This is an abbreviated version of the presentation "Math is Storytelling: Bringing Play and a Sense of Narrative to Problem Solving" from the 2011 NAEYC annual conference in Orlando, FL. For more information, please see www.mathexchanges.wordpress.com

1. Mathematics is Storytelling:
Bringing Play and a Sense of Narrative
to Problem Solving
Kassia Omohundro Wedekind

2. In this presentation…
Research on the connection between
storytelling/narrative ability and mathematics
Change in practice—move beyond word problems with
math exchanges in kindergarten
Mathematician statements—teacher language to
communicate behaviors and practices of
mathematicians to students
Living a rich mathematical life—implications for
teachers and students

3. Storytelling and Math
Daniela O’Neill, University of Waterloo
Is narrative ability important to academic
achievement? And, if so, which aspects
of narrative ability matter?

4. Storytelling and Math
Event Content
Conjunction Use
Perspective Shift
Mental State References

5. Storytelling and Math
"The main activity that prepared the
human brain for being able to do
mathematics…was keeping track of
interpersonal relationships in an
increasingly complex society."
(Devlin, 2000: 3)

6. Storytelling and Math
So, why does this matter, and what
are the implications for instruction?
Storytelling Math

7. Changes in Thinking
Mathematize

8. Changes in Practice
How?
Reexamine Problem Solving
with Young Children

9. How We Change
Facilitate problem solving experiences
based on contextually meaningful and
mathematically significant problems
Create a community in which living a rich
mathematical life is expected

11. Word Problems
Ana had 10 pencils. She
gave 3 pencils to Casey.
How many pencils does
Ana have now?
Katie has 5 shirts. Each shirt
has 3 buttons. How many
buttons does Katie have on her
shirts?

12. Math Exchanges
1) Short, focused sessions that bring all
mathematical minds together
2) Responsive to the needs of the
specific group of mathematicians
3) Designed for meaningful, guided
reflection

17. Counting Collections

18. Counting Collections

19. Counting Collections
A counting collection of elephants on our line-up tape

20. Counting Collections
How many do you think you have? How could you figure
it out?
How did you keep track of your elephants when you
counted?
Look how far your cubes have stretched! I wonder how
many cubes it would take to stretch across the whole
table.
Do you think you have more elephants than Kyra? How
do you know?

21. The Straws Problem

22. The Straws Problem

23. The Straws Problem

24. The Straws Problem

25. The Straws Problem

26. The Straw Problem
as a Routine
We know that yesterday we needed ___ straws for
lunchtime. How many straws do you think we will need
today?
Will we need the same number of straws or a different
number of straws? Why does the number of straws
change?
What if we want to figure out how many napkins we
need? Would that be the same as the number of straws
we need?

27. Mathematician
Statements
Mathematicians statements that focus on the structure
of different problem types and understanding what is
going on:
"Mathematicians listen to the story and tell it again
to figure it out/to figure out the problem."
"Mathematicians think about what is happening in
the story. This helps them figure out the problem."

28. Math Exchanges and
Imaginative Play
Queen of Ten
Introduces significance of
ten in our number system
through:
Counting routines
Quick image routines
Problem solving

29. Queen of Ten
The Queen of Ten:
Broken Wand Routine

30. Queen of Ten:
40th Day Visit

31. Math Exchanges and
Imaginative Play

32. Gingerbread Man
Problem Solving

33. Understanding
5 and 10 Structure
"The gingerbread man wants to cross the river without
getting wet and soggy. He needs to jump across ten rocks
to cross the river. The rocks looked like this."

34. Understanding
5 and 10 Structure
"He has to jump across ten rocks to get to the other side of
the river. He started like this. '1, 2, 3, 4. I’m one tired cookie.
I’m going to take a nap right here on this rock'"

35. Understanding
5 and 10 Structure
"When he wakes up, how many rocks will the gingerbread
man need to cross to get to the other side of the river?"

36. Decomposing
Teen Numbers
"There are 13 stones.
He’s already done 10,
so 11, 12, 13"

37. Decomposing
Teen Numbers
"Ten stones and three more
is thirteen. I just saw 10
and three more."

38. Trick or Treating Play
Guided task that leads into
more open mathematical play.

39. Multiplication
Math Exchange

40. Multiplication
Math Exchange

41. Multiplication
Math Exchange
"So, how many "5. Here they are:
candy corn do 1,2, 1,2, 1,2, 1,2,
you need for the 1,2."
cookies?"

42. Multiplication
Math Exchange

43. Live a Rich
Mathematical Life

44. Share This Mathematical
Life With Our Students

45. Inspire Their Rich
Mathematical Lives

46. Imaginative Play

47. Exploratory Play

48. Mathematize
the World Around Us

49. Imagine if, at the end of the school year, all
kindergarteners left understanding math as a
medium through which to wonder about and
investigate their world. Imagine if each child left
kindergarten with a sense of ownership and
agency in the world of mathematics. Imagine if
all kindergarteners viewed mathematics as a
place for play, creativity, and imagination.
Imagine the possibilities for these young
mathematicians. Endless.

50. More on Storytelling
— Math Connection
Julie Rehmeyer’s article, "Good Stories, Good Math"
Keith Devlin’s article, "Predicting Math Ability"
Daniela’s O’Neill’s paper, "Preschool Children’s Narratives and
Performance on the Peabody Individualized Achievement Test—
Revised: Evidence of a Relation Between Early Narrative and
Later Mathematical Ability"

51. Kassia Omohundro Wedekind
omohundro@gmail.com
www.mathexchanges.wordpress.com
@kassiaowedekind on Twitter