Reading and Math - An Integrated Lesson Plan

What did I learn? 

I’ve learned this quarter about the importance of integrating math lessons with literature, whenever possible.  This integration will help students make connections as well as help them build higher level thinking skills. Integrated lessons provide a more balanced learning approach to teaching and they more closely resemble real life, where all subject areas are interconnected.  This, I believe, will help students remember a lesson long after it is taught. 

What do I have questions about? 

My questions about where to find the various resources to use when looking for a book that is related to a particular subject in Math, has been answered by visiting the recommended link that was provided in our Intermediate Mathematics Methods class.  There is a wealth of information on this site;

http://sci.tamucc.edu/%7Eeyoung/literature.html,

I never realized how many books were available to teach from.  The possibilities are endless.  For example, The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns can be used when teaching about geometric shapes, Bats on Parade by Kathi Appelt can be used to teach counting and number sense, etc.

What are the implications for classroom practice? 

I now know to consult the various sources available before teaching a particular lesson.  For example, I had been teaching classes on tangrams for several years and yet I had never before read Grandfather Tang’s Story.  After reading it,  I decided it would be  a great way to introduce tangrams into a geometry unit.  By doing this, I would be able to integrate a reading lesson with a math lesson.  The students would learn that a tangram is an ancient Chinese puzzle consisting of a square cut into five triangles, a square and a parallelogram.  The students would also learn that tangrams are not just puzzles.  They would learn that storytelling, using tangrams, is an integral part of Chinese culture.  The story told in Grandfather Tang’s Story is a folktale so, as a part of this lesson, the elements of a folktale could also be reviewed, as well as the message of the story being told.  Learning about folktales wouldn’t be one of the main objectives of this lesson, but because I’ve read the story, it would be an appropriate time to review these elements.  Reading this story would add both a multicultural and historical dimension to this lesson.   

I would most definitely use this type of integrated lesson plan in my future classroom.  I believe reading a story about a subject to be covered provides valuable insight into the subject being taught. It also sparks interest among students.  Grandfather Tang’s Story gives context to the lesson on tangrams.