Children’s Literature in Mathematics Teaching: a didactic device to develop argumentative competence

Abstract

This research aimed to use children’s literature as a didactic device in mathematics teaching to promote the development of argumentative competence in the early years. The research is based on a broad theoretical framework that discusses argumentation, whether from a didactic or philosophical point of view, with a focus on Rui Alexandre Grácio’s ideas (2009). The methodology is qualitative, of the participant observation type. The intervention involved students in the 2nd grade of elementary school from a municipal public school in Belém (PA). The results revealed that children’s literature as a resource promoted interaction in the classroom, favoring the understanding of the concept of time measurements and qualifies as a teaching device that favors the practice of argumentation and the acquisition of argumentative competence. Thus, this device gave rise to situations that required student’s proactivity and autonomy to express opinions, defend arguments and counterarguments, respect each other’s speeches, and make conjectures in the face of an announced problem.