QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Mathematics and reading Kathleen Stumpf Jongsma, Northside Schools, San Antonio, Texas Qe te heard see are many sin ines bones the new recomand tons pebished bythe National Council of Teachers of Mathematics tnd those the International Reading dino tnd the National Coc Of acer of Engh have boo ug singin renga wring sin fine tan Gar A sts tos Ics gorpseaies ret di pleas el saeper oe cre Spon cots lig thos ne vlopmens? A. vou questions timely a8 thre fas oul foxn asi ne flo tetas. Te shh i sppored bythe National Cone of eae of Mathematics Standards (1989) and Seat wl vi rege oe eae or hice a av esi top New tights bot hls re fptunded in esearch tat desrbes fow children Tern. Heidi Mil and Dovid Whi, bo ofthe Universi of South Carlin, Columbia, have been working ona 3-year calibra: tne roseareh projet with Timothy O'Keefe, a raniton ist grade teach at R Ere Davis Bementary School Cayce, South Carolina, They have begun oko seo tes ens by teaching nays tht ae conistent with te learning process They wl thare insights that have infuenced their uniandng of te sles in language and tahemates edie. ton and how hey have implemented thn i a taste segs las Im get, te fds of reading and scree ae roagsang ee 442 The Reading Teacher Vol. dren are active constructors of mean- ing, not merely passive recipients of knowledge (Burns, 1986; Davis & Hersh, 1981; Harste, Woodward, & Burke, 1984; National Council of ‘Teachers of Mathematics, 1989). Edu- cators who embrace this view focus con learning and learners when mak- ing curricular decisions. Teaching is valued in relation to its support of learning ‘There is a movement away from a skills approach to learning which iso- lates and fragments reading, writing, and mathematics in artificially con- trolled situations. The movement is to- ‘ward a transactive model that seeks to understand the meaning-making proc- ess as children use reading, writing, and mathemati for real purposes. ‘There is an emphasis on the func- tionality of reading, writing, and math- cematics in that they are tools for learning and not merely ends in them- selves (Whitin, Mills, & O'Keefe, 1990). Frank Smith argues that chil dren become proficient readers and writers when they are admitted to a ‘community of language users which he has called the “literacy club” (Smith, 1988). Children are admitted before they can even read or write conven- tionally and are supported by more ex- Perienced members as they engage in meaningful endeavors. This same per- spective can be applied to the devel- ‘opment of mathematical literacy. Children do not learn an abstract sys~ tem of mathematics first and then at tempt to apply it to various situations; instead, they learn about mathematics as they’ use mathematics flexibly. The situational context influences the types of strategies readers, writers, and ‘mathematicians develop and use. 44,No.6 February 1991 ‘There is also an emphasis on sense cover symbol in both fields. The role of conventions, whether they be grammar rules or mathematical symbols, are only important in their subservient role of supporting meaning. As children write messages, stories, and science observations, or as they construct agraphs and surveys, teachers value the learners’ intentions and realize that their decisions are logical, systematic, and rule governed, Learners are provided opportunities to represent their ideas through a vari ety of communication systems. Oral and written language, drama, music, art, mathematics, and so on are all im- portant channels for representing ideas. Instructional invitations that al= Jow students to use art, mathematics, and written language in concert to con” struct and share meaning provide op- portunities to create new thoughts as well as new ways to think. Learning is a social process (Barnes, 1987; Vygotsky, 1938/1978). In the fields of reading, writing, and mathe- matics there is a call for the develop- ment of classrooms which are communities of learners; where all participants are both teachers and learners; and where all voices are heard and respected. From a mathe- matical perspective, these are class- rooms where statistical information is challenged, not merely manipulated; ‘conclusions are questioned, not merely drawn; and problems are posed, not merely solved, Insights such as these have been cen: tral to our work. Three years ago, we began a collaborative research study in a transition-first-grade classroom. We have been sharing co-teaching and re- search responsibilities 1 full day perweek. Together, we plan with not sim- ply for children. We use videotape re- cordings, field notes, team planning rotes, and artifacts to better under- stand literacy growth ‘We wore initially united by our be- lief in whole language. Our work fo- cused on the development of a supportive reading and writing curric- uulum. As we began to consider that ‘mathematics, like language, is a com ‘munication system, we realized that ‘we needed to look at mathematies from a whole language perspective. Since then we have been devising mathemat- ical experiences that are theoretically