MathsThroughStories.org Newsletter (April 2019 Issue)

Welcome to the April 2019 issue of
MathsThroughStories.org newsletter!

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Liz Pinder, a primary teacher from Scotland, is the latest member of our international team of On-line Contributors. In this issue, she would like to share with you her experience of using 'The Big Carrot' by Alison Hawes to introduce her pupils (4-5 years old) to number sequences. Let her know what you think of her lesson here.

We hope her experience will inspire you to give this creative approach of mathematics teaching a go yourself!

If you have recently used a story in your mathematics teaching and would like to share your experience with fellow teachers and parents globally, consider becoming part of our growing team of On-line Contributors! Click here for more details.

LATEST BOOK REVIEWS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Read our official reviews of these stories by clicking on the book covers below or visit our Book Reviews page.

If you are a publisher or an independent author and would like us to review your mathematical story picture book, click here for more details.

FOUNDER OF MATHSTHROUGHSTORIES.ORG HAS BEEN AWARDED THE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (founder of MathsThroughStories.org and Lecturer in Primary Mathematics Education at the University of Reading's Institute of Education) has recently been awarded the University Research Fellowship (£10,000) for the 2019/2020 academic year. Twenty Fellowship applications were submitted, and only five applications were chosen across the university’s five research themes. According to the University’s press release, “Five Reading academics at the top of their game have been awarded University Research Fellowships to develop their work in the arts, humanities and social sciences over the next year.”

Dr. Trakulphadetkrai’s project, titled ‘Learning Mathematics through Creating Story Picture books: A New Mathematics Teaching Strategy for Primary School Children’ will be built on his pilot study. The study aims to investigate the effectiveness of an innovative mathematics teaching strategy whereby children creating their own mathematical story picture books (MSPB). Specifically, it sets out to measure the extent to which asking Year 4 (8-9 years old) children to create MSPB about multiplication can help to develop their conceptual understanding of the topic. Finally, the study will also explore key stakeholders’ perceptions of this teaching strategy.

To read more details of the Fellowship, click here.

THE YOUNG MATHEMATICAL STORY AUTHOR (YMSA) COMPETITION - UPDATE

We have received over 250 entries across six countries for the Young Mathematical Story Author competition! I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E!

The winners will be publicly announced in the May 2019 issue of our newsletter, so stay tuned!

For more details of the YMSA competition, click here.

MATHS THROUGH STORIES
THE NATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMME

By the end of this academic year, Dr. Trakulphadetkrai (founder of MathsThroughStories.org) will have delivered the Maths Through Stories training workshop to over 200 in-service teachers and around 2,000 teacher trainee across the UK and abroad.

Consequently, MathsThroughStories.org has officially become the largest and most trusted training provider on integrating story picture books in mathematics teaching and learning.

Details of his workshops from this month can be found below, and for his upcoming workshops can be found here.

If your school, local educational authority or teacher education programme (both within or outside the UK) is interested in receiving training from Dr. Trakulphadetkrai at your institution, please get in touch with him directly here.

MATHS THROUGH STORIES WORKSHOPS IN APRIL 2019

LATEST WEBSITE STATS

Since the launch of our website on 2 March 2017 (the World Book Day), MathsThroughStories.org has been viewed over 260,000 times by more than 51,000 teachers and parents from 180 countries around the world! This is truly amazing and a reflection of your growing desire to learn more about how mathematical story picture books can be integrated meaningfully in mathematics teaching and learning.

To find out more about these statistics, click here for a full Google Analytics report.

MathsThroughStories.org is a non-profit and research-based initiative. It sets out to encourage teachers and parents around the world to use stories to enhance their mathematics teaching and learning.

We firmly believe that the use of mathematical stories, particularly in the picture book format, can help mathematics learners develop their conceptual understanding in mathematical concepts, and to help them foster positive attitudes towards the subject.