I chose the book Sam’s Sneaker Squares by Nat Gabriel. I actually used this book in the first lesson plan that I created this semester in Math Methods. The concept that this book is concentrated around is area and perimeter.
As a job Sam mows lawns. One day he realized that the yards are not all the same, and some take longer to mow whereas others take no time at all. He told his parents and brother about this dilemma. Dave, Sam’s brother, shows Sam how he can measure length and width to get the area, which is what he would be mowing. He is fascinated by this and then begins measuring everything with his feet, which he called sneaker squares. This gives Sam an idea of how large the yards are.
I used this book to integrate into a math lesson dealing with plotting gardens. I told the students that we would be Sam’s business partners dealing with the gardening aspect of the yards. I think this book gives excellent examples of how to measure area and can be used to advance into a topic on perimeter as well. This would even be something fun to use and allow the students to come up with their own type of measurements. I think in general students would grasp understanding about measuring, length, width, and area.
I chose the book "More or Less a Mess!" written by Shelia Keenan. I used it as a read aloud in my mini teach lesson. The book is about a girl whose room is a huge mess and her mom asks her to clean it up. The girl tries several solutions and in solving her messy room problem and then decides to organize her room into separate boxes (including a keep and give away box). The book is focused on classifying and sorting objects. In my mini teach, I focused on the terms more than, less than and equal and I asked students to sort two color chips into color groups and record which one they had more of, less of, or check if they were equal.
The best book I have at the moment about mathematics would have to be, "1+1=5 and Other Unlikely Additions" by David LaRochelle. I haven't been able to use this book yet as it is a little to complicated for my first grade internship classroom. I envision this being a great a fun book to base explorations on in a second or third grade classroom. This book is filled with quirky ways of doing math that challenge you mind, like 1+1=5= one set of twins and one set of triplets = five babies, and other random facts and figures. I think I like this book because it shows that math is now always about the things that add up, and that if your stuck thinking of things in that way you totally miss the point of this fun inquisitive book. Like I said, I haven't been able to use it yet- but one day hopefully my girls will get a kick out of it. I also like the Jon Scieszka book, "Math Curse." However, the same goes for that book- it would probably just scare my first grade intern students. If anyone has a great suggestion for first graders let me know, I would love some fun and interesting suggestions!
Emily M, Your book sounds delightful, I am going to the library tomorrow to look for it, it might be a great way to introduce measurement. I am glad you chose to write about this one- because I think it sounds pretty fun and might get the students really excited about different ways to do math. Thanks for sharing your selection!
I completely understand where you are coming from with books that you haven’t been able to use yet. I have only explored a couple for math, but in the Reading Methods course I have all these great ideas with specific books, but it never works how I initially envision it. After some time and tweaking lesson ideas I do typically fit them in. It sounds like a fun book though!
As far suggestions I think anything can be used. I am in a 3rd grade classroom and they are starting area and perimeter around the time I will be doing my lesson. I have yet to read it yet, but I have Spaghetti and Meatballs For All by Marilyn Burns. This book seems to work for that! At the end there is a whole section for using this book in a classroom.
The book that I chose was "The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar Fractions Book." We have all most likely had a hershey's bar so it is automatically something that is relatable. Not only is it relatable but it is about chocolate and candy. I am in a 5th grade classroom and this book would just be for more review but the students were studying fractions about a month ago. The book talks about whole fractions, reducing fractions, and equal fractions. It is a fun way to teach fractions.
Great use of the book and make it fun for the students. This is one thing that I have learned is that if you place students on a mission, like you did as Sam's business partners, they automatically are engaged and excited about the process. Thanks for sharing!
I recently read "A remainder of One" to my internship class before the teacher started teaching about remainders with division. The book is about an army ant platoon marching, but one ant keeps getting left out and is the remainder. Because th queen likes things tidy, the ant has to leave. Each day, they add another row to try to make the remaining ant fit. Finally, when there are 5 rows of 5 ants, all of the ants fit and there is no remainder. this was such a cute book and a great introduction to remianders.
Joel, I like the idea of using a Hershey bar book. I like the idea of using an actual Hershey bar to have hands on action there too. I love chocolate!!
My literature book for math is “Math Curse” by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. This book is about a boy who gets put under a math curse by his teacher Mrs. Fibonacci after she mentions that you can think of almost everything as a math problem. After that he can’t function without turning it into an equation or problem to be solved. From the time he leaves till he solves the final problem in his dream that night, everything he sees becomes a math situation. He has problems about time, fractions, true and false, multiplication, division, subtraction, addition, measurements, and even ancient Mayan numerals. It just goes to show that math surrounds us as he experiences math in every subject that day in school. The book is pretty funny. He really can turn one equation into another and ask questions that most would never think about. I think this book will relate well to my 6th grade math class I do my observation in. They are a good group of students and I think there are some questions in the book that we can take an actually try to solve relating to our lesson.
In response to Joel Stucky,
Your book personally sounds great! I am a chocoholic so of course I would have Hershey bars for the students. Not to mention that kind of bar is created perfectly to relate to fractions. By using things that students can identify with is only going to help improve their understanding of the concept. Playing with candy is also a great incentive for them to learn and have fun at the same time. My mentor always says to me, “If you see a student not having fun in my class, let me know, it means they aren’t learning!”
In response to Katie Coulter, I love this book; I have seen my 6th and 7th grade teachers read it at the beginning of the year to try to show students how math is all around us. It’s also a fun way to introduce the year, and the material that will be taught. This book is probably a little too advanced for some of the younger grades, because some of the information they have never even heard of and won’t hear about for a few years. I think around 5-7th grade is about the perfect year. Thanks for reminding me about this book, I’ll have to remember it when deciding on a book for my internships.
The book that I choose is called “Pythagoras and the Ratios: A Math Adventure” by Julie Ellis. I love this series of books. They are about a boy who while doing something stumbles on to a mathematical relationship. In this story Pythagoras is trying to make his cousins and his instruments play in tune, while doing this he discovers that notes that sound good together have a certain mathematical relationship. This is the discovery of ratios is suppose to came about. The stories usually have some fun reason why we call the mathematical function its name. These books are quite long but I just love them, and my students love them. I have seen many of them read to my middle schoolers. These books are rated for 3rd grade and up but a lot of the math talked about in these books would be more appropriate for upper elementary and middle school.
The book I chose was 365 Penguins. This book is a great book to help the students with counting. In the book, a family mysteriously receives a penguin each day of the year. By the end of the year, they have a house full of penguins and they find out who had been sending them (turns out to be a wacky uncle). I liked this book because it involves addition, subtraction, multiplication, and different types of shapes. It also helps the student learn how many days there are in a week/month/year. I would use this book as a read aloud for a lesson where the students are adding larger numbers. It gets them thinking how to add by 7, and then by 30.
In response to Kristle C- I think that your book sounds great! I liked how you integrated it into your mini teach lesson. Although I haven’t read the book, I think that one could use it when they were teaching how to classify shapes (because you are classifying and sorting objects.)
The book I chose to write about for the literature blog for math is called Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes by Grace Maccarone. I actually used this book as part of my mini teach math lesson in the classroom when presenting my mini teach lesson. It is a great book to use for kindergarten and up when you begin talking about tangrams and different shapes. The book goes through the story of the three little pigs and throughout the book the pigs get the seven magic shapes that make up a tangram. The pictures throughout the book show how the seven shapes are used to create all sorts of things from boats to candles to even a house. At the end of the book it gives the teacher suggestions of questions that he or she could ask throughout the book in order to help the students understand the concept that the seven shapes which are 2 small triangles, one medium triangle, 2 large triangles, one square and one parallelogram are used to form a tangram puzzle. At the end of the story it shows different animals and objects that the students can create using their seven tangram pieces which I think is great. For an enrichment activity the teacher could challenge the student and able him or her to try a harder tangram puzzle. Overall this book is great for kindergarten and up when talking about the concept of shapes and mainly focusing on the area of tangrams. I was able to use this book as a read aloud in my math mini teach lesson and I feel that it fit perfectly into the overall math lesson.
In response to Emily M., The book Sam’s Sneaker Squares seems like a very cute book to include in a math lesson focused on the concept of area and perimeter. I like how the book is able to relate back to the students because the boy in the story is measuring the area and perimeters of the yards he is mowing. The students are able to relate to the idea that not all of the yards in their own neighborhood are the same size and that some of the yards are going to take longer or shorter to mow than others. I agree with you that the students would be able to grasp the concept of measuring length, width, and area after reading this book. It is a great way for the students to be able to learn about the concept of area and perimeter and apply it to their everyday life. Lastly I agree with you that it would be great to allow the students to come up with their own measurements based on what they learned from the book.
I chose the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I would use this book to establish a background when working with PreK-1st grade students. This book is interesting and colorful and will keep the students attention. I would read the book to the students and have them count the objects as each page is turned. Then after they count each page I would ask them to tell how many in all? What I have experienced in my job is that is is very hard for children to understand if they count four objects and the teacher asks how many are there, the answer is four. Hopefully this book would be interesting enough and help them grasp that concept. In Response To: I think that is a great idea! It would help the students to see what they will be learning and how tangrams are used.
I choose the book Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta. I actually used this in my mini teach but because I can't get it uploaded no one has seen that yet:/. If anyone has any input I would love to hear it, I have converted it just won't upload. Anyway the book was really good and I used my 9, & 7 year old sons as my audience and they were entertained and learned something at the same time. I think you could introduce this book as early as 2nd or 3rd grade and start letting the students get into their little minds that things can be split up and that is what makes a fraction. The book talks about apples and all the things associated with that and also incorporates math in a way that is not confusing. This book is a great one to integrate into this time of year because apples are associated with fall so much. I used the fraction towers in my mini teach and showed how a whole can be split into different parts but still equal a whole. I like the book and I am going to buy it for myself so I can add it to my teacher library.
I need to get that book and give it to my children so they have ideas on how to organize their room:). I think that is a great way to incorporate math and have it relate to the students and I bet you might even have a few that go home and try it so that would definitely please mom and dad too:).
