ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to:
find relationships between story and mathematical ideas: story of ‘Little Lumpty’ and counting in multiples of two to the twelfth multiple
move from picture books to oral storytelling
tell the story of what happens when an oral mathematical story is taken to the classroom.
‘Little Lumpty'In the little town of Dumpty there was a high wall. Humpty Dumpty had fallen from it long, long ago. But people still remembered him.
Every day children played by the wall and sang,
‘Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.’
Little Lumpty loved the wall and always dreamed about climbing to the top.
‘Don’t ever do that’, Lumpty’s mother said. ‘Remember, all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.’
But Little Lumpty couldn’t stop thinking about the wall. One day, on his way home from school, he found a long ladder and dragged it to the wall.
He climbed up … and up … and up.
At last he reached the top. ‘Oh, there’s my house! And there’s my school! I can almost touch the clouds!’
Lumpty was so happy that he danced along like a tightrope walker.
‘If only my friends could see me now!’
But then Little Lumpty looked down. IT WAS A BIG MISTAKE. His legs began to shake and tremble.
‘Oh, no! I don’t think I can get back to the ladder.’
‘What if I’m not home by dinner time?’
Darkness sets in and Little Lumpty remembers what happened to Humpty Dumpty. He screams for help. The people of the town spread out and hold a blanket, which he bounces on three times. He explains to his mother that he had to see what it was like on top of the wall. Little Lumpty tells the moon of his love of the wall, before falling asleep.
(Imai 1994) Little Lumpty (story prop to support telling of adapted oral version). https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203357392/b3e11d17-62de-457a-9da7-2c138c5740e2/content/fig5_1_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>