Solving for M = Middle Grade (Multimodal Novels + Math Identity)

Meet our Contributor:

Lauren Vandever, M.Ed, works as a district instructional coach in rural Oklahoma, but in her heart, she is always in a 7th-grade classroom. Lauren is also a Ph.D. student in Literacies and Language Arts Education at Oklahoma State University. With 12 years of classroom experience, she is passionate about growing educators, fostering teacher efficacy, and exploring multimodality and meaningful literacy practices that support student learning. Outside of studying and teaching, Lauren enjoys spending time with her wife, three dogs, and cat. 

Solving for M = Middle Grade (Multimodal Novels + Math Identity) by Lauren Vandever

“Oh no! Sorry, I teach Reading. I cannot help you with your Math.”

I am guilty of saying that phrase more than once in front of a class of 7th graders. Anyone who has spent time inside a middle school has undoubtedly heard a similar phrase uttered by teachers and/or students. The myths of some people being “Math Brained” versus “Reading Brained” abound as educators and students dive deeper into the specialized content in many secondary schools. As a 7th-grade Reading teacher, I had firmly planted myself on the Reading Brain side of the aisle. 

However, then I signed myself up to become our district’s first Instructional Coach. The middle school principal was all in, and his first task for me was to infuse more literacy into the classrooms. I was ecstatic! I could not wait to get first-person historical fiction into the hands of the history teachers or have students write short stories from the perspective of an atom. Until the principal and math department head showed up at my new office door. They wanted a novel to read in math class. 
 
“Uh. Okay….” I replied. Luckily, I found my wits about me and asked just one question, “What do you want the students to get from a math novel?” 
 
The department head said, “I want them to see that math applies to their real lives. Oh, and I read something on Facebook about math journaling.” 
 
He turned and left, and I had a summer task ahead of me. Luckily, the fates were ready to handle this for me because I had also signed up for a Research in Children’s Literature class for my summer coursework. In that, my professor introduced us to Content Analysis. We had to embark upon our own content analysis, so I decided, why not? My professor was hesitant at first. She knew math instruction was not my passion, but she graciously stepped aside to let me solve both of these equations simultaneously. 

This summer of research developed into a very short list of books that involve math. I quickly learned two important pieces of information. One, there is an award called the Mathical Book Prize for books like this. Also, there are not very many books written the way I wanted. My content analysis ended with just ten middle-grade books being examined, as well as two major themes being identified. Six of the books focused on the main characters using math to understand the world around them, while the other four focused on middle schoolers learning to love math. Out of those four, only two featured math journaling. 

The research was not very hopeful…..until I read one of the books: Solving for M by Jennifer Swender. 

A Masterful Middle Grade Math Novel

Published in 2019, Solving for M is a heartfelt middle-grade novel. The story follows Mika, an artistic, introverted fifth-grader entering a new school year at Highbridge Middle School. On the very first day, Mika meets the coolest teacher I have found in a book: Mr. Vann. Mr. Vann uses every single moment of his class time and school calendar days to make sure students know that math is cool, and they are going to write about it. On the first day of school, Mr. Vann launches math journals with the students that have no rubrics, no minimum word count, and no grades. It is simply a place where they will write every day to explain how a math concept applies to their own lives. Oh, and adding pictures is highly encouraged.

Mika is very confused by this teacher’s requirement, but she loves to draw and jumps right in. However, Mika is not jumping right into the deep end of middle school. Her best friend is placed in the other pod and starts spending time with new friends. Mika has to learn to make new friends on top of starting a new school. But then, her mother is diagnosed with melanoma. Suddenly, Mika’s entire world is upside down. 

And the only place she starts to feel safe to express all her emotions is her math journal.

The Triad of Multimodality

As I became fully enthralled by Swender’s (2019) novel and Jennifer Naalchigar’s illustrations, I realized this book was exactly what my principal and math department head needed because the author prioritized a multimodal structure.

In literacy education, multimodality is “... an interdisciplinary approach that understands representation and communication extend beyond written language, and that includes a multiplicity of modes” —including text, visuals, spatial layouts, and gestures (Serafini & Gee, 2017). When educators prioritize and accept multimodal literacy as a valid writing and thinking process, they are accepting that the “signs people use to convey meaning are always embedded in social contexts and with specific purposes…where each mode is capable of providing information in ways that other modes cannot” (Kachrorsky et al, 2017).

Traditional schooling often over-privileges the linguistic mode (reading and writing text), pushing visual and spatial thinking to the margins. However, research shows that when we allow students to process complex ideas using multiple modes at once, it lowers cognitive load and creates sticky, meaningful learning pathways (Mayer, 2001).

Through its deliberate mix of traditional prose and hand-drawn journal entries, Solving for M demonstrates a masterful application of multimodality by perfectly blending three essential practices from the Reading Brain, the Math Brain, and the Artistic Brain:

1. Mathematical Reasoning: Mr. Vann requires each of his students to not only illustrate and track math in their real lives, but he also requires them to explain their reasoning while transposing numbers across illustrations. Mr. Vann connects major concepts such as estimation, inequalities, measurement, etc., through the math journal. 
   
2. Written Expression Mika uses written prose, captions, dialogue, graphic organizers, and more writing techniques to articulate the connection of mathematical concepts to the emotional realities of her mother’s cancer treatment. 
   
