Teaching Money Applications to Make Mathematics Meaningful : Grades 7-12

"GREAT content, GREAT activities, GREAT explanations!"
―Joyce Deer, Math Teacher, North Pike High School, Summit, MS

"A valuable addition to the literature on the practical use of mathematics in the real world. This book will contribute to the improvement of monetary connections within secondary mathematics as well as financial literacy in our country."
―Edward C. Nolan, Mathematics Department Chair, Albert Einstein High School, Kensington, MD

Use real-life money issues to raise students′ mathematical and financial literacy!

Research has solidly established the importance of teaching mathematics in contexts that capture student interest and involvement. Weaving real-world financial issues into secondary mathematics instruction, this highly practical book offers teachers engaging ways to infuse personal money management into NCTM standards–based math lessons.

Using authentic material from daily life, the authors illustrate instructional strategies that connect required mathematical concepts with basic money matters, giving students a solid understanding of financial realities essential to successful everyday living. This resource meets the expanding demands for equity and accountability and:

• Relates math to credit cards, paying taxes, stocks & bonds, mortgages, buying a car, and much more
• Expands teachers′ knowledge of basic financial concepts
• Provides suggestions for projects to extend the concepts learned
• Includes a math locator, glossary of money terms, comprehensive index, and summary of formulas

This valuable guide gives teachers, math coaches, and curriculum specialists the resources they need to make math come alive in the classroom and to develop financially savvy students.

Elizabeth Marquez is a mathematics assessment specialist at Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey. Elizabeth has more than thirty years of mathematics teaching experience from elementary through graduate school. She is a recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching and the Princeton University Prize for Distinguished Secondary School Teaching. Elizabeth is an author of ETS’s Teacher Assistance Package Guides in Mathematics, the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards and Frameworks, Mathematics Standardized Test Prep, and for Eye on Education, with Charlotte Danielson, A Collection of Performance Tasks and Rubrics in Mathematics.

Paul Westbrook, CFP, is President of Westbrook Financial Advisers, a fee-only financial and retirement planning firm in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Paul has spoken at financial planning and benefits conferences and has been quoted in Money magazine, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, and Barron’s. He also teaches at the business school at Rutgers University. Paul has written several books: Word Smart for Business, Math Smart for Business, and Business Companion. He also wrote JK Lasser’s New Rules forRetirement and Tax.