? Here's a great lesson plan.
  

Alright, that's it for now. I will continue this in part 3, where I'll talk about problem-solving and offer some suggestions for making homework more interesting and manageable.