Book Review- Kiss My Math

I’m apparently slacking off. I read Kiss My Math two weeks ago, and still haven’t blogged about it. Meanwhile, my raving about it has driven at least three of my fellow teachers to run out and read both Kiss My Math and Math Doesn’t Suck.

This time, McKellar tackles integers (or “mint-egers”, as she calls them), variables, and exponents (at the request of visitors to Math Doesn’t Suck’s forum) with the same clarity and charm that filled Math Doesn’t Suck. Again, the book is filled with stories of her own struggles and successes, as well as stories from women who use math as a fundamental part of the work duties.

My fellow teachers and I are already putting one of her ideas to work because we’ve found her take on the dietary habits of pandas really does help kids handle the order of operations more successfully.

If you haven’t read either book, I highly recommend both of them!

Book review: Math Doesn’t Suck

Last week, I finally managed to get my hands on Danica McKellar’s book Math Doesn’t Suck, and now I’m recommending all of my girl students read it.

In the book, McKellar offers explanations, tips and practice problems for some of the topics that give most kids fits in math class- factors, fractions, decimals, percents, proportions, and encountering variables for the first time, and she frames it all in stories just about any girl can relate to.

Along the way, she offers insight into her own experiences with math and being a smart girl, and encourages the reader to find their own confidence and to not give that up for anyone.

The book also has an accompanying website that offers full explanations of the practice problems in the book, and provides a forum where students can gather to talk about math education, math and science careers for girls, and being both beautiful and smart in this day and age.

Maybe the stick figure in the second panel above should read it, if only to get a clue!