DreamBox Learning®» Math in children’s books

Tuesday Teacher Tips: Mailing May

Lisa W — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:20:41 +0000

Welcome to the Tuesday Teacher Tips series! Each week we’ll highlight teaching and learning resources, ideas to use in the classroom, as well as things to ponder as you go about your teaching day. Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell (Greenwillow Books, 1997) is one of those picture books that can be used across the curriculum. It’s based on a true story of how five year old Charlotte May Pierstorff was mailed from Grangeville to Lewiston, Idaho. Her parents couldn’t afford the cost of the $1.55 train ticket to send her to see her grandmother who lived seventy-five miles away. So instead, her father took her to the post office and mailed her at a cost of fifty-three cents. This book provides a great way to work with your students on comparing numbers through weight, money, and mileage. Use the United States Postal Service’s website to develop an interactive math lesson for your students. First, have students enter the zip codes of where the “package” (May) started; Grangeville, Idaho is 83530. Then enter the zip code of where it's going; Lewiston, Idaho is 83501. I chose package as the shape. Enter May’s weight, 48 pounds and 8 ounces. To Express Mail May today would cost a whopping $94.45. To send her via Parcel Post would cost only $19.11. (However, she might be in that box a little longer!) Have students choose different locations to mail themselves. Ask them to compute how many miles they will be shipped and then determine the cost of shipping. You could extend it further and have students compare the costs of flying, driving, taking a train, or being mailed. Have students calculate how much each mode of “transportation” costs per mile. Have you used this book in your math curriculum? What did you do to extend the concepts of the book? Email and let us know. We’d love to hear from you!

Tuesday Teacher Tips: We Love to Read—About Math!

Lisa W — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:42:41 +0000

Welcome to the Tuesday Teacher Tips series! Each week we’ll highlight teaching and learning resources, ideas to use in the classroom, as well as things to ponder as you go about your teaching day. In honor of NEA's Read Across America Day on March 2nd, we’d like to highlight past blogs about math literature that you can use in your classroom to teach and reinforce math concepts. Click on the link to take you to a past DreamBox blog entry to find out about the book and ways to incorporate it into your classroom. Since March 2nd is Dr. Seuss’ birthday we’ll start out with The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.

Books about Math

Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar by Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno
Bat Jamboree by Kathi Appelt
Quack and Count by Keith Baker
One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi
A Very Improbable Story: A Math Adventure by Edward Einhorn
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
One Monkey Too Many by Jackie French Koller and Lynn Munsinger
1 + 1 = 5: And Other Unlikely Additions by David LaRochelle
One Watermelon Seed by Celia Barker Lottridge
How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? By Margaret McNamara
How Big is a Foot? By Rolf Myller
One Hundred Hungry Ants and A Remainder of One, both by Elinor J. Pinczes
The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
Math Curse by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
Math Fables by Greg Tang
Balancing Act, Mouse Shapes, Mouse Count, all by Ellen Stoll Walsh

To celebrate Read Across America Day, check out Random House Children’s Books website for classroom resources and printable activities. How will your school celebrate Read Across America Day? Email us and let us know. We love to hear about great things that are happening in schools across the country.

Tuesday Teacher Tips: How Does 1 + 1 = 5?

Lisa W — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:36:44 +0000

Welcome to the Tuesday Teacher Tips series! Each week we’ll highlight teaching and learning resources, ideas to use in the classroom, as well as things to ponder as you go about your teaching day. An author and illustrator I admired a lot, David LaRochelle, recently came out with a new book, 1 + 1 = 5: and Other Unlikely Additions. David, a former elementary teacher, has visited my previous school many times as a writer-in-residence and I’ve always loved his easy, imaginative way of teaching. That seemingly effortless way of leading kids into learning has translated into his latest book. I recently read his new book to my third graders. When I showed them the cover and read the title, immediately students erupted: “What?” “That’s wrong!” “They made a mistake!” My only response was, “Well, let’s see.” And then I started to read. 1 + 1 = 5? 1 set of triplets + 1 set of twins = 5 babies! A few kids understood and murmured, “Oh!” 1 + 1 = 14? 1 ant + 1 spider = 14 legs! A few more kids got it. It didn’t take long before everyone was trying to guess what 1 + 1 would equal in the next equation. This was a true, interactive book. The strange equations are presented first, accompanied by a few visual clues that are hidden within the picture. Then you turn the page to find out the answer, in both words and illustrations. On the home page of David’s website, look under Two New Books! and click on “free teaching materials.” You’ll be able to download a host of great material to use with your class to go along with this book. Using one of the suggestions in the teacher’s guide with my own class, I had my students make up their own equations and write them on a folded piece of construction paper with the equation on the front and the answer inside. One suggestion on this activity, do a lot of brainstorming of things that come in sets (1 cat has four legs, 1 insect has six legs), otherwise you’ll get some very random equations. I interviewed David, and asked him a few questions about writing this book. LISA: What was your inspiration for 1+1=5? What drew you to writing a book about math? DAVID: The book began with a list of odd equations that I jotted down on a legal pad: 1 + 1 = 5: 1 bike + 1 trike = 5 wheels 1 + 1 = 7: 1 square + 1 triangle = 7 sides, etc. I thought the equations were fun, but I didn't know what I could do with them. Many months later I ran across the legal pad again and thought perhaps I could illustrate them, put them together in a book, and send them to an editor. I was delighted when an editor at Sterling was interested. She eventually chose someone else to be the illustrator, but I'm excited that she wanted to publish them at all! LISA: How did you come up with the equations for the book? DAVID: I did a lot of brainstorming. The first equations were easy, but I wanted each 1 + 1 equation to have a different answer. There are many ways to add two things together to get eight (1 chair + 1 table = 8 legs, 1 dog + 1 cat = 8 feet, 1 skateboard + 1 wheelchair = 8 wheels) but I only included one. I also wanted each equation to be about things that children could relate to (animals, sports, etc.). LISA: In the teacher resource pages [on your website] it says that you had over 150 subtitles for the book. How many different equations did you have for the book? How did you decide which ones to use? DAVID: I brainstormed lots of equations that were either too complicated (1 hour + 1 minute = 3,660 seconds) or too imprecise (1 star + 1 snowflake = 11 points). I picked my favorite 15 to send the editor, but she had me replace almost a fourth of them. Her main concern was that if the book were translated into a foreign language, the equations needed to make sense in different countries. For example, I had to replace 1 dime + 1 nickel = 15 cents because of the different currencies used in foreign cultures. Likewise we couldn't think of a way to illustrate 1 October + 1 November = 61 days without relying on holidays or seasons that might not be universal across the globe. Share your favorites What unlikely addition equation can you come up with? Do you have a book that teaches math in a unique way? I’d love to hear from you!

