With Giulia, Marty, Teo and Luca, mathematics becomes child's play!

Workbook Friend is a series of practical books, edited by Silvana Poli, Carla Bertolli and Daniela Lucangeli, amongst the greatest experts in the psychology of learning, designed as handy tools to accompany lower secondary school students and those in their last year of primary school in their acquisition of basic mathematical competences.

How they are structured

Each book is divided into two parts:

• the first part contains activities for «building» knowledge and comprises 15 worksheets labelled «I experiment»;
• whereas the second part contains structured exercises for consolidating knowledge already acquired and comprises another 15 worksheets (which correspond both in headings and topics to those in the first part) labelled «I consolidate».

The methodology: from the problem to the rule

The methodology can be summarised as follows:

• you start from a situation from everyday life and pose a question;
• you follow (with as little guidance as possible) step by step reasoning, which works by trial and error;
• you obtain a rational procedure out of the process;
• you produce an agreed formalisation.

In brief:

• problem situation;
• process;
• procedure;
• formalisation.

The learning process «from the problem to the rule» enables pupils to «build» logical mathematical concepts themselves. The latter are «traditionally» received in an already formalised way and conveyed mainly through verbal instead of visual and practical communication. In this way, pupils are motivated in their search for the result, which is also the solution to the problem. They are also better prepared to acquire, as class practice has demonstrated, greater command of the resolution mechanism.

The books:

• Geometry problems

• Graphs, charts and statistics

• Relative Numbers

• Perimeter and Area

What are Perimeter and Area for? Starting off with concrete situations and problems, students will “construct” the formulas used to calculate the perimeter and area of shapes. More info » Some pages from the book:

• Problems

What are problems for? Before solving problems, it is necessary to recognize that there are situations “to be solved”. Only after understanding this, can the child learn to identify problem-situations. More info » Some pages from the book:

• Measurements and equivalents

What are measurements and equivalents for? Starting off with concrete situations and problems, students will learn the rules and concepts of measurement of areas, volumes, capacities and weights. More info » Some pages from the book:

• Multiples and divisors

What are multiples and divisors for? Starting off with concrete situations and problems, the role of multiples, divisors and their calculation will be understood at an intuitive level. More info » Some pages from the book:

• Powers

What are powers for? Using their daily life experiences as a starting point, students will start thinking about the role of powers in math calculation. More info » Some pages from the book:

• Expressions

What are expressions for? Even though it is not often stated in maths books, expressions are used to solve concrete problems that present themselves in day-to-day life. More info » Some pages from the book:

• Fractions

What are fractions for? Based on their experience and knowledge of primary school, children may answer: «to divide a cake », «to use a tape measure», «to colour different parts». We are talking about explanations that are «simple» maybe but at the same time valid and plausible. More info » Some pages from the book: