RM Winter 2017

problem solving and higher level thinking with questions such as:

story contents to real life applications. The ideas go so far as to suggest activities for things to do in the car, on the playground, taking a walk, having a snack, cooking, games, shopping, etc. Math Matters The second series is Math Matters published by Kane Press. This 38 book series, written by a range of authors, also covers a variety of math skills such as counting, measurement, patterns, attributes, time, distance, etc. In the back of each book is a section called “Activities that Matter”which gives activity suggestions for parents and teachers. The literacy piece addresses using pictorial and context clues to make inferences or predictions, and recalling details. The math piece has suggestions relating to content skills such as graphing and charting, creating puzzles, using sponges or art stencils to make shapes and patterns, and making meaning of mathematical terms. Higher level thinking is encouraged with “how” questions and “why” questions and by suggesting activities for home and school. Another resource for books that lend themselves to math integration are the Hershey’s Chocolate series. What kid doesn’t like candy, right? Hershey’s has partnered with Scholastic to establish a series of books by Jerry Pallotta where the candies can be used for mathematics activities. The series covers skills such as counting, adding, multiplying, fractions, and weights and measurement. Activities to accompany and expand upon these books can be found online in such sites as teachersnetwork.org , teacherspayteachers.com, mathforum.org , and even pinterest.com. All of these series are easily found online by publisher, company, or author. For those teachers who wish to venture away from the prearranged series, there are many other books available that lend themselves to math instruction. The following book summaries and activity suggestions will help teachers implement the use of children’s literature for math instruction. Division The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins (1986) is about a mother who makes a batch of cookies and tells her children to share them. When they divided the cookies between the two of them, each had six (inferring that the original batch consisted of one dozen). Visitors begin to arrive, prompting the group of twelve cookies to be divided by four, then by six, then by twelve. When they get down to one cookie per child and the doorbell rings again, grandma arrives with more cookies. In order to actively engage students, the teacher gives counters which represent the cookies to the students (in small groups or individually, depending on the ability levels of the students, the number of available counters, and the number of students.). Students divide the set into two groups (6 each), then four groups (3 each), then six groups (2 each), then 12 groups (1 each) as the story progresses. Students are not only engaged in the story, but are actively engaged in the hands-on division process. Encourage students to represent their work by drawing their answers on paper or a dry erase board. For students who have difficulty in drawing, consider having students paste paper cut-outs, or have students place circle stickers on index cards. Move students into

“What if only one guest had shown up first?” Students must add one arrival to the original two children to determine that three children were dividing the batch (4 cookies each).

“What if five children were dividing the. cookies?” This would require a remainder.

Reading Matters Teaching Matters

“What if Grandma brought 20 cookies? This requires addition to arrive at a new total, thus changing the dividend in the division problems in the story. Geometric Shapes Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tompert (1990) is a delightful story told by a grandfather to his granddaughter. This magical tale is about two little foxes that change into other animals only to find that danger ensues. In the end, their friendship saves them, and they return to their original fox form. Each page of the book has sketches of Tangram animals. As the teacher reads, students make their version of the animal with their own set of Tangrams. This activity offers an opportunity for students to explore size, congruency, slides, flips, turns, etc. Students can explore the Tangrams making a square, a triangle, or a parallelogram, as well as non-standard polygons. They can create their own Tangram puzzles by arranging the pieces into a design and tracing around them to create the puzzle template. Students will write on the design the number of pieces required to make the picture on the template and trade with a friend to solve. Students can work in small groups to make a square, a rectangle, a parallelogram, and a trapezoid with their Tangrams. Further skill is required when students record their results and the different ways that they solved for making each shape (and with how many pieces). Students can begin to categorize their polygons according to convex and concave. Once they have shown their ability to identify each type, they may begin to create their own. Additionally, students can identify angles within the polygons as acute, right, or obtuse. Once students show that they are able to identify the types of angles, have them create polygons that have specific guidelines (i.e. a polygon with four right angles, a polygon with four right angles, etc.). Time The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle is about a ladybug that is grouchy and doesn’t like anyone. She is mean and cranky and is always trying to pick a fight as she comes across different critters throughout the day. On the top right corner of each page, there is a picture of an analogue clock, and when the narrator says a specific time, children can see what it looks like on the clock. At the end of the story, the grouchy ladybug is back where she started, tired and humbled. Not only is this book a great opportunity to talk to children about manners and kindness, but it also lends itself to teaching about size and time.

As the story progresses, students can work with geared mini- clocks individually or with partners to set the time on the clock

| 42 | Reading Matters | Volume 17 • Winter 2017 | scira.org

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