1. The book Slopes, by Michael Dahl, creatively talks about slopes and ramps for children. Dahl uses colorful drawings of situations kids are familiar with that exemplify different kinds of slopes. Some of his examples include slides, conveyor belts in factories, and stairs. He examines slopes as an element in getting one thing (a person or an object) from one spot to another--I personally think this is a good way of easily getting the idea of slope across to children. With the slide, for example, a child goes from a given height to the ground. This and other of Dahl's examples is perfect for children because it's not only something that kids learn/hear about or do but it's also something very simple and easy for children to look at and understand from one drawing.
2. Dahl's method of explaining slope is very clever because it takes things kids are already familiar with and shows these real world examples of what slope is. Dahl uses conveyor belts as an example at one point in the book, talking about how boxes in a factory go from the second floor to the first floor on a rolling conveyor belt. Although children might not see factory workers and conveyor belts on a day-to-day basis, they are still able to clearly understand this idea from a drawing. While there are no given number calculations, Dahl clearly explains how the upper levels of a building are above the ground floor, and how the connecting line (conveyor belt) between those two heights is a slope. It's a very simplistic way of explaining what the slope of a line is.
3. Literature is an effective way to teach kids about math because, even when it seems to be blatantly obvious to adults that it's about math, it isn't always obvious to kids. This is good because it means that children grow up understanding basic mathematic ideas and how they exist in the real world without seeing it as a yucky, difficult subject they're supposed to have trouble with in school. It takes out the whole stigmatization that elementary school math teachers seem to deal with about how children don't like learning math. Overall, learning a mathematical concept through literature is not only fun and seemingly easier, but also more relevant because it teaches children real-world examples of what they'll learn in a math classroom as they get older.
This is a fun concept for kids to learn about slopes. If i were younger, I probably wouldn't know that this was about math. I like how it shows math with out actually cramming numbers down a kid's head. This is such a simple but effective method of helping children learn about math. I feel like the more fun a topic is to children, the faster and easier it is for them to learn what they need to learn. I love Dahl too!! He's such a good author. I didn't even know that her made a math based story.
ReplyDeleteThat's so interesting the way the author used the conveyer belt. I imagine he could have expanded on that to show how to calculate slope, for example counting floors over number of boxes on the ground, or something of that nature.
ReplyDeleteemma rose,
ReplyDeletereally nice example! i have never heard of this book before. i love it! your synopsis is excellent, as well as your explanation of the math concept. the only thing i would have added to make your explanation more solid would have just been to show the slope formula and how it relates to this lovely simple text. great job!
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