The Art and Science of Mathematical Storytelling
3 days: March 29-31
As a broad generalization, students love stories – consuming them and producing them – much more than they love math class. Students do more than love stories though. They LEARN from them. Cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham writes that our brains "privilege" stories over other forms of information.
In this three-day certificate course, we will learn how to apply the techniques of storytelling to math instruction, including activity launches in act one, rising action and question development in act two, thrilling resolutions in act three, and turning students into mathematical storytellers themselves in the sequel. We will also learn the modern technology that supports Grades 3-12 math teachers in their mathematical storytelling.
Specific activities in the workshop:
Days 1 and 2:
- Participate in a 3-Act Math Task as a student. Experience math learning as participating in a story.
- Debrief its pedagogical moves. How did the teacher’s moves tie into the work of storytelling?
- Create the perfect story launch. We will look at four different launches to particular mathematical tasks. Which one best uses the storytelling form?
- Diagnose the problem with paper. We'll learn how digital media frees us to be mathematical storytellers while print media constrains us.
- Makeover math problems. We'll look at print problems and endow them with a story.
- Create a need. If mathematics is aspirin, then what is the headache and how do we create it
- Students have devices. Now what? We'll learn how to facilitate digital activities as stories in 1:1 and 1:2 classes.
Day 3: A 2- hour session of facilitated planning for application led by the Math Collaborative Core.
Target Audience: Grades 3-12.
Note: This workshop is planned in coordination with the NESA Math Collaborative Core. See NESA Collaboratives
Continuum Levels: 1, 2, 3
NESA's Learning Continuum:
Learn more about how NESA plans Professional Learning
