Yet Another Little Barton: A Novel Way to Learn Mathematics

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 04/07/2014

ISBN:   978-1-4969-0169-9 (e)

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CONTENTS

Story

MISS MOM

THE ANSWER TO ALL

THE BEAUTIFUL MODEL

THE OFFER

THE MASTERPIECE

A WHOLE NEW BEGINNING

DEDICATION

The authors wish to dedicate

this book to

Mrs. Natalie Umraw,

a close friend and teacher at Naparima College

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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

***

‘Little Barton’ was edited by Mrs. Nisa Surujbally and Mrs. Elizabeth Miller (U.S.A.).

YET ANOTHER LITTLE BARTON

The set of YET ANOTHER LITTLE BARTON stories is an attempt to reach all children through the creation of a character who best epitomises the enacted 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.

YET ANOTHER LITTLE BARTON targets the child at the lower level of the primary school. The stories focus on developing fine personality characteristics through relationships within the home, school and community.

The entire series uses 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 understanding in mathematics. The stories appeal to the child’s intuitive and imaginative tendencies and encourage the use of the strategic and critical thinking in a context that is meaningful and relevant.

At this level, it is expected that teachers would encourage students to develop their own strategies for mastering the four basic operations in mathematics through informal situations. The context in which the operations are presented is ideally suited to the age bracket that the series targets, which is five years and over. As new concepts are encountered in class, these will need further reinforcement in other contexts. And so, students must be encouraged to build on their classroom experiences using everyday outdoor situations. The stories provide examples of how this can be done through peer experiences as Barton and his friend share their knowledge of mathematics.

Teachers can use these stories to build a moral community where students develop socially, ethically and academically in a supportive learning environment.

Shereen A. Khan and Fayad