I was subbing in a first grade classroom some time ago and the book "If you made a million" by David M. Schwartz was brought to my attention and I thought it was an awesome book that can be used when teaching students about how each coin or money can be added up to equal some other coin or dollar value, like 4 quarters has the same value as a one dollar bill. I used this book in my mini teach having the students create their own money combinations that equaled 48 cents. I did this with my mom and she had come up with several, but had no clue that there were 30 different combinations that would have equaled 48 cents.
There are so many possible lessons that could be created with this book. The 3rd grade class I'm interning in has been counting coins and dollars this week and a lesson about dollar and coin combinations could be drawn from this book.
Using children's books as a way to begin a mathematics lesson, I believe, is a great way to get the students excited about what they are about to learn.
I chose the book “One Duck Stuck” by Phyllis Root and illustrated by Jane Chapman. The focus of this book is counting. I think this book would be fantastic to read to a kindergarten classroom. What I also like about this book is the rhyming. “Down by the marsh, by the sleepy, slimy marsh, one duck gets stuck in the muck, down by the deep green marsh.” The book also has a lot of repetition in the words. This would be perfect for the kindergarteners because it counts to ten then at the end it talks about ten in all. The book talks about 9 different animals that are trying to help duck get out of the muck. On each page they show how many animals tried to help. For instance 6 skunks tried to help, so you would count the skunks with the kids to help reinforce learning. I think using literature is important in all lessons not just reading lessons!
@Joel Stucky I like your Hershey fraction book. I think some children need a real world reference to understand. I have also seen an M&M counting book. Those books could result in a special treat in some math classes! Very fun!
For my children’s literature book I chose “Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems” by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Karen Barbour. Lee Bennett Hopkins is a well known poetry author but this book is not composed of all his poems but poetry he selected from other authors. This is a 32 page book full of mathematics poems. There poetry topics range from adding to place value, there is a huge variety that will stretch across the math curriculum. What I love about the book is that a teacher can use this book multiple times for different lessons. It is a great source for a quick read aloud before a math lesson. My favorite aspect of the book would have to be the illustrations. This book is full of bright vibrant colors and unique drawings. It is sure to catch the attention of students both visually and mentally. I don’t have anything against longer read alouds but I think sometimes a short quick poem can hold the interest of a child better than a longer story. I also think that a book with pictures relating to the reading is more interesting for students to delve into. It’s a really fun useful book that can be used throughout an entire school year.
Tammi Whi, I love “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” book! My niece loves it too. You’re so right about it being interesting for younger children with its bright vibrant colors. I like your idea of having students count the objects as each page is turned. I think when students are attracted to the book visually and can do something hands on with it they’ll retain more information from it.
Booke M, The book “Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes” sounds like a great teaching tool. I like the idea that it’s related to the story of the three little pigs, which I think most students will be familiar with. It sounds like a great rendition of the well known story. The fact that the book gives the teacher suggestion questions is great and would be so very helpful for teaching. I think it’s helpful to always have a read aloud across the curriculum but one like this that stems from a well known story and turns it into something completely mathematical is one of the best kind.
Upon organizing my five-year-old's bookshelf, I stumbled upon one of his former favorite books, "Elevator Magic" by Stuart J. Murphy and illustrated by G. Brian Karas. As the cover is tearing off and the pages have been scribbled, I remember and recall why this book was read over and over by my son and I.
Let me first share that the book catches a young reader's eye by the front cover and title. Magic is so fun, but when adults can link in to mathematics, the possibilities are endless. The story is about a young boy who subtracts his way down to the lobby by pushing the elevator buttons. By pushing the numbered buttons, the boy is able to experience different floors of the building while his mother introduces the boy to the idea of subtraction.
My son and I not only read this book over one thousand times, but we also made a cardboard elevator buttons. We pushed them and pretended we were visiting our own floors created in our imaginations. We also talked about subtracting, as the main character in the story did with his mother.
I am interning in the first grade classroom. This book is perfect for those young readers. I cannot wait for the students to start learning subtraction so that I can read this book to them!
Shannon H., I like the idea of using poems in a mathematics lesson. The rhyming and beating patterns have a lasting impression on students. What a great way for beginning readers to assist the teacher in reading! Thanks for the idea!
The literature I chose to integrate into one of my lessons is Millions to Measure by David M. Schwartz. My lesson is over measurement, and I think it could be used in grades K-4. This book is about Marvelosissimo the Mathematical Magician who takes students back in time to see how people used to measure things. I talks about how people discovered they needed a system to measure lengths and distances, so they began by using their feet. This clearly didn't work because feet come in different sizes. They used stones to weigh objects, but that didn't work either because stones come in different sizes. This book continues to take the students back in time building knowledge about how measurements formed. They start with feet, pounds, and cups. Then it goes into inches and miles. It then goes into the metric system and all the units within it. The book then ends by talking about how most countries in the world have adopted the metric system because it is so easy to use, but not the U.S. This story is told with great pictures and fun story lines that are suitable for young students. I feel it's a great way to introduce the metric system, and that's what I plan on doing in my formal observation. This author also wrote a book called How Much Is A Million, which would be a good book to help with number sense.
I used "The Math Curse" in my mini-teach lesson. I think it's a fun book for students and it helps them to see how math can always be related to real-world problems and situations. My lesson was over shapes, and I told students that just like in the book when the kid saw equations everywhere, we see shapes everywhere. I then had them look around the room to see what shapes they could see. Good book choice, I really like it!
For my book, I chose "The Tangram Magician" by Lisa Campbell Ernst and Les Ernst. It is a fable about a son who dropped his fathers tile (it was a special tile) and broke it into 7 pieces. Basically, he creates different shapes with the pieces and his imagination takes off. I was not real thrilled with this book. I was at first, but it just didn't say what I wanted it to say. I also had to get it off of the internet and could not find it again, which was a bummer. I am looking for another book now because my lesson is geometric shapes.
Tammi Whi The Hungry Caterpillar is a story that is really loved by the younger grade school children. there is some others that go along with that book by the same author, if you didn't know. And the kids love them all. When I first saw you used that book, I wondered how you would tie it in (I don't remember it real well, but I didn't think it was math integrated) But I like what you did.
I am currently using the book Addition by sheila Cato to read to a first grade student who needs additional work on number sense. This book would not be a book to read for a read aloud. I use it algebra in the form of word problems that are relevant to real life situations as a way of showing how math or addition is used in the everyday world. On page 5 the illustrator uses a clothes lines with shirts hanging on it to show number order. I love this activity and have used it in the classroom. Great for decimals and fractions as well. Just get a rope and fold pieces of paper in half. Write numbers, fractions, percentages, or numbers with decimals on the paper and pass them out to the students. Have the students place the paper on the rope where it would come in order from least to greatest. Some papers will need to be moved as more students place papers on the rope in order to get all the numbers on the number lines. Students seem to really enjoy this activity and this book models this activity.
Comment for laceydk: Elevator Magic is a wonderful book. I think that an illustrator can make or break a books effectiveness. Children that are developing a number sense can gain understanding through colorful and vibrant illustrations. As we learned in our art methods class, art can enhance curriculum. In this case the book has wonderful illustrations that enhance the effectiveness. I would like to find this book on ebay or another auction house to purchase for my library.
For my mini-teach children’s book, I chose How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara. This is a wonderful book for reinforcing several math skills such as counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s, estimating, and odds and evens. It also teaches about being kind to one another, which is a terrific addition to the book. Along with everything else this book offers, it also works well for science integration as the book includes a lot of great information about pumpkins. With my lesson occurring in October, the theme of the book is also a perfect choice! The story is about a math lesson in Mr. Tiffin’s class which involves three pumpkins: a small, a medium, and a large. All of the students are given a chance to guess the number of seeds in each pumpkin, and Charlie, the smallest boy in the class, feels that all the “best guesses” have been taken by the time he gets his chance. The pumpkins are cut open and the seeds are counted and totaled with a result that is much to the students’ surprise – the smallest pumpkin has the most seeds! The diversity of the class is also shown through the beautiful illustrations in the book. This book is just terrific for a lesson in reinforcing how to make or count by tens! I would have loved to have been able to actually cut open pumpkins and count the seeds – in my mini teach or my formal lesson – but this is definitely a lesson that requires a lot of time and “grown-up” help! ;-)
@Kymberly, that sounds like such a great book! I live in Manhattan, so if feel like that would be a great book for the kids around here, since we are so close to the army base. I will definitely bring that up to my mentor teacher. We are working with division right now and remainders so that that would fit in perfectly.
In response to Joel S.: The Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar Fractions Book sounds like a wonderful way to teach or reinforce fractions. Any time we can incorporate hands-on learning (and chocolate!), I think the students will be fully engaged. I remember each of my daughters using the Hershey’s Kisses Addition Book in kindergarten, and they LOVED the lesson! My mentor teacher had originally planned for me to teach subtraction, so I had planned to purchase the book, The Hershey’s Kisses Subtraction Book. Unfortunately, the students didn’t get that far so I had to change my plans…but you can bet I will be using these books someday!!! :-)
I chose the book, The Doorbell Rang, by Pat Hutchins. This is great to tie into a lesson with fractions. The story starts out with a baking a dozen cookies for her daughter and son. The divide them evenly, each getting 6 a piece. Just then, the door bell rings and 2 friends enter. Now they must divide the 12 cookies between the 4 of them. Until, the doorbell rings again…This is a cute story that teaches sharing and a real life fraction problem. Such a cute story and great illustrations as well.
Betsy! What a great book, or at least is sounds like it. I will have to check that out. It is perfect for this time of year and you can really get some hands on learning. Thanks so much, i can't wait to check it out!!
The book that I love and that so many students seem to love and respond to is 1,2,3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle. It is by the same author as The Very Hungry Caterpillar but not as widely known. The book is great for counting because it adds new zoo animals on the new pages. It can be used for Science as well because it uses these different animals and it can be integrated in very different ways in that aspect. The illustrations are also great and children love the beautiful colors.
In response to Betsy F... That book sounds like such a fun and very useful book. I also love that it is a seasonal book and students always seem to get excited about the seasonal books. I will definitely have to look for it the next time I am at the book store.
I chose to write about the book “Sir Cumference and the First Round Table.” This is such a cute story with a lot of great illustrations and explanations for numerous different shapes. In the book it begins by talking about the Circumscribers who are the enemies of King Arthur and his men. King Arthur called all of his men to his castle so they could plan a way to fight the Circumscribers. One of the knights King Arthur called was named Sir Cumference. Sir Cumference is married to Lady Di of Ameter and they have a son named Radius. The King and his knights began their meetings. Sir Cumference went home after the first meeting and told his wife Lady Di about the difficulties the men had at the table in the shape of a rectangle while trying to talk. Lady Di suggested that they cut the rectangular table in half and place the pieces side by side making the shape of a square. Sir Cumference called for the help of the carpenter, Geo of Metry. Geo of Metry cut the table in half and created the square. The next meeting did not go any better so Sir Cumference spoke to Lady Di again. They decided the square should be cut in half and replaced together, this time the table was in the shape of a parallelogram. The King did not like this because the corner of the table poked him like a sword. Sir Cumference and Lady Di then decided the table should be in the shape of a octagon. This did not work because every knight wanted their own side of the table but there are only 8 sides and 12 knights. The King then suggested making the table in the shape of an egg or an oval. They all liked this but it did not leave room for everyone while at the table. The next day Sir Cumference, Lady Di, and Radius went out for a horseback ride. They came upon a tree laid on its side. Lady Di went up to the tree truck and raised her arms reaching the top; they decided it could be a table top. That night Geo of Metry worked all night making the new table. The circular table was perfect. King Arthur decided to celebrate that night. The King said “to honor the knights who have gathered at this table, they will be known as the Knight of the Round Table. Because Lady Di of Ameter has a reach that is equal to the distance across the table, we will name this measurement for her…the diameter. I am proud of Radius too…let us call this small measurement from the center of the circle to its edge the radius. Finally let us not forget Sir Cumference, the outer edge of the table will be named for him…the circumference.”
For my book, I chose "The history of Zero" by Tika Downey. I am using this book in my formal teach lesson because the topic I am teaching is "across the zeros". The book is actually fairly complex, so I will only read a couple of pages to the students. It ties math to history very well and gives the students the idea of where "zero" came from. So often the number zero is dismissed because it is seen as having no value. However, this book explains the importance of zero in today's world. If you want to know why we must recognize zero pick this book. It really is interesting.
Your book sounds really cute for kids. It would be fun to incorporate actual Hershey candy bars into the lesson also. I know everything is suppose to be healthy at school but I think for one lesson a teacher could get a Hershey bar for each of his/her students and use the candy bar as a hands-on manipulative. Then when the students were done with the lesson, they could eat the candy bar!
Math Man by Teri Daniels and Illustrated by Timothy Bush. This book is about a class visiting a grocery store and experiencing math for themselves. I really liked this book because it seems really fun for students. There is also a school of mice that are on the adventure as well and the reader can read their comments too. The mice will also express the math problems with numbers while the book expresses it through words. The book uses clever expressive language that is fun to read also. Since almost every page of this book has a math problem in it this will make it easy to combine this book with a math lesson. The teacher can take one math problem that is in the book and work it out in class. The teacher can have the students working in pairs to illustrate the math problem or work independently. The teacher can also use this book for background knowledge. For instance the teacher can say “students remember the part of the book when the mom was buying snacks for her kids and there were five kids but only four snacks in a box? What is a different way you can help this mother solve this problem?” This book is really great because it is all about math and incorporates reading too. The subject in this book can be related to students because it uses a grocery store setting. It also shows that math is everywhere and can be fun.
To Jen Watson: First of all, the book sounds great. I will have to remember that one. It is a great time of year to integrate apples into lessons. Fractions can be hard for kids, so any hands on would be great.
Secondly, I am going to send you a message about downloading the video. I had a lot of problems as well.
Jennifer Pen reply to Carissa K., I love the Eric Carle books I think that they are all so cute and cute pictures to look at. I remember reading the Hungry Caterpillar through out the years and still think that it is a great book.
The book I chose to write about was a bit difficult to find because I wanted to find a book that had to do with Algebra which is what my formal will be on. It is for 6th grade students, so I have not decided as to whether I am going to actually read to them because I feel as though they won't pay attention.So the book I ended up finding was Safari Park By: Stuart Bjorkman. It's about some children and they are at an amusement park and they only have 4 tickets for the Treetop Coaster, Just 2 for the Elephant Twirl, five cousins each have 20 tickets to spend. Students then have to use algebra in order to find out how many rides they can go on. To me it seems like a fun book and it would gets students to be interactive with the read aloud.
In response to Jennifer P, I liked hearing about the book you chose. What interested me the most what that it took place in a grocery store and it is having the students work with numbers in a real life situation. I like the idea of being able to use each problem in a lesson and having the students work the problems out as a class or individually.
The book I picked was "Color Zoo by Lois Elhert." This book is for young children but even my older children love the book. The book has hardback pages. It tells an animal, shape, and color on each page. This covers many different concepts. I like how the shapes are cut out so you can give them paper and let them trace the shape. The one problem I have with the book is that they call one shape a diamond and now we call it a rhombus. It's fun and colorful and best of all it's hardback so it doesn't get tore up as easy.
In response to Kayla R. I like the fact you used a book that wasn't common. I like the oldies but I also like new. Children love to read something that they have not read before. When you said algebra I was thinking very complicated but it seems like it would be a fun book and not too hard to follow. I bet my daughter would love it. Thanks for sharing.
I had to create a math lesson plan for the aged 3-5 preschool class I am interning in for my Early Childhood class. I did a lesson on sorting. SO I read a book titled, “Sort It Out” by Barbara Mariconda. It was basically about a little mouse that collected lots of stuff and the mother mouse wanted it to be gone through and get rid of stuff. So the mouse sorted all the stuff by different categories. Some items were able to fall into more than one category. The students really enjoyed the different things the mouse had and how he sorted them into different categories. Then just like the mouse in the story, we took different shaped pasta noodles and sorted them by their similarities. They really enjoyed the story. They then were sorting other things in the classroom by the different categories. They reminded themselves the different groups Packy (the mouse) made his items fit into. It was really easy reading and not very long. They did great at listening and following throughout the story.
In response to Tammy M--- Never have heard of the book, but apparently you were able to find one that covers many concepts. That is good because you can use it for more than one concept. Sometimes students really like a book that is read to them, but you feel there is no reason or purpose to read it again. In this case, this book would fall into that category so if they really enjoy it you can read for each concept as you teach it. I am enjoying this post as I am writing all the books down and what they are good for.
The book I used for my mini-teach was Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta. And I found a book for my formal lesson that I just love, Gator Pie by Louise Mathews. Let’s be honest, fractions are more fun when they relate to food! In Gator Pie Alvin and Alice find this pie and they are planning to divide the pie into two equal pieces when another alligator shows up and demands “Gimme some pie,” and so they plan to cut the pie into thirds, but before they can a fourth gator shows up and so they plan to divide it into four equal parts. More and more gators keep coming and finally they divide the pie into 100 pieces. Alvin jumps on the table and yells “Pick a piece! We’re not sure they are all the same size.” The gators all start fighting among themselves and Alvin and Alice grab the pie and split it, 50/50, each of them get 50 pieces of pie or one half. There are many things I like about this book. One is that I can make a “Gator Pie” to take to class to share with the students. For lower grades I like the M & M math books. When my daughter was in kindergarten (many years ago), we would read the M & M Addition book for her math lessons. There is a subtraction book of M & M math also. I know that in the school system today it is not a great idea to promote eating candy, but the pictures are bright and colorful and it is fun when you use real M&Ms to do the math in the book.
I chose the book "Ten in a Bed" by Mary Rees. It bases it's story off of the classic children's song (ten in a bed and the little one said, "roll over, roll over"). This book is great for subtraction. I actually used it with my internship class just a few weeks ago. It was great and they loved the music aspect and the pictures are very interesting- not a lot of detail but would be great for studying watercolor in art. So, it can be used for integration in reading as well as music and art. The students can count on their hands through out the book or they can count in their heads. As you get towards the middle of the story they will begin to realize that some parts of the books repeat (the chorus) and you can encourage them to say the words along with you. Also, once you finish the story you can ask your students to help you count back up (addition).
In response to Carrie H.: I loved what you said about how fractions are great when they relate to food. We did a food related fraction lesson in our Math Methods class. We used a cookie cake and it was great! I can see how much the student would be interested in a lesson where they get to play with food. I can see it becoming a distraction but I guess it could work both ways.
First off, I always think its so exciting how easy it is to integrate reading into other subjects. This really is an important feature for children to understand. I choose the book Apple Trouble by Ragnhild Scamell. Throughout the book, different amounts of objects fall on top of a hedgehog. I used this book for my mini teach and also for my formal teach. I had a graphic organizer of a hedgehog and they students had to draw a picture of the different objects that fell on hedgehog. With this idea, the students had to pay close attention to what is being said, so they could not focus a whole lot of time drawing, they had to do both. At the end of the story, I had them count how many items fell on the hedgehog. This was actually confusing for them because some students counted each item as a whole, while some counted them individually. I honestly think any book could be used for a math integration. A lot of people think that only books with numbers in them can be used, but I do not think that is true.
In Response to Betsy: What a fun book to use in math! I am sure the students will love it! It is a great time to use the book during the fall season. I am sure some of the children have never seen the inside of a pumpkin before. You could also tie it in with science and talk about how pumpkins grow and try planting one of the seeds. Great book choice!
The book I chose is Times Tables the Fun Way by Judy Liautuad and Dave Rodriguez. My daughter is learning her multiplication and we actually have this book! It is great for helping her learn these and I think it is good for all ages. We had some similar to this book too at the middle school I worked at. It seems very elementary, which in a way is, but they are great fun visuals for special needs children. They enjoyed using them to help them with the multiplication!
Tessa~ part of the up-side (in my opinion) of relating fractions (and Mathematics in general) to food and cooking/baking is that it drives home the fact that Math is part of everyday life and not just something we do in a classroom and leave at school. :)
Children’s Literature Blog – October 31, 2011 The book I chose to write about is “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly” by Simms Taback. This is one of my favorite children’s books and I love to work with it in first grade. This book has a very fun song that goes with it which makes it fun and catchy. I will incorporate this book into my math lesson by using it as an opening activity. I will make the old lady with a clear stomach! I will then make each of the insects and animals listed in the story out of card stock and laminate them. Before the read aloud I will pass out the laminated insects and animals and hang the old lady on the wall. As a WHOLE class the students will count the number of insects and animals we have. As we read the book aloud, each person will put their insect or animal in the old lady’s stomach when the insect or animal is read about. When the read aloud is over, I will take the insects or animals out of the stomach and we will count them aloud to be sure we got them all. Later in the year, I will use this book and plan to count backwards. We will count forwards as we put the items in the stomach and count backwards as we pull them back out!
Just like the Hersey's bar concept, this book is relatable to everday life and students can learn how to count, while having fun.
The photos within this book are life size and clear. I have read this book with a student in my practicum before and it motivated him to see the colors and count them. That's the bonus-It helps them learn their colors.
After reading the book, you can have a lesson surrounded around M & M's. It can even be an ice breaker game where if a student picks a yellow M and M, they have to say their favorite food. If they grad a red M and M, they have to say their favorite tv show, etc.
This is very interactive and fun for the students.
I used the Hersey's bar book within my lesson plan/mini-teach and really enjoy it as well! The author makes it easy for students to relate to and makes it fun. Nicely incorporated with fractions (which is what my lesson covered).
Good choice! I want more of these books...very fun.
I think that it is so important to do read alouds in reading class as well as mathematics class and all of the other subjects as well. Some students really relate to reading and they might better understand a concept by being exposed to it through a book than simply through lecture.
The book I chose is called "One, Two, Three, Count with Me" by Catherine and Laurence Anholt. Throughout the book, we follow a little boy as he counts many different objects. He counts flowers, kites, trucks and the days of the week. The text rhymes and it's a great way to show children that anything can be counted. The days of the week, body parts, animals and other objects are represented so it's not just counting one type of object. Teachers can use this book to talk about transportation, animals, food and more. There are also multiple shapes that can be found in the book and students can be encouraged to point them out while listening to the story.
One book that would be really good for integrating reading into math is "The Doorbell Rang" by Pat Hutchins. In this book a mother has made a dozen cookies and the children are excited because that means that they each get six cookies but no one makes cookies like their grandmother. They are about to eat their cookies when the door bell rings multiple times and more children show up to their house which means they have to redivide the cookies. At the end, there are only enough cookies for each child to eat one. The door bell rings one more time and it's their grandma with a big tray of cookies. This is a good book to teach problem solving and dividing.
I'm glad that you enjoy integrating reading into other subjects by doing read alouds. It really is a simple way to do it and the students always love hearing a story. I really enjoyed your book and I'm sure your students love it as well. It's a cute book, they get to draw and I like the fact that they have to be actively listening to know what to draw. I like that you mentioned how a read aloud for mathematics doesn't necessarily have to have numbers in it.
In response to Deidre J I also think that you do not need a book with numbers to integrate into math. I used a booked called “The Button Box” for my mini teach. This book was about a young boy who went through his grandmother’s button box and sorted the buttons. With this book, the students could look at different shapes, color, and sizes and compare them.
One excellent math book I found was “Mary Claire Likes to Share” by Joy Hulme. This book is an great way to introduce and talk about fractions. The book is about a little girl who shares different foods with her friends. This book is so great because it provides an explanation as well as a visual representation of fractions. This would be easy to incorporate with a hands-on activity using food or other objects for students to divide and share. Not only does the book provide a lesson on fractions, it is a good example of sharing. The book uses rhyming, which is an excellent reading tool and has fun and colorful illustrations. I would recommend this book for anyone that is starting a fractions unit with their class.
Monse, That sounds like a really good book. My students are working on multiplication right now, but will soon be moving into division. I will have to check out your book and suggest it to my teacher. This would also be good to use when talking about fractions. Thanks for sharing!
The children’s literature book that I chose was “The Math Curse” by John Sciezska. This isn’t a book that I have used for one of my math lessons, but it is a book that my mentor teacher has in my internship class. It is a cute, funny, story about a girl whose teacher tells her that you can think of almost everything as a math problem. The next day she wakes up afflicted with “a math curse,” and begins seeing everything as a math problem, even when pouring milk in her cereal and walking to the bus. This book is great for children of many ages, although older students will probably be able to calculate the problems more easily and will also get more of the humor. The book deals with many math concepts including addition, subtraction, measurement, time, multiplication, division, and fractions. My mentor teacher read this book at the beginning of the school year to her students, as a way to show them that “math is everywhere” and to teach them to keep in mind that math is relatable to things that happen in their everyday lives. I think I would use this book in a similar way, since it deals with so many different math concepts.
I choose the book “Pennies” by Suzanne Lieurance. I used this in my mini-teach lesson for first graders. It is an easy reader book that helps students understand how to count change. The book is about a girl who had five pennies but used one penny. She comes across a lemonade stand where it costs 5 cents to buy a drink. She has to figure out how many more pennies she needs to make 5 cents or a nickel. I used this book to integrate into a math lesson using coins. The book was great at defining each coin and telling the worth of each one and what they looked like. At the end of the book was a great review on which coins one could use to make 5 cents, 10 cents and so forth.
The book “Mary Claire Likes to Share” sounds like an interesting read and would be great to use during a math lesson. Students could relate to it as it has examples for them to understand. I also like how it uses sharing in the book as well. I will have to check this one out.
One of the hardest parts of compiling the lesson plans was finding literature. I was surprised when I went to the Wichita public library, a small section is devoted to math in the children's area. However I was quickly disappointed in the selection. Don't get me wrong, some great books were there, I had just hoped to see more. A few books stood out that were authored by David Adler - well known for his Cam Jansen series. The books were colorful and stood out compared to some of the older 80's math selections. Currently, I am waiting to receive a book suggested from our math text. "The Man Who Made Parks" by Frieda Wishinsky is a nonfiction novel about the man who designed Central Park in New York City. Fractions are used to design the park 1/2 natural habitat, 1/10 playground, 2/5 gardens. I look forward to getting it and hope
@Joel Like the many other comments on the book "Hershey Milk Chocolate Fraction Book" I too am excited to add this book to my collection. Chocolate added to anything ALWAYS makes it better. So chocolate added to math sounds like a win-win!
The book I am blogging about is called "Stacks of Trouble" by Martha F. Brenner. This is a great book that talks about multiplication. This book uses stacks of dirty dishes to show arrays and help students understand that multiplication is just a certain number of groups with a certain number of items in each group. Like 3 stacks of 4 green plates. This book is really fun to read and the students can relate to it because they may have had to do the dishes once or twice at home. I really enjoyed this book and even put it into my instructional unit as a read aloud.
I have read that book and think it is great! I even saw a teacher use it during her lesson one day. I thought that using this book really helped the students understand how to use and count money.
I chose the book "Hershey Kiss Subtraction". This is a pretty common book, but it focuses on using Hershey Kisses to subtract.
There are so many subtraction concepts in this book. It is great to use. The story uses real life settings and places Hershey Kisses in with the setting to make it more familiar for children. The subtraction problems are also in a story so children can comprehend what is going on.
I think that the hardest part of the math instructional unit was literature. I know that it is very important, but without the resources of a regular teacher it is difficult. It seems that every book you find is somehow out of reach. I know their are several books that can be used as literature for math, but I guess I only want the best.
I think fractions are such a hard thing for not only children but everybody. Any book you can find on fractions will help the children relate to real life situations. Students who can relate fractions to their life seem to catch on quicker.
Sorry, I am late on my post, for some reason I could not find out where to complete this assignment. The book I chose was "Whole-Y Cow: Fractions are Fun" by Taryn Souders and illustrated by Tatjiana Mai-Wyss. I chose to talk about this book because I have used it before with one of my students and I was introducing fractions. She absolutely loved this book and actually asked to read it the next day as well. It is about a cow that goes on an adventure on a farm and gets in paint. One sections this cow is half blue, then red, white, and blue. Each page introduces a new fraction. I also love this book because of all the colors and illustrations on each page. It is so colorful that it definitely keeps children's attention on each page as they read it out loud or have it read to them. I suggest everyone to take a look at this book if you ever need a read aloud for a fractions unit.
In response to Sarah Rob--I completely agree with you. I believe read alouds can be just as beneficial in mathematics as they can be for reading class. They are a great way to introduce new concepts or lessons. I chose a book about fractions and I noticed you chose a book about counting different items. Your book sounds great to read with younger students. I definitely need to read this book. These are all great suggestions to literature in mathematics. Thanks for sharing!
I chose the book Sam’s Sneaker Squares by Nat Gabriel. I actually used this book in the first lesson plan that I created this semester in Math Methods. The concept that this book is concentrated around is area and perimeter.
ReplyDeleteAs a job Sam mows lawns. One day he realized that the yards are not all the same, and some take longer to mow whereas others take no time at all. He told his parents and brother about this dilemma. Dave, Sam’s brother, shows Sam how he can measure length and width to get the area, which is what he would be mowing. He is fascinated by this and then begins measuring everything with his feet, which he called sneaker squares. This gives Sam an idea of how large the yards are.
I used this book to integrate into a math lesson dealing with plotting gardens. I told the students that we would be Sam’s business partners dealing with the gardening aspect of the yards. I think this book gives excellent examples of how to measure area and can be used to advance into a topic on perimeter as well. This would even be something fun to use and allow the students to come up with their own type of measurements. I think in general students would grasp understanding about measuring, length, width, and area.