3. Artistic Expression: Mika incorporates doodles, shading, character sketches, etc to give a physical shape to her understanding of mathematical concepts as well as her own overwhelming anxiety. 
   

In Mr. Vann’s classroom, math ceases to be a flat sheet of rote memorization or an endless pile of worksheets. Instead, math becomes a practical, creative tool for life. The students use variables to map their unpredictable lives rather than just solving for a meaningless “x”. 

By witnessing Mika synthesize her artistic identity alongside mathematical concepts, the reader watches her math identity transform in real time. She discovers that she does not have to surrender her artistry or narrative to understand math; rather, her artistry is exactly what makes her math journal so profound.

Middle Schoolers’ Negative Trajectory

As I read through this novel, the juxtaposition of my education with the work Mr. Vann is providing did not go unnoticed. The work started to bring up several memories from my time as a middle school student. Two in particular stuck out in 7th-grade.

7th-grade was the first time I remember being corrected by a teacher for doodling on my paper. I doodled my notes because I need the connection of pictures and words to have meaningful notes for review later. However, my 7th-grade English teacher did not like that. She thought I was being lazy and ignoring her while I doodled. My way of learning was not valid for the traditional classroom.

The same year, I had a math teacher deny me the right to attend a math competition because I would not help them win. I had qualified for the competition. I had always been in advanced math classes. I had over a 100% in the class on that day. However, my math teacher decided that I was not good enough at math to help the school win, so I needed to just stay behind.
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From those days forward, I was always a reading person because reading did not require note-taking or math. This academic trauma is an all-too-common occurrence for middle schoolers.  John et al. (2023) defined math anxiety as a fear or tension that results from learning and evaluative situations involving math. Studies have shown that math anxiety peaks at the end of middle school and math identity declines throughout all of high school (Gentile et al., 2022). To put the numbers to it, 39% of teens believe math is an inherent characteristic of personality, and only 34% of teens say they enjoy math (Gentile et al., 2022). 

These statistics align with my personal experiences with my math identity declining throughout middle school. For me, the determining factor was the teacher in the classroom. I wish I had had a Mr. Vann teacher who encouraged both of these skills. I might have become a math teacher, too. 

Plotting New Pathways

Luckily, I found Solving for M while still working with middle school teachers and students. Finding this text inspired me to work through my own lingering beliefs about my math skills, and it ultimately returned me to the visual, artistic note-taking—now known in my doctoral work as sketchnoting—that brings me genuine joy and knowledge. ​

Solving for M offers all of these learning opportunities from page one:

• Models and Prompts for Math Journaling: Math teachers can find numerous ways to create journaling prompts that open a door for students. Students can see how Mika visually depicted her mathematical reasoning alongside her written explanations. Students can try the prompts, use Mika’s journal as inspiration, and find ways to apply the concepts to their own lives. 
• Sketchnoting as Writing Strategy: Teachers of all content areas can use the novel to invite students to write, respond, take notes, and more through sketchnoting. Allowing students to blend text and drawings honors all learning styles and helps all learners try out new styles.
• Discussion About the Middle School Experience: Swender (2019) dives into all the changes that middle schoolers are going through, as well as how learning is a daily process and does not fit into a box or neatly between the hours of 8:00-3:00. Mika’s journey opens up not only a discussion about school content, but also how students can process big emotions and changes. 

Let’s Keep the Tally Running!

Here are some more resources to incorporate math novels and identity into your classroom

• The Mathical Book Prize List: Explore the Mathical Book Prize archives to find targeted, age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction titles that champion mathematical reasoning for youth. 
  
• An Introduction to Sketchnoting: Check out resources like Rachel Smith's TEDx Talk, Drawing in Class, The Writing Mindset’s Sketchnoting blog post, or Tammy Gregor’s Ink and Ideas to learn how to integrate visual note-taking into your classroom pedagogy. 
  
• My Research Spreadsheet: Review my content analysis spreadsheet about the 10 books I dove into. 
  

And drop a comment below about other books that will help students develop their identity as learners!

References

Gentile, A., Imbornone, A. M., Marvasi, M., & Sciortino, M. (2022). Math anxiety and math identity in adolescents: Longitudinal trends and educational implications. Journal of Adolescent Research, 37(4), 512–535. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584211068123


John, A., Insouvanh, S., & Robnett, R. D. (2023). Math anxiety in middle schoolers: A fear or tension from learning and evaluative situations. Educational Psychology Review, 35(2), Article 45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09765-x


Kachorsky, D., Goff, M., Talarico, L., Stewart, O. G., Hoelting, M., Tran, K., Lee, K., & Elwood, K. (2017). Exciting times for new scholars: Doctoral students consider the past and the future of multiliteracies research and pedagogy. In F. Serafini & E. Gee (Eds.), Remixing multiliteracies: Theory and practice from New London to new times (pp. 187–196). Teachers College Press. 


Mayer, R. E. (2001). Multimedia learning. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139164603


Serafini, F., & Gee, E. (Eds.). (2017). Remixing multiliteracies: Theory and practice from New London to new times. Teachers College Press.
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Swender, J. (2019). Solving for M (J. Naalchigar, Ill.). Crown Books for Young Readers.