consistent with the language arts cur- riculum, ‘When making instructional deci sions, we capitalize on the students’ needs and interests. We try to strike a balance between following their lead and engaging them in projects which encourage them to explore a diverse range of strategies while learning spe- cific mathematical concepts. We ex- tend invitations that are open-ended, can be adapted and changed by the learners, and promote risk taking and reflection, The language arts and mathematics strategy lessons are so richly interwoven that itis difficult 1o define an experience as one or the other. For instance, the children have daily opportunities to pose questions ‘when constructing graphs and surveys. Children survey the adults and their classmates about questions such as: “How many teeth have you lost?” “Does your mommy smoke?” "Which version of Pinocchio is your favorite?” They collect, organize, and display their data in a variety of ways to inter- pret and share their findings. Lan- guage and art are naturally embedded in such mathematical investigations. ‘While children often pursue individ val quests, we also create formal class experiences which lend themselves to rich mathematical explorations. On more than one occasion, the teacher hhas taken advantage of opportunities such as students losing teeth to explore addition and subtraction. The children sed language, art, drama, and mathe~ matics to create their own stories about losing and growing new teeth. Mathe- ‘matical stories also emerged when the class fish tank underwent changes. ‘The children wrote and illustrated ad- dition and subtraction stories about fish having babies, fish dying, seperat- ing vicious fish from the rest of the population, etc. In the midst of @ unit ‘of study on plants, the children kept their own plant notebooks. They mea- sured and recorded the daily growth of their plants; they conducted their own plant experiments and wrote their on plant stories. As culminating experi- ence, the children shared their work during clas strategy sharing sessions ‘The teacher emphasized the connec tion between mathematics and their lives. In addition, he highlighted the diverse range of strategies being used and the concepts being explored; he validated the children’s thinking and made their ideas available to others. Children’s literature is also crucial to the curiculum, as it provides a mean- ingful context for mathematics. Anno’s Counting Book (Anno, 197) became a springboard forthe creation of original number books. Paul Gigant’s How ‘Many Snails? (Giganti, 1988) was used to investigate Various curricular themes of study such as transportation and animal life, After reading Gigant ‘questions, the children posed challeng- ing mathematical questions of their own, following his format. They drew pictures and generated questions about animals such as: “How many crawl on the ground?” “How many hop?" “Who lives the longest?” “Who goes the fast- est?” Their questions about transporia- tion included: “How many boats do not hhave motors?” “How many have wind- shields?” “How many go. fast?” ‘Through both ofthese responses othe book, the children demonstrated that they were flexible thinkers and. prob- Jem solvers by not only responding to questions in the book but also by pos- ing interesting questions oftheir own. ‘These are justa few of the many var- ied experiences which occur daily in this class. As we engage children as partners and co-directors in their learning and implement current re- search in reading, writing, and mathe- matics into the curriculum, we are expanding our vision of what it means to be literate in language and mathe- ‘matics, We are finding that the chil- dren are learning to think like readers, writers, and mathematicians. For further information about this project, ‘omtaet the authors atthe College of Eu ‘cation, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA References: ‘Anno, M. (1977). Anno's counting book ‘New York: Thomas Growl Barnes, D. (1987) From communication to ‘ourculum, New York: Penguin Books. ‘Burns, M. (1986). Teaching ‘what to doin arithmetic vs. toaching what to do and why! Educational Leadership, 44, 34:38, Davis, P, & Horan, F. (1981). The mathe- ‘matical experiance, Boston: Houghton tin Gigant,P.(1988). How many snails? New York’ Groenvilow. Harste, J.. Woodward, V.. & Burke, C. (1984). Language stories and Iteracy Wes: Sans. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, NNavonai Counel of Teachers of Mathemat- es (1968). Curriculum and evaluation ‘Standards for school mathematics. Re- ston, VA National Councl of Teachers of Mathematies ‘Smith, F (1988). Joining the Itoracy club: Further essays into education. Pons: rmauth, NH: Heinemann, \Vygotshy, LS. (1978). Ming in socioty (M Cole, V. John-Steiner, 8. Scribner, & E. published 1938). Whitin, D., Mils, H.. 8 O'Keefe, T. (1990), \Uving and learning mathematics. Ports. ‘mouth, NH: Heinomann, USA. 1 you have questions about the teaching or learning of literacy abilities, please send ‘them to Kathleen Stumpf Jongsma, 204 Prinz St., San Antonio, TX 78213, QUESTIONS ANSWERS 443