Tuesday Teacher Tip: Books That Teach Math

Lisa W — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:01:33 +0000

Welcome to the Tuesday Teacher Tips series! Each week we’ll highlight teaching and learning resources, ideas to use in the classroom, as well as things to ponder as you go about your teaching day. Multiplication and division may be the most anticipated math topics of third grade; this is what the big kids study. But as much as third graders look forward to learning about multiplication and division, they’re topics that produce worry and anxiety. This is the “hard math” they’ve been hearing about from their older siblings. There are two books I love to use during these units of study, One Hundred Hungry Ants and A Remainder of One, both by Elinor J. Pinczes. These books show the fun side of math. Soon students are realizing that multiplication and division aren’t that big of a deal. In fact, they’re kinda easy! One Hundred Hungry Ants is a great introduction to arrays and factor pairs. As the ants march their way to the picnic, the littlest ant desperately tries to get there faster by rearranging the group from one row of 100 to two rows of 50 to four rows of 25, and so on as they go. When you’re done reading, have the students draw pictures or arrays of the different ways that the 100 ants arranged themselves. Label each picture with the multiplication equation. Poor Joe in A Remainder of One! In order not to be the misfit or oddball he must figure out a way to divide 25 into even groups without any remainders. This is a great book for students to participate with as they listen. Give each student 25 counters. As Joe figures out a new way to assemble the troop, allow students to move the counters and see if it divides out evenly. Then continue reading the book for the next dividing adventure!

Share your favorites

What are your favorite books that teach math? I’d love to hear from you! Do you have an idea for a future Tuesday Teacher Tips topic you’d like to see covered? Let me know and it could be featured in a future blog.

7 Math Storybooks Every Child Should Read, No. 5: A Very Improbable Story

Alyssa — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:43:38 +0000

Summer is dwindling, and some children see the first day of school looming towards them. They want to pack in as much fun as possible in their remaining weeks of freedom, but you want to get a little math into their routine. How do we solve this? Read another fun book that kids will learn from and enjoy at the same time.

A Very Improbable Story, by Edward Einhorn

Read A Very Improbable Story and gain a head start in math A Very Improbable Story by Edward Einhorn is about Ethan, a boy trying to get to his big soccer match. The only problem is that he has a cat named Odds refusing to get off his head until he can win a game of probability! The amusing storyline and beautiful oil painting illustrations will definitely keep children engaged. Be mindful, though – the content is a bit complicated, and it would be better for kids to be in first grade before they read this book. This story not only reinforces math concepts, it introduces new ideas with its focus on probability. Going through games choosing socks, sorting marbles, and arranging cereal shows kids how math is applicable to everything they do. And Einhorn included a terminology section at the end that can help your kids learn even more. Use A Very Improbable Story as a starting point for probability games Don’t worry, there’s no need to visit the nearest casino. You can create your own probability games right in your own home. Of course, decorating, bringing out the poker chips, and inviting a bunch of kids over to play make the games more exciting! If your children are old enough, you can try playing any of the classic card games. Some of my favorites are Blackjack and Steal the Old Man’s Bundle. Emphasize probability as you play. For Blackjack, discuss the composition of the deck and how there are more tens than lower numbers because of all the face cards. Have them think about what that means in terms of when they should take another card and when they should stay with what they have. For Steal the Old Man’s Bundle, you could talk about the chances of someone having the same number as the card on top of your pile. You can also modify the game slightly – instead of just matching to the cards on the table, you can collect them if they add up to the number on the card in your hand. Want to be more creative? Have your child invent his own game that involves probability. It can use marbles, cards, dice, or anything else he can think of. Be sure to have him explain the connection his game has to probability before you start playing!