Math Decoded
Explaining the Why Behind the Numbers and How They Operate
Corwin Mathematics Series
Mathematics
Experience the joy of answering "why" in math class like never before
Mathematics often feels like a collection of disconnected rules, but what if you could uncover their underlying story? In Math Decoded: Explaining the Why Behind the Numbers and How They Operate, author James Tanton provides educators with a compelling and accessible guide to understanding the logic, purpose, and poetry behind numbers and arithmetic.
Move away from simply teaching formulas and procedures. Instead, discover the coherent and human story of mathematics that will enliven your classroom and deepen your own mathematical knowledge.
By addressing the "why" questions students frequently ask, this book offers clarity on tricky concepts such as dividing by zero, fractions, and negative numbers through these key features:
- Engaging Structure: Each chapter begins with a thought-provoking question, explores real-world scenarios, and culminates in bold insights and classroom activities.
- Grade-Banded Tasks: The book includes classroom activities for elementary to high school, ensuring relevance for multiple grade levels.
- Comprehensive Resources: The text is accompanied by videos, supplemental essays, and practical tools to deepen the learning experience.
- Accessible Style: The book is written in a friendly, relatable tone to explain mathematics’ most mystifying and rigorous topics.
With this book, educators will gain a newfound appreciation for the beauty, structure, and coherence of mathematics. Math Decoded will help you inspire your students to see math not just as a subject, but as an invitation to explore, discover, and think deeply about the joy of numbers.
This book is a fast, fun, and inspiring journey through the big questions in learning and teaching mathematics! It sparks curiosity, joy, and deep
understanding by offering clear insights, hands-on examples, and powerful ways to make connections to big ideas we once struggled to explain. A valuable and uplifting resource for students and teachers alike!
Reading this book, I could feel Tanton’s signature joy and enthusiasm for taking big ideas and breaking them into bite-size pieces that are easy to digest, while also blowing your mind. This is an amazing resource for any teacher looking to better understand, as Tanton says, ‘the poetry of mathematics.’ The journey through the book was both incredibly validating and completely inspiring. Each idea sparks thoughts about classroom conversations my students have engaged in and how to take these conversations further with the book’s tasks.
James Tanton makes arithmetic a playground of wonder and delight, and he shows how you can too. Tanton’s insights shine as he illuminates the
creative possibilities of math when you allow numbers to take a life of their own in wider contexts. His tantalizing philosophical questions will broaden your thinking and get students talking. Math Decoded is both a satisfying read and practical resource for every teacher and parent to explain why numbers behave as they do.
What a wonderful and unique perspective James Tanton brings to this delightful book! His approach is irresistible: You’ll come away with a richer and more profound understanding of numbers and mathematical thinking.
To know James Tanton is to know that mathematics is a fully joyful and human endeavor! This book showcases his perspective perfectly through
developing critical mathematical ideas in ways that just make sense. Tanton’s innovative approach provides educators with an untangled and transformational rethinking of mathematics that is fun to read and accessible for all.
Powerful ways of thinking about numbers and operations are key to understanding and enjoying mathematics, but too often those foundations
are seen as disconnected and joyless. In Math Decoded, James Tanton weaves a delightful storyline that connects, makes sense of, and brings joy to the study of mathematics. This is a book for everyone, and along the way, you’ll have many opportunities to say to yourself ‘I never thought of it
that way, but I wish I had.’
With his Aussie wit, Tanton takes us on an almost whimsical journey to help us see a story of mathematics and think deeply about the inherent
connections that exist. Rather than giving an instruction on how to teach in the classroom, he invites us to take a look back on many intriguing parts of school mathematics.