Journal of the Mathematics Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association
Volume 49 Issue 2, June 2012
9 – 11
Making Connections Mathematics and Literature
Sherry Matheson
When teachers begin their careers, they often do not stray far from the same path of instruction that they themselves followed as students. In the late 1950’s, mathematics was not a curricular focus for primary students-arithmetic was. Computations completed quickly and correctly earned high praise and high marks for students. Teachers believed that in order to acquire high marks, successful students sat quietly at their own desks and practiced addition and subtraction facts and memorized multiplication tables. If a student was not achieving at a satisfactory level, more practice was assigned.