I chose the book "More or Less a Mess!" written by Shelia Keenan. I used it as a read aloud in my mini teach lesson. The book is about a girl whose room is a huge mess and her mom asks her to clean it up. The girl tries several solutions and in solving her messy room problem and then decides to organize her room into separate boxes (including a keep and give away box). The book is focused on classifying and sorting objects. In my mini teach, I focused on the terms more than, less than and equal and I asked students to sort two color chips into color groups and record which one they had more of, less of, or check if they were equal.
ReplyDeleteEmily- Sounds like this book would be perfect for a lesson on area and perimeter! Great choice!
ReplyDeleteThe best book I have at the moment about mathematics would have to be, "1+1=5 and Other Unlikely Additions" by David LaRochelle. I haven't been able to use this book yet as it is a little to complicated for my first grade internship classroom. I envision this being a great a fun book to base explorations on in a second or third grade classroom.
ReplyDeleteThis book is filled with quirky ways of doing math that challenge you mind, like 1+1=5= one set of twins and one set of triplets = five babies, and other random facts and figures.
I think I like this book because it shows that math is now always about the things that add up, and that if your stuck thinking of things in that way you totally miss the point of this fun inquisitive book. Like I said, I haven't been able to use it yet- but one day hopefully my girls will get a kick out of it. I also like the Jon Scieszka book, "Math Curse." However, the same goes for that book- it would probably just scare my first grade intern students. If anyone has a great suggestion for first graders let me know, I would love some fun and interesting suggestions!
Emily M,
ReplyDeleteYour book sounds delightful, I am going to the library tomorrow to look for it, it might be a great way to introduce measurement. I am glad you chose to write about this one- because I think it sounds pretty fun and might get the students really excited about different ways to do math. Thanks for sharing your selection!
@ Adrianne Hoefler
ReplyDeleteI completely understand where you are coming from with books that you haven’t been able to use yet. I have only explored a couple for math, but in the Reading Methods course I have all these great ideas with specific books, but it never works how I initially envision it. After some time and tweaking lesson ideas I do typically fit them in. It sounds like a fun book though!
As far suggestions I think anything can be used. I am in a 3rd grade classroom and they are starting area and perimeter around the time I will be doing my lesson. I have yet to read it yet, but I have Spaghetti and Meatballs For All by Marilyn Burns. This book seems to work for that! At the end there is a whole section for using this book in a classroom.
The book that I chose was "The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar Fractions Book." We have all most likely had a hershey's bar so it is automatically something that is relatable. Not only is it relatable but it is about chocolate and candy. I am in a 5th grade classroom and this book would just be for more review but the students were studying fractions about a month ago. The book talks about whole fractions, reducing fractions, and equal fractions. It is a fun way to teach fractions.
ReplyDeleteEmily,
ReplyDeleteGreat use of the book and make it fun for the students. This is one thing that I have learned is that if you place students on a mission, like you did as Sam's business partners, they automatically are engaged and excited about the process. Thanks for sharing!
I recently read "A remainder of One" to my internship class before the teacher started teaching about remainders with division. The book is about an army ant platoon marching, but one ant keeps getting left out and is the remainder. Because th queen likes things tidy, the ant has to leave. Each day, they add another row to try to make the remaining ant fit. Finally, when there are 5 rows of 5 ants, all of the ants fit and there is no remainder. this was such a cute book and a great introduction to remianders.
ReplyDeleteJoel, I like the idea of using a Hershey bar book. I like the idea of using an actual Hershey bar to have hands on action there too. I love chocolate!!
ReplyDeleteKatie Coulter
ReplyDeleteLit Blog
My literature book for math is “Math Curse” by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. This book is about a boy who gets put under a math curse by his teacher Mrs. Fibonacci after she mentions that you can think of almost everything as a math problem. After that he can’t function without turning it into an equation or problem to be solved. From the time he leaves till he solves the final problem in his dream that night, everything he sees becomes a math situation. He has problems about time, fractions, true and false, multiplication, division, subtraction, addition, measurements, and even ancient Mayan numerals. It just goes to show that math surrounds us as he experiences math in every subject that day in school. The book is pretty funny. He really can turn one equation into another and ask questions that most would never think about. I think this book will relate well to my 6th grade math class I do my observation in. They are a good group of students and I think there are some questions in the book that we can take an actually try to solve relating to our lesson.
In response to Joel Stucky,
Your book personally sounds great! I am a chocoholic so of course I would have Hershey bars for the students. Not to mention that kind of bar is created perfectly to relate to fractions. By using things that students can identify with is only going to help improve their understanding of the concept. Playing with candy is also a great incentive for them to learn and have fun at the same time. My mentor always says to me, “If you see a student not having fun in my class, let me know, it means they aren’t learning!”
In response to Katie Coulter,
ReplyDeleteI love this book; I have seen my 6th and 7th grade teachers read it at the beginning of the year to try to show students how math is all around us. It’s also a fun way to introduce the year, and the material that will be taught. This book is probably a little too advanced for some of the younger grades, because some of the information they have never even heard of and won’t hear about for a few years. I think around 5-7th grade is about the perfect year. Thanks for reminding me about this book, I’ll have to remember it when deciding on a book for my internships.
The book that I choose is called “Pythagoras and the Ratios: A Math Adventure” by Julie Ellis. I love this series of books. They are about a boy who while doing something stumbles on to a mathematical relationship. In this story Pythagoras is trying to make his cousins and his instruments play in tune, while doing this he discovers that notes that sound good together have a certain mathematical relationship. This is the discovery of ratios is suppose to came about. The stories usually have some fun reason why we call the mathematical function its name. These books are quite long but I just love them, and my students love them. I have seen many of them read to my middle schoolers. These books are rated for 3rd grade and up but a lot of the math talked about in these books would be more appropriate for upper elementary and middle school.
ReplyDeleteThe book I chose was 365 Penguins. This book is a great book to help the students with counting. In the book, a family mysteriously receives a penguin each day of the year. By the end of the year, they have a house full of penguins and they find out who had been sending them (turns out to be a wacky uncle). I liked this book because it involves addition, subtraction, multiplication, and different types of shapes. It also helps the student learn how many days there are in a week/month/year. I would use this book as a read aloud for a lesson where the students are adding larger numbers. It gets them thinking how to add by 7, and then by 30.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kristle C-
ReplyDeleteI think that your book sounds great! I liked how you integrated it into your mini teach lesson. Although I haven’t read the book, I think that one could use it when they were teaching how to classify shapes (because you are classifying and sorting objects.)
The book I chose to write about for the literature blog for math is called Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes by Grace Maccarone. I actually used this book as part of my mini teach math lesson in the classroom when presenting my mini teach lesson. It is a great book to use for kindergarten and up when you begin talking about tangrams and different shapes. The book goes through the story of the three little pigs and throughout the book the pigs get the seven magic shapes that make up a tangram. The pictures throughout the book show how the seven shapes are used to create all sorts of things from boats to candles to even a house. At the end of the book it gives the teacher suggestions of questions that he or she could ask throughout the book in order to help the students understand the concept that the seven shapes which are 2 small triangles, one medium triangle, 2 large triangles, one square and one parallelogram are used to form a tangram puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the story it shows different animals and objects that the students can create using their seven tangram pieces which I think is great. For an enrichment activity the teacher could challenge the student and able him or her to try a harder tangram puzzle. Overall this book is great for kindergarten and up when talking about the concept of shapes and mainly focusing on the area of tangrams. I was able to use this book as a read aloud in my math mini teach lesson and I feel that it fit perfectly into the overall math lesson.
In response to Emily M.,
ReplyDeleteThe book Sam’s Sneaker Squares seems like a very cute book to include in a math lesson focused on the concept of area and perimeter. I like how the book is able to relate back to the students because the boy in the story is measuring the area and perimeters of the yards he is mowing. The students are able to relate to the idea that not all of the yards in their own neighborhood are the same size and that some of the yards are going to take longer or shorter to mow than others.
I agree with you that the students would be able to grasp the concept of measuring length, width, and area after reading this book. It is a great way for the students to be able to learn about the concept of area and perimeter and apply it to their everyday life. Lastly I agree with you that it would be great to allow the students to come up with their own measurements based on what they learned from the book.
I chose the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I would use this book to establish a background when working with PreK-1st grade students. This book is interesting and colorful and will keep the students attention. I would read the book to the students and have them count the objects as each page is turned. Then after they count each page I would ask them to tell how many in all? What I have experienced in my job is that is is very hard for children to understand if they count four objects and the teacher asks how many are there, the answer is four. Hopefully this book would be interesting enough and help them grasp that concept.
ReplyDeleteIn Response To:
I think that is a great idea! It would help the students to see what they will be learning and how tangrams are used.
I choose the book Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta. I actually used this in my mini teach but because I can't get it uploaded no one has seen that yet:/. If anyone has any input I would love to hear it, I have converted it just won't upload. Anyway the book was really good and I used my 9, & 7 year old sons as my audience and they were entertained and learned something at the same time. I think you could introduce this book as early as 2nd or 3rd grade and start letting the students get into their little minds that things can be split up and that is what makes a fraction. The book talks about apples and all the things associated with that and also incorporates math in a way that is not confusing. This book is a great one to integrate into this time of year because apples are associated with fall so much. I used the fraction towers in my mini teach and showed how a whole can be split into different parts but still equal a whole. I like the book and I am going to buy it for myself so I can add it to my teacher library.
ReplyDeleteKristie C,
ReplyDeleteI need to get that book and give it to my children so they have ideas on how to organize their room:). I think that is a great way to incorporate math and have it relate to the students and I bet you might even have a few that go home and try it so that would definitely please mom and dad too:).
I was subbing in a first grade classroom some time ago and the book "If you made a million" by David M. Schwartz was brought to my attention and I thought it was an awesome book that can be used when teaching students about how each coin or money can be added up to equal some other coin or dollar value, like 4 quarters has the same value as a one dollar bill. I used this book in my mini teach having the students create their own money combinations that equaled 48 cents. I did this with my mom and she had come up with several, but had no clue that there were 30 different combinations that would have equaled 48 cents.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many possible lessons that could be created with this book. The 3rd grade class I'm interning in has been counting coins and dollars this week and a lesson about dollar and coin combinations could be drawn from this book.
