Walking with Barton: A Novel Way to Learn Mathematics

By Fayad W. Ali and Shereen A. Khan

WALKING WITH BARTON

Walking with Barton comprises eight short stories involving young Bartons life experiences in different real-life situations. Mathematics problem solving is the main focus of the stories and the content includes solving such problems involving time, money, measurement, space and shape and puzzles.

In The Newspaper, Barton assists his family in calculating the cost of a monthly newspaper subscription. This story engages the reader in solving multi-step problems involving time (using the calendar) and money.

In The Wall, Barton helps his friend, Mr. Albernatty, to calculate the cost of erecting a wall. The problems engage the reader in using measurement concepts such as area, rates and direction proportion. These concepts are used to calculate the cost of labour and materials required to construct the wall.

In The Magic Square, mathematical vocabulary is reinforced illustrating the meaning of critical words such as horizontal and vertical. Quantitative reasoning is emphasised in solving the puzzles.

In What to Plant, Barton is engaged in spatial reasoning, as he assists Mr. Albernatty in solving problems involving the location the position of trees and a garden tap.

In Bartons Verses Barton uses his literacy skills to create a poem on the importance of numbers.

In The Solution, Barton and a group of friends raise funds to assist a family in meeting expenses during a period when the head of the household was temporarily incapacitated. The mathematics includes computation in money and time.

The Crossword also draws on literacy skills in solving problems involving mathematical terminology.

In Barton Divides, once again Barton helps Mr, Albernatty to decide on the location and the layout of crops in his garden. Problems involve the calculation of area and the application of the principles of measurement, to solve problems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491870846

Fayad W. Ali

Fayad W. Ali and Shereen A. Khan are the co-authors of this book

Book preview

2014 Fayad W. Ali and Shereen A. Khan. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/10/2014

ISBN:   978-1-4918-7084-6 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

49369.png

WALKING WITH BARTON

CONTENTS

THE NEWSPAPER

THE WALL

THE MAGIC SQUARES

WHERE TO PLANT

BARTON’S VERSES

THE SOLUTION

BARTON DIVIDES

THE CROSSWORD PUZZLE

DEDICATION

The authors wish to dedicate this book to:

Mr. Jalaludeen Khan, the father of, Shereen A. Khan.

You worked and toiled, the hours long

And carved my destiny

And gave me love and made me strong

With eyes that saw for me

Much praise to you, I place today

Your golden, loving touch

And I hope and beg and pray

That God loves you as much

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors and publishers wish to express their deepest gratitude to Miss Lisa Teelucksingh, the illustrator of this project.

***

‘Walking with Barton’ was edited by Mrs. Nisa Surujbally and Mrs. Elizabeth Miller of the U.S.A.

WALKING WITH BARTON

The set of WALKING WITH BARTON stories is an attempt to reach all children, through the creation of a character, who best epitomises the enacted school curriculum. Barton is a curious, well-mannered individual and represents an ideal child who is moulded by the all the intended learning experiences of school. The entire curriculum is supposed to transform individuals into a character, just like Barton.

WALKING WITH BARTON, targets the child at the upper level of the primary school. At this level, the child would have mastered most or all the mathematics content expected for the primary level and the problems emphasise the process goals of mathematics, rather than a wide range of content. This set of stories focuses around building model personality characteristics and close relationships with family, friends and the society.

The stories use an approach to learning that not only integrates all areas of the curriculum, but merges two essential areas, mathematics and language arts. The emphasis on building literacy skills is deliberate, since comprehension is a key area needed for developing an understanding in mathematics.

Too often, mathematics has been