Teachers Turning to Children's Literature To Help Teach Math

By Peter West

When the roll of the world's great mathematicians is called, it is doubtful that the list will feature the names of Shel Silverstein, Roald Dahl, or Sharon Bell Mathis.

But the influence of each of these enormously popular and critically acclaimed children's authors, as well as that of many of their peers, has begun to be felt in some unusual ways in mathematics classrooms across the country.

In a widespread grassroots movement, growing numbers of elementary school teachers are using passages from quality children's literature to teach such important and sophisticated math concepts as estimation, graphing, number...