Using children's books as a way to begin a mathematics lesson, I believe, is a great way to get the students excited about what they are about to learn.
I chose the book “One Duck Stuck” by Phyllis Root and illustrated by Jane Chapman. The focus of this book is counting. I think this book would be fantastic to read to a kindergarten classroom. What I also like about this book is the rhyming. “Down by the marsh, by the sleepy, slimy marsh, one duck gets stuck in the muck, down by the deep green marsh.” The book also has a lot of repetition in the words. This would be perfect for the kindergarteners because it counts to ten then at the end it talks about ten in all. The book talks about 9 different animals that are trying to help duck get out of the muck. On each page they show how many animals tried to help. For instance 6 skunks tried to help, so you would count the skunks with the kids to help reinforce learning. I think using literature is important in all lessons not just reading lessons!
ReplyDelete@Joel Stucky
I like your Hershey fraction book. I think some children need a real world reference to understand. I have also seen an M&M counting book. Those books could result in a special treat in some math classes! Very fun!
For my children’s literature book I chose “Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems” by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Karen Barbour. Lee Bennett Hopkins is a well known poetry author but this book is not composed of all his poems but poetry he selected from other authors. This is a 32 page book full of mathematics poems. There poetry topics range from adding to place value, there is a huge variety that will stretch across the math curriculum. What I love about the book is that a teacher can use this book multiple times for different lessons. It is a great source for a quick read aloud before a math lesson. My favorite aspect of the book would have to be the illustrations. This book is full of bright vibrant colors and unique drawings. It is sure to catch the attention of students both visually and mentally. I don’t have anything against longer read alouds but I think sometimes a short quick poem can hold the interest of a child better than a longer story. I also think that a book with pictures relating to the reading is more interesting for students to delve into. It’s a really fun useful book that can be used throughout an entire school year.
ReplyDeleteTammi Whi,
ReplyDeleteI love “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” book! My niece loves it too. You’re so right about it being interesting for younger children with its bright vibrant colors. I like your idea of having students count the objects as each page is turned. I think when students are attracted to the book visually and can do something hands on with it they’ll retain more information from it.
Booke M,
The book “Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes” sounds like a great teaching tool. I like the idea that it’s related to the story of the three little pigs, which I think most students will be familiar with. It sounds like a great rendition of the well known story. The fact that the book gives the teacher suggestion questions is great and would be so very helpful for teaching. I think it’s helpful to always have a read aloud across the curriculum but one like this that stems from a well known story and turns it into something completely mathematical is one of the best kind.
Upon organizing my five-year-old's bookshelf, I stumbled upon one of his former favorite books, "Elevator Magic" by Stuart J. Murphy and illustrated by G. Brian Karas. As the cover is tearing off and the pages have been scribbled, I remember and recall why this book was read over and over by my son and I.
ReplyDeleteLet me first share that the book catches a young reader's eye by the front cover and title. Magic is so fun, but when adults can link in to mathematics, the possibilities are endless. The story is about a young boy who subtracts his way down to the lobby by pushing the elevator buttons. By pushing the numbered buttons, the boy is able to experience different floors of the building while his mother introduces the boy to the idea of subtraction.
My son and I not only read this book over one thousand times, but we also made a cardboard elevator buttons. We pushed them and pretended we were visiting our own floors created in our imaginations. We also talked about subtracting, as the main character in the story did with his mother.
I am interning in the first grade classroom. This book is perfect for those young readers. I cannot wait for the students to start learning subtraction so that I can read this book to them!
Lacey Keller
ReplyDeleteShannon H.,
I like the idea of using poems in a mathematics lesson. The rhyming and beating patterns have a lasting impression on students. What a great way for beginning readers to assist the teacher in reading! Thanks for the idea!
The literature I chose to integrate into one of my lessons is Millions to Measure by David M. Schwartz. My lesson is over measurement, and I think it could be used in grades K-4. This book is about Marvelosissimo the Mathematical Magician who takes students back in time to see how people used to measure things. I talks about how people discovered they needed a system to measure lengths and distances, so they began by using their feet. This clearly didn't work because feet come in different sizes. They used stones to weigh objects, but that didn't work either because stones come in different sizes. This book continues to take the students back in time building knowledge about how measurements formed. They start with feet, pounds, and cups. Then it goes into inches and miles. It then goes into the metric system and all the units within it. The book then ends by talking about how most countries in the world have adopted the metric system because it is so easy to use, but not the U.S. This story is told with great pictures and fun story lines that are suitable for young students. I feel it's a great way to introduce the metric system, and that's what I plan on doing in my formal observation. This author also wrote a book called How Much Is A Million, which would be a good book to help with number sense.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Katie C,
ReplyDeleteI used "The Math Curse" in my mini-teach lesson. I think it's a fun book for students and it helps them to see how math can always be related to real-world problems and situations. My lesson was over shapes, and I told students that just like in the book when the kid saw equations everywhere, we see shapes everywhere. I then had them look around the room to see what shapes they could see.
Good book choice, I really like it!
For my book, I chose "The Tangram Magician" by Lisa Campbell Ernst and Les Ernst. It is a fable about a son who dropped his fathers tile (it was a special tile) and broke it into 7 pieces. Basically, he creates different shapes with the pieces and his imagination takes off.
ReplyDeleteI was not real thrilled with this book. I was at first, but it just didn't say what I wanted it to say. I also had to get it off of the internet and could not find it again, which was a bummer.
I am looking for another book now because my lesson is geometric shapes.
Tammi Whi
ReplyDeleteThe Hungry Caterpillar is a story that is really loved by the younger grade school children. there is some others that go along with that book by the same author, if you didn't know. And the kids love them all.
When I first saw you used that book, I wondered how you would tie it in (I don't remember it real well, but I didn't think it was math integrated) But I like what you did.
I am currently using the book Addition by sheila Cato to read to a first grade student who needs additional work on number sense. This book would not be a book to read for a read aloud. I use it algebra in the form of word problems that are relevant to real life situations as a way of showing how math or addition is used in the everyday world. On page 5 the illustrator uses a clothes lines with shirts hanging on it to show number order. I love this activity and have used it in the classroom. Great for decimals and fractions as well. Just get a rope and fold pieces of paper in half. Write numbers, fractions, percentages, or numbers with decimals on the paper and pass them out to the students. Have the students place the paper on the rope where it would come in order from least to greatest. Some papers will need to be moved as more students place papers on the rope in order to get all the numbers on the number lines. Students seem to really enjoy this activity and this book models this activity.
ReplyDeleteComment for laceydk:
ReplyDeleteElevator Magic is a wonderful book. I think that an illustrator can make or break a books effectiveness. Children that are developing a number sense can gain understanding through colorful and vibrant illustrations. As we learned in our art methods class, art can enhance curriculum. In this case the book has wonderful illustrations that enhance the effectiveness. I would like to find this book on ebay or another auction house to purchase for my library.
For my mini-teach children’s book, I chose How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara. This is a wonderful book for reinforcing several math skills such as counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s, estimating, and odds and evens. It also teaches about being kind to one another, which is a terrific addition to the book. Along with everything else this book offers, it also works well for science integration as the book includes a lot of great information about pumpkins. With my lesson occurring in October, the theme of the book is also a perfect choice! The story is about a math lesson in Mr. Tiffin’s class which involves three pumpkins: a small, a medium, and a large. All of the students are given a chance to guess the number of seeds in each pumpkin, and Charlie, the smallest boy in the class, feels that all the “best guesses” have been taken by the time he gets his chance. The pumpkins are cut open and the seeds are counted and totaled with a result that is much to the students’ surprise – the smallest pumpkin has the most seeds! The diversity of the class is also shown through the beautiful illustrations in the book. This book is just terrific for a lesson in reinforcing how to make or count by tens! I would have loved to have been able to actually cut open pumpkins and count the seeds – in my mini teach or my formal lesson – but this is definitely a lesson that requires a lot of time and “grown-up” help! ;-)
ReplyDelete@Kymberly, that sounds like such a great book! I live in Manhattan, so if feel like that would be a great book for the kids around here, since we are so close to the army base. I will definitely bring that up to my mentor teacher. We are working with division right now and remainders so that that would fit in perfectly.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Joel S.:
ReplyDeleteThe Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar Fractions Book sounds like a wonderful way to teach or reinforce fractions. Any time we can incorporate hands-on learning (and chocolate!), I think the students will be fully engaged. I remember each of my daughters using the Hershey’s Kisses Addition Book in kindergarten, and they LOVED the lesson! My mentor teacher had originally planned for me to teach subtraction, so I had planned to purchase the book, The Hershey’s Kisses Subtraction Book. Unfortunately, the students didn’t get that far so I had to change my plans…but you can bet I will be using these books someday!!! :-)
I chose the book, The Doorbell Rang, by Pat Hutchins. This is great to tie into a lesson with fractions. The story starts out with a baking a dozen cookies for her daughter and son. The divide them evenly, each getting 6 a piece. Just then, the door bell rings and 2 friends enter. Now they must divide the 12 cookies between the 4 of them. Until, the doorbell rings again…This is a cute story that teaches sharing and a real life fraction problem. Such a cute story and great illustrations as well.
ReplyDeleteBetsy! What a great book, or at least is sounds like it. I will have to check that out. It is perfect for this time of year and you can really get some hands on learning. Thanks so much, i can't wait to check it out!!
ReplyDeleteCarissa Kruse
ReplyDeleteChildren’s Literature BLOG-
The book that I love and that so many students seem to love and respond to is 1,2,3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle. It is by the same author as The Very Hungry Caterpillar but not as widely known. The book is great for counting because it adds new zoo animals on the new pages. It can be used for Science as well because it uses these different animals and it can be integrated in very different ways in that aspect. The illustrations are also great and children love the beautiful colors.
In response to Betsy F...
ReplyDeleteThat book sounds like such a fun and very useful book. I also love that it is a seasonal book and students always seem to get excited about the seasonal books. I will definitely have to look for it the next time I am at the book store.
