Math-terpieces: The Art of Problem-Solving - Hardcover

Tang, Greg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439443881 ISBN 13: 9780439443883

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2003

Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Greg Tang challenges kids to solve problems creatively while introducing art history.

In his most ground-breaking book since THE BEST OF TIMES (Fall 2002), Greg Tang underscores the importance of four basic rules in problem-solving. Keeping an open mind, looking for unusual number combinations, using multiple skills (like subtracting to add) and looking for patterns, will guarantee any child success in math. In MATH-TERPIECES, Tang continues to challenge kids with his innovative approach to math, and uses art history to expand his vision for creative problem-solving.

About this title

About the Author

Greg Tang was tutoring math in his daughter's class when he noticed something interesting about the dominoes they were using. Each white dot had a pencil mark on it, which meant the children had been counting them one at a time. Mr. Tang taught them to look for patterns instead, and to add and subtract groups of dots in order to calculate the dominoes' value quickly. From there, he developed a new method of teaching arithmetic in a visual and spontaneous way. His method teaches both computational and problem-solving skills, and is so fun and challenging that children forget they are learning math! He believes that all kids are capable of doing well in math, and he has a mission to make math a natural part of every child's life. He has successfully taught his method to children from ages five to ten.Grapes of Math and Math for All Seasons are part of a series of books that will help children gain the range of skills needed for higher math. His books challenge and encourage children to use creativity and common sense to solve problems, rather than formulas and memorization.Greg Tang has an impressive mathematics background. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in economics from Harvard, and he also holds an M.A. degree in Math Education from New York University. He has applied his problem-solving methods in building successful companies and products in a variety of industries. Greg Tang currently lives in Belmont, Massachusetts, with his family.

Reviews

Grade 1-5-In his fifth visual math adventure, Tang uses the artwork of 12 famous painters as an aid in developing problem-solving skills through grouping. Each spread features a quality reproduction on the left side. The poem underneath it highlights an item in the picture and presents a math query. For example, on the spread titled "Dancing Shoes," illustrated with Edgar Degas's Ballet Rehearsal on Stage, readers are asked to combine the colorful pictures of varying numbers of ballet shoes on the opposite page into several groups of seven. ("Can you make 7 with these SHOES?/THREE clever ways earn rave reviews!") Clearly written solutions to these exercises are given at the end of the book along with art definitions and brief explanations. This math-concept book is far more appealing than most.
Nancy A. Gifford, Schenectady County Public Library, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 2-4. Tang and Paprocki, who also wrote and illustrated The Best of Times (2002) and Math Appeal (2003), again challenge children to take a playful approach to learning math, using elements from famous paintings by artists such as Matisse, Mondrian, and Warhol. For instance, one double-page spread has a reproduction of Dali's painting The Persistence of Memory and the verse, "Is it a dream or is it real? / It's hard to know when art's surreal. / Dali's clocks once so precise-- / now they're melting just like ice. / Find SEVEN ways to make an 8 / group the CLOCKS, it's getting late!" Paprocki's more colorful versions of melting clocks are grouped on the facing page, and the groups can be combined in seven different ways that add up to eight clocks. Children drawn to the gamelike element will undoubtedly become more familiar with the paintings, though the main point is combining the sets of objects. This book provides an attractive setting for that activity. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0439443881
• ISBN 13: 9780439443883
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Paprocki Greg