New Mathology resources help students connect math to the real world, making math accessible to elementary students at all levels
Low math scores and social issues like high poverty and high crime rates top the list of grade-one teacher Marjorie White’s classroom concerns. Students at her inner-city Winnipeg school often start the year believing they can’t do math.
“When you’re teaching reading at this level, kids can make connections to their lives and the real world. But in math it was just numbers, numbers, numbers. The kids were slower in making personal connections and transferring it to other parts of their life. Math was like a closed door to them.”
That changed when the Winnipeg School Division adopted Pearson Mathology in September 2017 and White’s class, at Dufferin School, was one of two chosen to implement the research-based math program.
Students started connecting math to everyday life, differentiation was easier, and White’s “Super Students” (as she likes to call them) got excited about math.
“I could see changes in them, they were more aware and more conscious of the math! When they’re conscious and aware of the math, I can do more with them.”
Marjorie White
Supporting a variety of teaching methods
At first, White wasn’t sure if she could incorporate Mathology into her centre-based classroom. But she quickly realized Matholgy’s levelled Little Books, Classroom Activity Kits and manipulatives support learning centres, whole-class lessons, small group lessons, and even differentiation.
“They were talking about math even at reading time.”
Marjorie White
White projects a Mathology Little Book, such as At the Corn Farm as part of a whole-class lesson, students read digital versions of Mathology Little Books at the tech centre, and students do hands-on activities or play games with her as part of small-group sessions where she says it’s easier to assess and address any learning issues she sees.
Making math connections
The most popular Mathology resource in White’s class is definitely the Mathology Little Books. “Each book is so teacher friendly,” explains White. “It clearly outlines the math focus of the book, the key concepts, the lesson of the book, what to look for when assessing student understanding, and even next steps you can use to help students along.”
“The Little Books are stories the kids can relate to—there are even some great Indigenous books. My students started making math connections they had never made before when we started using the Mathology Little Books.”
White says with the Little Books learning was more authentic. When she asked questions like “How many dogs do you see now? What happened? Who can give me a number sentence for that?” it started a rich conversation where students started making meaningful connections between their lives and math.
Students were excited to share their thoughts, saying, “Mrs. White, this reminds me of when I had a pet!” Or “There were 10 dogs, now there are 8. Where did the other two go?”
“This year was a great success for the kids because before Mathology, math was locked up in a room. Now it’s out in the open for them to enjoy.”
Marjorie White
Transferring knowledge
She also noticed students were transferring what they learned in a math lesson to their everyday life. When they studied ordinal numbers, for example, students started having math conversations.
“The Little Books are stories the kids can relate to—there are even some great Indigenous books.”
Marjorie White
“They were talking about math even at reading time. They would say, 'I was first on the carpet, and she was second and she was third'. We weren’t even reading a Mathology book, but they could see the transference. And as a teacher, that’s what I want.
“I could see changes in them, they were more aware and more conscious of the math! When they’re conscious and aware of the math, I can do more with them."
Getting students from "I can’t" to "I can!"
While White plans to learn more about Mathology and expand how she uses it in her classroom during the next school year, she’s happy with how Mathology supported her students this year.
“We used it in science, we learned patterns, we used it in reading, in social studies—anywhere we could make a connection. This year was a great success for the kids because before Mathology, math was locked up in a room. Now it’s out in the open for them to enjoy.”
“My students started making math connections they had never made before when we started using the Mathology Little Books.”
Marjorie White