Educational Courage by Mara Sapon-Shevin

Author:Mara Sapon-Shevin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beacon Press

Using Mathematics to Understand History Better

The third-grade team and I met in early January to discuss the next few units in the mathematics textbook. The team had been evaluating which strands in mathematics needed more work based on what was expected for the third-grade MCAS. One area, typical for third grade, was the need for more fluency in multidigit addition and subtraction. Another area was continued growth in understanding numbers larger than three digits.

In January, in social studies and language arts, the third graders were heavily focused on learning about Martin Luther King Jr. The word problems for math class were designed for several purposes. One was to practice the mathematics skills needed, which included working with large numbers, multidigit addition and subtraction, and solving word problems with a variety of operations, including multistep word problems. Another purpose was to help children avoid seeing Martin Luther King Jr. as a hero who worked in isolation but rather to see him as part of a movement that succeeded because so many people worked collaboratively. The word problems were created to support content taught in social studies and language arts, as well as to challenge some of the myths around King and to teach children about a broader range of people involved in the civil rights movement at this time. The problems were equally carefully designed to give children an opportunity for the work they needed to do for their own mathematical learning as well as for success on their upcoming MCAS testing.

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