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When a Wordsmith Studies Math: A 30-year experiment in Writing Across the Curriculum

Nancy Casey
Moscow, Idaho, USA
PlanetNancy.net
nancy@turbonet.com

What role does language and language learning play in learning and doing math?  What sparks the excitement of a mathematician?  What kinds of thinking and play are “mathematical?”  How do you articulate what mathematics is, both to children and their often math-phobic teachers?  Is it possible to teach children the standard mathematics curriculum within a rich and exciting context of mathematical ideas?

These were some of the questions underlying a collaboration between language teacher Nancy Casey and mathematician Michael Fellows which led to the publication of This is MegaMathematics! a guide for elementary school teachers who wanted to bring mathematics into their classrooms as a living discipline, while at the same time meeting the demands of the traditional mathematics curriculum.

Eventually a wave of conservatism in American education washed This is MegaMathematics! into obscurity, but with its re-release this year, we can ask which of the many lessons teachers, mathematicians and students learned from each other in these classroom experiments remain relevant for collaborations today.

References for the teaching of language arts in elementary school and high school using the “whole language” method that taps the students’ broad set of language-learning strategies for the teaching of reading, writing, and other communication skills.

  The Art of Teaching Writing by Lucy McCormick Calkins

Product DetailsIn The Middle by Nancie Attwell

The seminal papers of the Mega-Math project

Language Acquisition and Mathematics Learning (Nancy Casey)   

Computer SCIENCE and Mathematics in the Elementary Schools (by Michael Fellows)

Implementing the Standards: Let's Focus on the First Four (Michael Fellows and Nancy Casey)

Short paper describing Mega-Math (Nancy Casey)

Enhanced Lives:  Classroom Structures for HumanDevelopment

Descriptions of classroom activities that use methods and materials from Mega-Math 

The Whole Language Connection (Nancy Casey)

Three For the Money: An hour in the classroom (Nancy Casey)

A teacher describes using the story of the Hotel Infinity in his classroom

Teachers describe how to organize language-based mathematics and science learning in their classrooms.

Product DetailsMath wise by Arthur A. Hyde and Pamela Hyde

How Big is the Moon? by Dave Baker

Product DetailsDoing What Scientists Do by Ellen Dorris

The most beautiful math book in the world.

Product DetailsTilings and Patterns by Branko Grunbaum and C.G. Shephard

Mathematicians write about problem solving and the practice of mathematics

Product DetailsProofs and Refutations by Imre Lakatos

Product DetailsMathematical Problem Solving by Alan Schoenfeld

Ad Infinitum: The Ghost in Turing's Machine

Some books about mathematics that are accessible to anyone

Product DetailsThe Mathematical Tourist by Ivars Peterson (along with many others)

Product DetailsIslands of Truth by Ivars Peterson (along with many others)

 ThisBook Needs no Title by Raymond Smullyan (along with many others)

Product DetailsThe Knot Book by Colin C. Adams

 Wheels, Life and Other Mathematical Amusements by Martin Gardner (along with many others)

Math-based literature that is really literature?

Welome to the Hotel Infinity from the Mega-Math project

Some radio essays with underlying mathematical concepts:

  •  Turing Test
  • Flock o' Numbers
  • Visible or Invisible?

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News and Events

Nancy blogs weekly for the Latah Recovery Community Center, sharing writing ideas that support self-awareness and self-esteem.


Looking for an art project that is secretly full of math? Or a math project that results in interesting art? Equilateral Triangle is an Inquiry Pack full of project ideas that will keep you thinking for a long time.


Writing classes and workshops

In-person Write-For-You workshops at the Latah Recovery Center have been suspended for a bit, but you can still do the writing prompts on your own. For more information, about the Write for You program, or if you are in recovery and interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy.


 

Let’s Talk About It

This is a program that supports reading and discussion in libraries throughout the state of Idaho.

Working with the Program Committee, I updated the theme The Humanity of Science and Technology.


Schedule of 2023-24 Let’s Talk About It sessions coming soon!


Nancy Casey's Books

All the Way to Second Street

All the Way to Second Street front cover
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COPYRIGHT 2016 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NANCY CASEY | MOSCOW, ID.