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Good Reads

Jean Mistele In this section, we feature mathematics literature that is appropriate for K - 12 Mathematics instruction. If you use specific literature for your mathematics classroom and wish to share it with the Virginia Mathematics Teacher community, please respond to the Call for Manuscripts.

Over the last few months, the social unrest about Black Lives Matter and the Covid - 19 pandemic has shined a bright light on important social issues plaguing our country. As teachers, we realize our students walk into our classrooms upset, confused, and saddened by these events. Many mathematics teachers feel left out of these important social con versations, feeling pressed to teach the mathemat ics content yet remaining aware of their students ’ need for conversations addressing these crucial so cial issues. In the book, Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers, edited by Rico Gutstein and Bob Peterson, the contributors pro vide a framework for mathematics teachers to lead these important conversations while teaching math ematics. This resource includes over 30 chapters focused on mathematics activities, lessons, and vi gnettes, as well as an interview with Dr. Danny Martin about the intersection of mathematics and race. This resource is appropriate for elementary, middle, high school classrooms, as well as for after school programs. The contributors include experi enced teachers, community organizers, and mathe matics education educators located across the U.S., Canada and Brazil. The book is divided into three parts. Part One, Viewing Math Broadly, looks at mathematics across the curriculum, which enriches these other content areas such as social studies and language arts. Part two, Infusing Social Justice in Math Clas ses, shows how mathematics is used to better un derstand social injustice. For example, algebra re veals the injustice with living wage. Part three, In fusing Social Justice Math into Other Curricular Areas, such as health classes, which can explore the injustice waged through junk food advertising or U.S. history classes addressing the injustice of slavery. The editors, along with their contributors, contend this resource supports learning so students can:

sential analytical tool to understand and poten tially change the world … • Deepen their understanding of important social issues such as racism, sexism, ecology … • Connect math with their own cultural and com munity histories and appreciate the contribu tions that various cultures and peopled made to mathematics • Understand their own power as active citizens in building a democratic society …. • Become more motivated to learn important mathematics (Gutstein, R. & Peterson, B., 2013, pg. 2). The editors challenge teachers to use this book to grow into competent and confident social justice educators. We commend their goal and urge you to begin the journey to become a critical math teacher who “ position teaching and learning mathematics in the service of humanity and nature ” (Gutstein, R. & Peterson, B., 2013, xii).

Additional Resources:

• Radical Mathematics – social justice perspec tive: • http://www.radicalmath.org/ • http://www.radicalmath.org/docs/

SJMathGuide.pdf Great guide! Lots of activities and sorted by math content and grade. https://www.todos - math.org/index.php? op tion=com_dailyplanetblog&view=entry &year=2019&month=05&day=22&id= 11:ethnomathematics - mathematics - de todos

• Ethnomathematics – culture perspective •

• Annual conference focused on social justice teaching • http://creatingbalanceconference.org/

• Recognize the power of mathematics as an es

Virginia Mathematics Teacher vol. 46, no. 2

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