Free Math from Dover Publications

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

I love Dover books, don’t you? They publish so-o-o-o-o many interesting titles at reasonable prices. I always have several Dover books on my wishlist, waiting for my next bit of extra cash.

But you don’t have to wait to enjoy free math from Dover books. Sign up for the Dover Sampler, and each week they will send an email with links to content from all sorts of books. Or try the Dover Children’s Sampler and Dover Teacher’s Sampler for coloring books, mazes, literature, and more. All the Dover samplers are completely free, and you can cancel at any time.

From Last Week’s Sampler

Last week’s email included a section on “Exploring Mathematics”:

And that’s only the beginning. Below, I’ve listed a wide variety of math-related links collected from past samplers. Though be warned: Dover does change its website from time to time, so these pages may disappear without notice.

Download, print, enjoy!

Continue reading Free Math from Dover Publications

Math Teachers at Play #40 via Math Mama Writes…

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
photo by Shannon Kringen

Welcome to the Math Teachers At Play blog carnival — it’s not just for math teachers!

If you like to learn new things and play around with ideas, you’re sure to find something intriguing here. Don’t try to read all 40(!) posts at once; take the time to enjoy browsing. Savor a few posts today, and then come back for another helping tomorrow or next week.

At my fortieth birthday party, I got a few of those gag presents meant to remind me how terribly old I was getting. Math Teachers at Play is less than 40 months old (it used to come out twice a month), but just imagine how many great math posts have been included over the months, in all 40 issues.

Go read the whole thing at Math Mama Writes…

Quotations XXVI: On Teaching Math

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
photo by chrisrobinson1945 via flickr

As I continue to polish the manuscript for my math games book, I’ve been looking for short quotations to put at the beginning of each chapter. I’ve gathered a lot of math quotations over the years, from my own reading and from quote-collection websites. But there’s a problem with using most of these in a book, since to do it right I would have to dig up the original source of each quote and then write a letter to the publisher for permission to use it. And pay a fee that, depending on the publisher’s sense of self-importance, can run into the hundreds of dollars. Bother!

So I went digging around my rss reader to see what sort of inspiration I could find. Bloggers love to be quoted, right? And most of them are happy to give permission via email, which makes my job ever so much easier.

Here are some of the gems I’m considering. I’d love to hear your favorite quotes from math bloggers, too — or favorite passages from your own blog. Please comment!

It’s amazing that this vision of math as “getting to the right answer on your first try” even exists. I have to make, unmake, remake so many mistakes to get where I’m going. I think all mathematicians work that way.

Somehow, a big part of the experience of math is trouble. Frustration is the status quo. But when you get something—the thrill!

— Dan Finkel
Good Mistakes, Constant Mistakes

Continue reading Quotations XXVI: On Teaching Math

Carnival Updates

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

John Cook has posted the Golden Carnival of Mathematics, for your browsing pleasure. The CoM desperately needs hosts, so if you’re willing to take a turn, now is the time to contact Mike Croucher and let him know!

The Mathematics and Multimedia Carnival is coming next Monday to Mathematics, Learning and Web 2.0. If you blog about techy stuff for teaching math, send in a post. Like any blog carnival, the MaMC would be delighted to come to your blog: contact Guillermo Bautista to volunteer.

Math Teachers at Play, the blog carnival about elementary & secondary school mathematics, is now accepting submissions for next week’s edition. The blog carnival server has been glitchy of late, however, so you may want to email your link directly to the host.

And if you speak the languages, you’re sure to enjoy the most recent Carnevale della Matematica or Carnaval de Matemáticas.

Finally, it’s not quite a carnival, but I’ve just discovered and started exploring MathBlogging.org’s Weekly Picks. Enjoy!

Arithmetic Village Books

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Thanks to the generosity of author Kimberly Moore, I am giving away a complete set of the beautiful Arithmetic Village picture books. You can read the first book free online.

When you think of math do you think of a light-hearted fairy tale?

No? Then come and meet some of the delightful characters who live in Arithmetic Village.

Polly Plus collects jewels slowly and methodically, Linus Minus is carefree and loses his. Tina Times and King David Divide… well you’ll see.

The first book offers the overview of the math concepts. These are then demonstrated through the lives of each character. The books are designed to be supported by a manipulative kit [homemade: see video below] with 100 jewels, 10 golden bags, and a treasure chest…

— Kimberly Moore
Proposal: Arithmetic Village

My fantasy-loving daughter Kitten would have been thrilled with this math program when she was little, just as this 6yo girl was. But it’s not just for girls — here is a thorough review by a homeschool mom of two boys.

Visit the Arithmetic Village website to read more about the books and explore the activity pages (links under each topic in the main page menu). Or check out Kim’s YouTube videos for activity ideas.

Continue reading Arithmetic Village Books