Beth Anderson, Children's Writer

Welcome to Keila Dawson, a fellow member of Kid Lit For Growing Minds, a group of kid lit creators whose books cross curricular areas and support educators. Keila’s got a delicious activity to use with her latest release, YUMBO GUMBO, that brings math into the kitchen in the best way, merging learning, culture, and food!

Keila’s offering a GIVEAWAY, too—a copy of YUMBO GUMBO to one lucky person who comments below.

Congratulations to Cindy Boyll, winner of Kirsten Larson’s giveaway! A copy of Reimagining Your Nonfiction Picture Book or half off an annual membership to the Reimagine Insiders community

Using Storytelling to Teach Math in the Primary Classroom 

By Keila V. Dawson

Thanks for having me on your blog, Beth! I’m so excited about sharing an idea with primary teachers for using YUMBO GUMBO in the classroom. It’s part of the Charlesbridge Storytelling Math series spearheaded by editor Alyssa Pusey. I also worked with Marlene Kliman, at TERC, an organization of math experts, researchers, and leaders in K-12 STEM education. The intent of books in this series is to expose children to solutions to problems using math. And for them to see authentic storytelling from the lens of different cultures.

In YUMBO GUMBO, a young girl in Louisiana is excited about her first gumbo cooking lesson. But her family of six can’t decide what kind of gumbo to cook for dinner. The main character, Annabelle, wants okra gumbo and her little brother Beau wants chicken.   So they try to resolve their conflict fairly through voting. When their first vote ends in a tie, she adds a third choice, hoping okra will be the winner. Mais là! I can’t believe it! That vote ends in a tie, too! Annabelle really wants gumbo for dinner and must come up with a clever solution—voting for their unyumbo gumbo. When she changes the vote to their least favorite, there’s a clear winner. But the story doesn’t end there because her little brother is still upset that he didn’t get his way. And Annabelle finds a YUMBO way to solve that problem.

The target audience for books in this series are 3-6-year-olds, so it’s important that these young children can follow the math. For example, a 3-year-old can only hold a small amount of information in mind at one time, so the characters stand next to their favorite of the two gumbos in the first vote. They can see the results of the tied vote in the illustrations. How is it possible to break the tie? Annabelle’s reasoning is to add a third gumbo. Now children see the six of them voting on three gumbos. But that didn’t work, either. The illustrations show how the characters move to vote because a 3 or 4-year-old wouldn’t have had the same exposure to pictures, tallies or graphs like a kindergartner or first grader. 

Also, in this series, the main character should solve the story problem through mathematical reasoning. And the young children should be able to follow their reasoning as it develops over the course of the story. Besides math, the Storytelling Math books incorporate an emotional element, and show math in real-life situations.

I designed this comparing data activity for 5 to 6-year-olds who have had experience with concrete to representational math instruction. 

Comparing Data Using Yumbo Gumbo Activity

1. Before Reading 

    Discuss mathematical vocabulary and concepts needed to understand Annabelle’s thinking. Definitions are from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

• more:  “resulting in an increase in amount or number”
• least:  “lowest in importance or position”
• tie:      “to make or have an equal score with in a contest”

2. During reading

     Copy these bar graphs on chart paper, a whiteboard or download the worksheets from my website. As the teacher reads YUMBO GUMBO, have students record the data from each vote using a different color for each gumbo.

3. After reading 

     Have students complete the True or False worksheets. Download here.

Download the two-page activity kit, get the grocery list, watch instructional videos, and follow the recipeto make your own Yumbo Gumbo!

Don’t forget to leave a comment below if you’d like to be entered in the giveaway for a copy of YUMBO GUMBO. (ships to US addresses only. Winner announced 2/16/24.)

Keila V. Dawson is a two-time Ohioana finalist and former educator who writes fiction and nonfiction picture books. Her books have been featured on numerous best books lists, state reading lists, and nominated for various awards. She is a coeditor of No World Too Big: Young People Fighting Global Climate Change, a companion title to the International Reading Association Children’s Book Award-winning title, No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History, and the forthcoming No Brain the Same: Young Neurodivergent Activists Shaping Our Future. She is the author of Opening the Road: Victor Hugo Green and His Green Book, The King Cake Baby and Yumbo Gumbo. A New Orleans native, Dawson has also lived and worked in different states, and abroad in the Philippines, Japan, and Egypt. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Find out more about her and her books at www.keiladawson.com . Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky. 

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