I chose to write about the book “Sir Cumference and the First Round Table.” This is such a cute story with a lot of great illustrations and explanations for numerous different shapes. In the book it begins by talking about the Circumscribers who are the enemies of King Arthur and his men. King Arthur called all of his men to his castle so they could plan a way to fight the Circumscribers. One of the knights King Arthur called was named Sir Cumference. Sir Cumference is married to Lady Di of Ameter and they have a son named Radius. The King and his knights began their meetings. Sir Cumference went home after the first meeting and told his wife Lady Di about the difficulties the men had at the table in the shape of a rectangle while trying to talk. Lady Di suggested that they cut the rectangular table in half and place the pieces side by side making the shape of a square. Sir Cumference called for the help of the carpenter, Geo of Metry. Geo of Metry cut the table in half and created the square. The next meeting did not go any better so Sir Cumference spoke to Lady Di again. They decided the square should be cut in half and replaced together, this time the table was in the shape of a parallelogram. The King did not like this because the corner of the table poked him like a sword. Sir Cumference and Lady Di then decided the table should be in the shape of a octagon. This did not work because every knight wanted their own side of the table but there are only 8 sides and 12 knights. The King then suggested making the table in the shape of an egg or an oval. They all liked this but it did not leave room for everyone while at the table. The next day Sir Cumference, Lady Di, and Radius went out for a horseback ride. They came upon a tree laid on its side. Lady Di went up to the tree truck and raised her arms reaching the top; they decided it could be a table top. That night Geo of Metry worked all night making the new table. The circular table was perfect. King Arthur decided to celebrate that night. The King said “to honor the knights who have gathered at this table, they will be known as the Knight of the Round Table. Because Lady Di of Ameter has a reach that is equal to the distance across the table, we will name this measurement for her…the diameter. I am proud of Radius too…let us call this small measurement from the center of the circle to its edge the radius. Finally let us not forget Sir Cumference, the outer edge of the table will be named for him…the circumference.”
ReplyDeleteFor my book, I chose "The history of Zero" by Tika Downey. I am using this book in my formal teach lesson because the topic I am teaching is "across the zeros". The book is actually fairly complex, so I will only read a couple of pages to the students. It ties math to history very well and gives the students the idea of where "zero" came from. So often the number zero is dismissed because it is seen as having no value. However, this book explains the importance of zero in today's world. If you want to know why we must recognize zero pick this book. It really is interesting.
ReplyDeleteTo Shawna W: I recognize the authors name but not this particular book. It would be fun to act this book out in a math lesson.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Joel-
ReplyDeleteYour book sounds really cute for kids. It would be fun to incorporate actual Hershey candy bars into the lesson also. I know everything is suppose to be healthy at school but I think for one lesson a teacher could get a Hershey bar for each of his/her students and use the candy bar as a hands-on manipulative. Then when the students were done with the lesson, they could eat the candy bar!
Math Man by Teri Daniels and Illustrated by Timothy Bush. This book is about a class visiting a grocery store and experiencing math for themselves. I really liked this book because it seems really fun for students. There is also a school of mice that are on the adventure as well and the reader can read their comments too. The mice will also express the math problems with numbers while the book expresses it through words. The book uses clever expressive language that is fun to read also.
ReplyDeleteSince almost every page of this book has a math problem in it this will make it easy to combine this book with a math lesson. The teacher can take one math problem that is in the book and work it out in class. The teacher can have the students working in pairs to illustrate the math problem or work independently. The teacher can also use this book for background knowledge. For instance the teacher can say “students remember the part of the book when the mom was buying snacks for her kids and there were five kids but only four snacks in a box? What is a different way you can help this mother solve this problem?”
This book is really great because it is all about math and incorporates reading too. The subject in this book can be related to students because it uses a grocery store setting. It also shows that math is everywhere and can be fun.
To Jen Watson: First of all, the book sounds great. I will have to remember that one. It is a great time of year to integrate apples into lessons. Fractions can be hard for kids, so any hands on would be great.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I am going to send you a message about downloading the video. I had a lot of problems as well.
Jennifer Pen reply to Carissa K.,
ReplyDeleteI love the Eric Carle books I think that they are all so cute and cute pictures to look at. I remember reading the Hungry Caterpillar through out the years and still think that it is a great book.
The book I chose to write about was a bit difficult to find because I wanted to find a book that had to do with Algebra which is what my formal will be on. It is for 6th grade students, so I have not decided as to whether I am going to actually read to them because I feel as though they won't pay attention.So the book I ended up finding was Safari Park By: Stuart Bjorkman. It's about some children and they are at an amusement park and they only have 4 tickets for the Treetop Coaster, Just 2 for the Elephant Twirl, five cousins each have 20 tickets to spend. Students then have to use algebra in order to find out how many rides they can go on. To me it seems like a fun book and it would gets students to be interactive with the read aloud.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Jennifer P,
ReplyDeleteI liked hearing about the book you chose. What interested me the most what that it took place in a grocery store and it is having the students work with numbers in a real life situation. I like the idea of being able to use each problem in a lesson and having the students work the problems out as a class or individually.
The book I picked was "Color Zoo by Lois Elhert." This book is for young children but even my older children love the book. The book has hardback pages. It tells an animal, shape, and color on each page. This covers many different concepts. I like how the shapes are cut out so you can give them paper and let them trace the shape. The one problem I have with the book is that they call one shape a diamond and now we call it a rhombus. It's fun and colorful and best of all it's hardback so it doesn't get tore up as easy.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kayla R. I like the fact you used a book that wasn't common. I like the oldies but I also like new. Children love to read something that they have not read before. When you said algebra I was thinking very complicated but it seems like it would be a fun book and not too hard to follow. I bet my daughter would love it. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI had to create a math lesson plan for the aged 3-5 preschool class I am interning in for my Early Childhood class. I did a lesson on sorting. SO I read a book titled, “Sort It Out” by Barbara Mariconda. It was basically about a little mouse that collected lots of stuff and the mother mouse wanted it to be gone through and get rid of stuff. So the mouse sorted all the stuff by different categories. Some items were able to fall into more than one category. The students really enjoyed the different things the mouse had and how he sorted them into different categories. Then just like the mouse in the story, we took different shaped pasta noodles and sorted them by their similarities. They really enjoyed the story. They then were sorting other things in the classroom by the different categories. They reminded themselves the different groups Packy (the mouse) made his items fit into. It was really easy reading and not very long. They did great at listening and following throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Tammy M---
ReplyDeleteNever have heard of the book, but apparently you were able to find one that covers many concepts. That is good because you can use it for more than one concept. Sometimes students really like a book that is read to them, but you feel there is no reason or purpose to read it again. In this case, this book would fall into that category so if they really enjoy it you can read for each concept as you teach it. I am enjoying this post as I am writing all the books down and what they are good for.
The book I used for my mini-teach was Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta. And I found a book for my formal lesson that I just love, Gator Pie by Louise Mathews. Let’s be honest, fractions are more fun when they relate to food! In Gator Pie Alvin and Alice find this pie and they are planning to divide the pie into two equal pieces when another alligator shows up and demands “Gimme some pie,” and so they plan to cut the pie into thirds, but before they can a fourth gator shows up and so they plan to divide it into four equal parts. More and more gators keep coming and finally they divide the pie into 100 pieces. Alvin jumps on the table and yells “Pick a piece! We’re not sure they are all the same size.” The gators all start fighting among themselves and Alvin and Alice grab the pie and split it, 50/50, each of them get 50 pieces of pie or one half. There are many things I like about this book. One is that I can make a “Gator Pie” to take to class to share with the students.
ReplyDeleteFor lower grades I like the M & M math books. When my daughter was in kindergarten (many years ago), we would read the M & M Addition book for her math lessons. There is a subtraction book of M & M math also. I know that in the school system today it is not a great idea to promote eating candy, but the pictures are bright and colorful and it is fun when you use real M&Ms to do the math in the book.
Jen W.~ I chose the same book for my mini-teach!
ReplyDeleteJoel S.~ I was just introduced to that book, The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar Fractions Book. I think it is fun book, with a lot of possibilities.
I chose the book "Ten in a Bed" by Mary Rees. It bases it's story off of the classic children's song (ten in a bed and the little one said, "roll over, roll over"). This book is great for subtraction. I actually used it with my internship class just a few weeks ago. It was great and they loved the music aspect and the pictures are very interesting- not a lot of detail but would be great for studying watercolor in art. So, it can be used for integration in reading as well as music and art. The students can count on their hands through out the book or they can count in their heads. As you get towards the middle of the story they will begin to realize that some parts of the books repeat (the chorus) and you can encourage them to say the words along with you. Also, once you finish the story you can ask your students to help you count back up (addition).
ReplyDeleteIn response to Carrie H.:
I loved what you said about how fractions are great when they relate to food. We did a food related fraction lesson in our Math Methods class. We used a cookie cake and it was great! I can see how much the student would be interested in a lesson where they get to play with food. I can see it becoming a distraction but I guess it could work both ways.
First off, I always think its so exciting how easy it is to integrate reading into other subjects. This really is an important feature for children to understand. I choose the book Apple Trouble by Ragnhild Scamell. Throughout the book, different amounts of objects fall on top of a hedgehog. I used this book for my mini teach and also for my formal teach. I had a graphic organizer of a hedgehog and they students had to draw a picture of the different objects that fell on hedgehog. With this idea, the students had to pay close attention to what is being said, so they could not focus a whole lot of time drawing, they had to do both. At the end of the story, I had them count how many items fell on the hedgehog. This was actually confusing for them because some students counted each item as a whole, while some counted them individually. I honestly think any book could be used for a math integration. A lot of people think that only books with numbers in them can be used, but I do not think that is true.
ReplyDeleteIn Response to Betsy: What a fun book to use in math! I am sure the students will love it! It is a great time to use the book during the fall season. I am sure some of the children have never seen the inside of a pumpkin before. You could also tie it in with science and talk about how pumpkins grow and try planting one of the seeds. Great book choice!
