The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy February 27, 2010 Lucky Numbers


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The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy
February 27, 2010
Lucky Numbers

I've dealt with numbers all my life, of course, and after a while you begin to feel that each number has a personality of its own. A twelve is very different from a thirteen, for example. Twelve is upright, conscientious, intelligent, whereas thirteen is a loner, a shady character who won't think twice about breaking the law to get what he wants. Eleven is tough, an outdoorsman who likes tramping through woods and scaling mountains; ten is rather simpleminded, a bland figure who always does what he's told; nine is deep and mystical, a Buddha of contemplation....

                                              Paul Auster, The Music of Chance


This Paul Auster quote makes me smile. I once read that consumers are most likely to buy items with a list price that ends in seven. I don't know if it's true but it makes sense, since seven has always been the happy-go-lucky kid in the Von Trapp family of single digit numerals. Nothing would make me happier than to turn all the dull and vexing numbers in my life into interesting, quirky characters. This week I have been immersed in math - professionally, a whole issue of the Big Fresh with a mathematics theme (which is a first). Personally, cleaning up my tax forms and getting them to the accountant.

Many literacy folks love novels and poems in part because there are so few numbers in them. That is certainly true in my case. Yet I come from a family of engineers and chemists, and it's always fascinating for me to look at how their love of numbers spills over into a love of music (didn't someone once say that music is the pleasure of counting without being aware you're counting?) , games of chance, and predicting everything from the number of steps on a long walk to the final tally (to the penny!) on restaurant tabs.   Precise. Infinite. The connections between numbers and words are everywhere, even if we tend to claim allegiance to (or passion for) one or the other.

This week in honor of International Maths Day we've posted lots of resources to help you make stronger connections between numbers and words for your students and colleagues.   Plus more as always - enjoy!

Brenda Power
Editor, Choice Literacy

Free for All

Word choice? Voice? How do we translate what we teach students about quality writing to the task of writing procedures? Heather Rader explores the connections between language and numbers in Procedural Writing in Math. The article includes a sample lesson and recommended mentor texts:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1098.cfm

The Let's Play Math! blog has an excellent round-up of online resources for writing to learn math:

http://letsplaymath.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/writing-to-learn-math-ii/

Did you know March 3rd is World Maths Day? If it's news to you, there are still fun ways to get your students and school involved:

http://www.worldmathsday.com/2010/Default.aspx?

If you're just getting started with math journals, you may want to check out IRA and NCTE's ReadWriteThink series of lessons and resources for Making Thinking Visible with Math Journals. These lessons were authored by Phyllis and David Whitin:

http://bit.ly/dfjSbP

The Choice Literacy Summer Professional Development offerings include the popular Delight in Words one-day workshop featuring Franki Sibberson. Integrating word study, vocabulary, and children's literature is the focus, and the workshop will be offered in San Antonio, Texas; Tacoma, Washington; and Wrentham, Massachusetts:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/860.cfm

For Members Only

If you're a literacy coach working with teachers who are integrating writing and math, check out Heather Rader's Math, Writing, and Coaching to Learn. It's the On the Same Page companion to the Procedural Writing in Math feature:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1097.cfm

Franki Sibberson helps her students see the connection between the writing they do in workshops and to solve word problems in this week's video:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1099.cfm

Our bonus video this week from the Choice Literacy Archives features Andrea Smith assisting students as they grapple with the language demands of math problems on standardized tests:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/791.cfm

Finally, if you are math adverse and have managed to get all the way through this newsletter, your reward is a new cluster that has absolutely nothing to do with math. Rethinking Guided Reading includes contributions from Shari Frost, Katie DiCesare, "The Sisters" (Joan Moser and Gail Boushey) and Franki Sibberson:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1096.cfm

That's all for this week!