Storytelling and Mathematics

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What does storytelling have to do with mathematics? If I say they are related, many of you will stop reading further. But, believe me, storytelling and teaching mathematics are very much related. General perception is that mathematics and statistics are dry and abstract topics. And stories?…….well, stories are full of drama, mystery and fun. Who doesn’t like hearing stories? Or even better…. Who doesn’t like to enact them like a play? We all do, particularly young people. So, why not teach mathematical concepts while enacting some favourite stories?

Pick any one topic, monsters, aliens, fairies, Peter Pan and pirates, or Gruffalo. Build a simple story that includes simple arithmetic concepts like addition and subtraction. For instance, two/three/four monsters stop at a candy shop while going to the Monsters’ University. And they buy some candies. Here, it is possible to include as many addition/subtraction/division problems as you want. (e.g. see here) And the kids will love enacting their favourite monsters and learn better with the actual objects in their little hands.

And who says we have to stop all the fun at preschool/school level? We can use a similar approach while learning advanced topics like optimization and probability with young minds. For instance, Monty Hall game is a great way to start the discussion on Bayes’ formula. Young people can play the game, and make the choice on their own. Such active participation enables them to understand how the updating with new information works.

Introducing abstract mathematical concepts with stories and games makes the concepts concrete. Young minds understand the logic and apply these concepts easily to various situations. And we learn to tell interesting stories ๐Ÿ˜‰

 


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