ReplyDeleteIn response to Joel,
ReplyDeleteI wish I would have had that book during my mini teach! I am going to look for that one. It sounds very fun and educational as well!
The book I chose is Times Tables the Fun Way by Judy Liautuad and Dave Rodriguez. My daughter is learning her multiplication and we actually have this book! It is great for helping her learn these and I think it is good for all ages. We had some similar to this book too at the middle school I worked at. It seems very elementary, which in a way is, but they are great fun visuals for special needs children. They enjoyed using them to help them with the multiplication!
ReplyDeleteTessa~ part of the up-side (in my opinion) of relating fractions (and Mathematics in general) to food and cooking/baking is that it drives home the fact that Math is part of everyday life and not just something we do in a classroom and leave at school. :)
ReplyDeleteChildren’s Literature Blog – October 31, 2011
ReplyDeleteThe book I chose to write about is “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly” by Simms Taback. This is one of my favorite children’s books and I love to work with it in first grade. This book has a very fun song that goes with it which makes it fun and catchy.
I will incorporate this book into my math lesson by using it as an opening activity. I will make the old lady with a clear stomach! I will then make each of the insects and animals listed in the story out of card stock and laminate them.
Before the read aloud I will pass out the laminated insects and animals and hang the old lady on the wall. As a WHOLE class the students will count the number of insects and animals we have. As we read the book aloud, each person will put their insect or animal in the old lady’s stomach when the insect or animal is read about. When the read aloud is over, I will take the insects or animals out of the stomach and we will count them aloud to be sure we got them all.
Later in the year, I will use this book and plan to count backwards. We will count forwards as we put the items in the stomach and count backwards as we pull them back out!
@ DeidreJ
ReplyDeleteI agree, any book can be integrated into a math lesson! I like your book choice, and idea with having them pay attention to the end!! Good Job!!
"The M & M's Counting Book"-Barbara McGrath
ReplyDeleteJust like the Hersey's bar concept, this book is relatable to everday life and students can learn how to count, while having fun.
The photos within this book are life size and clear. I have read this book with a student in my practicum before and it motivated him to see the colors and count them. That's the bonus-It helps them learn their colors.
After reading the book, you can have a lesson surrounded around M & M's. It can even be an ice breaker game where if a student picks a yellow M and M, they have to say their favorite food. If they grad a red M and M, they have to say their favorite tv show, etc.
This is very interactive and fun for the students.
In response to Joel,
ReplyDeleteI used the Hersey's bar book within my lesson plan/mini-teach and really enjoy it as well! The author makes it easy for students to relate to and makes it fun. Nicely incorporated with fractions (which is what my lesson covered).
Good choice! I want more of these books...very fun.
I think that it is so important to do read alouds in reading class as well as mathematics class and all of the other subjects as well. Some students really relate to reading and they might better understand a concept by being exposed to it through a book than simply through lecture.
ReplyDeleteThe book I chose is called "One, Two, Three, Count with Me" by Catherine and Laurence Anholt. Throughout the book, we follow a little boy as he counts many different objects. He counts flowers, kites, trucks and the days of the week. The text rhymes and it's a great way to show children that anything can be counted. The days of the week, body parts, animals and other objects are represented so it's not just counting one type of object. Teachers can use this book to talk about transportation, animals, food and more. There are also multiple shapes that can be found in the book and students can be encouraged to point them out while listening to the story.
One book that would be really good for integrating reading into math is "The Doorbell Rang" by Pat Hutchins. In this book a mother has made a dozen cookies and the children are excited because that means that they each get six cookies but no one makes cookies like their grandmother. They are about to eat their cookies when the door bell rings multiple times and more children show up to their house which means they have to redivide the cookies. At the end, there are only enough cookies for each child to eat one. The door bell rings one more time and it's their grandma with a big tray of cookies.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good book to teach problem solving and dividing.
In response to DeidreJ:
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you enjoy integrating reading into other subjects by doing read alouds. It really is a simple way to do it and the students always love hearing a story. I really enjoyed your book and I'm sure your students love it as well. It's a cute book, they get to draw and I like the fact that they have to be actively listening to know what to draw. I like that you mentioned how a read aloud for mathematics doesn't necessarily have to have numbers in it.
In response to Deidre J
ReplyDeleteI also think that you do not need a book with numbers to integrate into math. I used a booked called “The Button Box” for my mini teach. This book was about a young boy who went through his grandmother’s button box and sorted the buttons. With this book, the students could look at different shapes, color, and sizes and compare them.
One excellent math book I found was “Mary Claire Likes to Share” by Joy Hulme. This book is an great way to introduce and talk about fractions. The book is about a little girl who shares different foods with her friends. This book is so great because it provides an explanation as well as a visual representation of fractions. This would be easy to incorporate with a hands-on activity using food or other objects for students to divide and share. Not only does the book provide a lesson on fractions, it is a good example of sharing. The book uses rhyming, which is an excellent reading tool and has fun and colorful illustrations. I would recommend this book for anyone that is starting a fractions unit with their class.
ReplyDeleteMonse,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a really good book. My students are working on multiplication right now, but will soon be moving into division. I will have to check out your book and suggest it to my teacher. This would also be good to use when talking about fractions. Thanks for sharing!
The children’s literature book that I chose was “The Math Curse” by John Sciezska. This isn’t a book that I have used for one of my math lessons, but it is a book that my mentor teacher has in my internship class. It is a cute, funny, story about a girl whose teacher tells her that you can think of almost everything as a math problem. The next day she wakes up afflicted with “a math curse,” and begins seeing everything as a math problem, even when pouring milk in her cereal and walking to the bus. This book is great for children of many ages, although older students will probably be able to calculate the problems more easily and will also get more of the humor. The book deals with many math concepts including addition, subtraction, measurement, time, multiplication, division, and fractions. My mentor teacher read this book at the beginning of the school year to her students, as a way to show them that “math is everywhere” and to teach them to keep in mind that math is relatable to things that happen in their everyday lives. I think I would use this book in a similar way, since it deals with so many different math concepts.
ReplyDeleteI choose the book “Pennies” by Suzanne Lieurance. I used this in my mini-teach lesson for first graders. It is an easy reader book that helps students understand how to count change. The book is about a girl who had five pennies but used one penny. She comes across a lemonade stand where it costs 5 cents to buy a drink. She has to figure out how many more pennies she needs to make 5 cents or a nickel. I used this book to integrate into a math lesson using coins. The book was great at defining each coin and telling the worth of each one and what they looked like. At the end of the book was a great review on which coins one could use to make 5 cents, 10 cents and so forth.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Allison G –
ReplyDeleteThe book “Mary Claire Likes to Share” sounds like an interesting read and would be great to use during a math lesson. Students could relate to it as it has examples for them to understand. I also like how it uses sharing in the book as well. I will have to check this one out.
One of the hardest parts of compiling the lesson plans was finding literature. I was surprised when I went to the Wichita public library, a small section is devoted to math in the children's area. However I was quickly disappointed in the selection. Don't get me wrong, some great books were there, I had just hoped to see more. A few books stood out that were authored by David Adler - well known for his Cam Jansen series. The books were colorful and stood out compared to some of the older 80's math selections. Currently, I am waiting to receive a book suggested from our math text. "The Man Who Made Parks" by Frieda Wishinsky is a nonfiction novel about the man who designed Central Park in New York City. Fractions are used to design the park 1/2 natural habitat, 1/10 playground, 2/5 gardens. I look forward to getting it and hope
ReplyDelete@Joel
ReplyDeleteLike the many other comments on the book "Hershey Milk Chocolate Fraction Book" I too am excited to add this book to my collection. Chocolate added to anything ALWAYS makes it better. So chocolate added to math sounds like a win-win!
The book I am blogging about is called "Stacks of Trouble" by Martha F. Brenner. This is a great book that talks about multiplication. This book uses stacks of dirty dishes to show arrays and help students understand that multiplication is just a certain number of groups with a certain number of items in each group. Like 3 stacks of 4 green plates. This book is really fun to read and the students can relate to it because they may have had to do the dishes once or twice at home. I really enjoyed this book and even put it into my instructional unit as a read aloud.
ReplyDeleteAshley L.
ReplyDeleteI have read that book and think it is great! I even saw a teacher use it during her lesson one day. I thought that using this book really helped the students understand how to use and count money.
I chose the book "Hershey Kiss Subtraction". This is a pretty common book, but it focuses on using Hershey Kisses to subtract.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many subtraction concepts in this book. It is great to use. The story uses real life settings and places Hershey Kisses in with the setting to make it more familiar for children. The subtraction problems are also in a story so children can comprehend what is going on.
I think that the hardest part of the math instructional unit was literature. I know that it is very important, but without the resources of a regular teacher it is difficult. It seems that every book you find is somehow out of reach. I know their are several books that can be used as literature for math, but I guess I only want the best.
In response to Allison G.
ReplyDeleteI think fractions are such a hard thing for not only children but everybody. Any book you can find on fractions will help the children relate to real life situations. Students who can relate fractions to their life seem to catch on quicker.
Sorry, I am late on my post, for some reason I could not find out where to complete this assignment. The book I chose was "Whole-Y Cow: Fractions are Fun" by Taryn Souders and illustrated by Tatjiana Mai-Wyss. I chose to talk about this book because I have used it before with one of my students and I was introducing fractions. She absolutely loved this book and actually asked to read it the next day as well. It is about a cow that goes on an adventure on a farm and gets in paint. One sections this cow is half blue, then red, white, and blue. Each page introduces a new fraction. I also love this book because of all the colors and illustrations on each page. It is so colorful that it definitely keeps children's attention on each page as they read it out loud or have it read to them. I suggest everyone to take a look at this book if you ever need a read aloud for a fractions unit.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Sarah Rob--I completely agree with you. I believe read alouds can be just as beneficial in mathematics as they can be for reading class. They are a great way to introduce new concepts or lessons. I chose a book about fractions and I noticed you chose a book about counting different items. Your book sounds great to read with younger students. I definitely need to read this book. These are all great suggestions to literature in mathematics. Thanks for sharing!
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