Running out of time on my Math You Can Play Kickstarter, so I better get to work on that Kickstarter Special Edition math-art book I promised to all the backers as a bonus reward.
Today I’m working on the Isometric Drawing and Impossible Figures section, because my co-op math classes had so much fun learning how to draw those.
Here’s a starter image on how to draw Minecraft blocks. At first I called them “isometric blocks” — but changing the name to “Minecraft” made the students really excited to learn. I’m not sure whether I like the pencil sketch, or if I should remake the illustrations on the computer…
Key steps:
Make a Y.
Turn it into an M.
Slant down for the bottom.
Slant up for the top.
Student drawings from my co-op classes.
The most common problem for beginners is that they try to make the base straight. They know a block can sit on a table, so the bottom has to be flat, right? But once students get a feel for how it goes, they can really take off and have fun.
UPDATE: The Kickstarter deals have ended, but my playful math books are still available through your favorite online store or by special order at your local bookshop. (Except for the Prealgebra & Geometry Games book, scheduled for publication in early 2021. Sign up for my email list to get the latest news.)
Gel pens are wonderful for editing because they show up so well against the manuscript text. Each pass gets a new color. The picture above is the 5th cycle through my Prealgebra & Geometry Games index, this time with purple ink.
When I printed the output from cycle #4, everything looked so neat in three columns with alphabet headers in place. I thought, “This is almost done!”
Moral: Don’t judge an index by how nice it looks.
Still, it’s also not as bad as the marked-up pages make it seem. Only a few of those will be major tweaks. (Like, how did we not notice that the Jack Lyon quote got left out of the reference section?!)
Plenty of work to go, but the end is in sight…
Prealgebra & Geometry: Math Games for Middle School is scheduled for publication in early 2021. Sign up for my newsletter to get updates.
With the less-than-help of my daughter’s cat, I’ve made it through several cycles of editing my Prealgebra & Geometry index. If you’re curious about the process, you may enjoy my behind-the-scenes peek at How to DIY a Nonfiction Index.
There’s yet a ways to go, but it’s starting to look like what I want. The index includes game listings by category: card games, pencil and paper games, cooperative games, solitaires, etc.
One of the entries is “Games, Complete List of.”
So I counted…
Officially, the book features 41 games that help prepare students for high school math by playing with number properties, mixed operations, integers, algebraic functions, coordinate geometry, and more.
But when I counted all the official game listings plus all the game variations that were different enough to have their own names — 62 games.
Wow!
Prealgebra & Geometry: Math Games for Middle School is scheduled for publication in early 2021. Sign up for my newsletter to get updates.
This morning is day-of-rest time, streaming the church service. I’m still avoiding as much contact with people as I can manage since I may be going back at any time to help my elderly mom, and I don’t want to carry the virus to her.
But this evening, I’ll probably be back at my desk, slogging through the Index work on my Prealgebra & Geometry Games book — scheduled for publication in early 2021. (Sign up for my newsletter to get updates.)
So here’s the second installment of my behind-the-scenes peek at just part of what goes into making a book, reprinted from the Alliance of Independent Authors blog.
Now I’ve got a tiny streak going, it seems like a shame to miss a day of blogging. So here’s a bit of behind-the-scenes as I work on finishing up the new book.
By the way:Prealgebra & Geometry: Math Games for Middle School is scheduled for publication in early 2021. Sign up for my newsletter to get updates.
So, back to the Index. Here’s a post I wrote for the Alliance of Independent Authors blog last year. If you ever wondered what goes into designing a book, this is just a little of the detail work…
The Math You Can Play books help families learn while having fun together. You’ll love this natural, no-stress way to strengthen your child’s understanding and confidence.
My new Let’s Play Math Sampler: 10 Family-Favorite Games for Learning Math Through Play contains short excerpts from my most popular titles, including a preview of two games from my work-in-progress Prealgebra & Geometry Games.
It’s a great way to get started with playful math!
This week, my publisher Tabletop Academy Press is offering a free copy of the Sampler to TWO lucky winners. [Winners with a U.S. mailing address will receive both paperback (by U.S. Media Mail) and ebook (by online download) versions of the book. International winners will receive ebooks only.]
How to Enter the Giveaway
The giveaway is over, but I’d still love to hear your “math memory” comments.
Share a math memory! Scroll down to leave a comment with something from your school days, a cute thing your child has said, or anything else about learning or playing with math.
Congratulations to our winners: Michael and Caroline. Check your email for details on how to claim your Let’s Play Math Sampler books.
Oops! I can’t believe I forgot to post these links when my latest book came out way back in March. Indie author fail…
Do you want your children to enjoy learning math?
Teach them how to play!
In excerpts from five of my most popular books, the Let’s Play Math Sampler features ten kid-tested games covering math concepts from counting to prealgebra.
Pick up a copy of the Let’s Play Math Sampler today, and make math a playful family adventure.
Teen author Teresa GaskinsDo you enjoy binge reading tales of epic fantasy?
Love exploring magical worlds wracked by the struggle of good against evil?
Then don’t miss Teresa Gaskins’s four-book serial adventure, The Riddled Stone.
Those of us who read her earlier books have waited eagerly to hear how the story ends. Two years longer than we hoped, since she had to squeeze in her writing between calculus exams and college essays.
But finally, it’s done!
Now a homeschool graduate, she wrote the last few scenes right at the tail end of her nineteenth year — which means these will be Teresa’s final books as a teen author.
Check them out…
The Riddled Stone: Omnibus Edition, Four Books in One
How can a knight fight magic?
Christopher Fredrico loved the quiet life of a scholar-in-training. Plenty of spare time to spend with his friends. But the night Crown Prince Tyler came to dinner, everything changed.
Falsely accused of stealing a magical artifact and banished under threat of death, Chris leaves the only home he knows.
But as he and his three friends travel towards the coast, they find a riddle that may save a kingdom — or cost them their lives.
Discover the full story of The Riddled Stone, complete in one volume.
A gift she never wanted. A curse she can’t escape.
Alone in the dark, Nora of Yorc feels the dungeon walls pressing in. Even worse, the duke’s sorcery weaves itself around her, unseen and deadly. But as the spell tightens, shy, fragile Nora breaks — and something new takes her place.
Or something old beyond memory.
Nora joined this quest to help her friends. But can she stop herself before the wildness within destroys them all?
Find out in Revealed, the exciting conclusion of Teresa Gaskins’s four-book serial fantasy adventure, The Riddled Stone.
“There are some obvious protagonists and some obvious villains, but Gaskins creates a nice ambiguity around several of the key characters. The plot itself is interesting and engaging with multiple levels of motivation that drive it along.”
“I enjoyed the book and I am absolutely amazed at how such a young author can write so well. I definitely see her going far in her writing career, and I can’t wait to see what stories she publishes next.”
CREDITS: Feature image of Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau, Germany, (top) by William West via Unsplash. Author photo by Christina Vernon, MelliRu.com.
UPDATE: The Kickstarter deals have ended, but my playful math books are still available through your favorite online store or by special order at your local bookshop. (Except for the Prealgebra & Geometry Games book, scheduled for publication in early 2021. Sign up for my email list to get the latest news.)
Want to help your children learn math? 
Denise Gaskins' Let's Play Math 