One Hundred Hungry Ants

Title: One Hundred Hungry Ants

Author: Elinor J. Pincczes

Illustrator: Bonnie Mackain

Recommended Grade Level: 2-3

NCTM Content Standards: Number and Operations, algebra, and problem solving

Summary of the Book: One Hundred Hungry Ants is a rhyming story about 100 hungry ants marching to a picnic. At first they are marching in a single file line to a picnic, when the smallest ant suggests that if they reconfigure the line they could travel faster. Thus on their journey to the picnic the ants form two lines of 50, four lines of 25, five lines of 20, ten lines of 10. However, by the time that they get to the picnic they realize that they have gone too slow and thus ninety-nine hungry ants chase away the smallest ant “a hey and a hi dee ho!”

Suggestions for Use: This story could be used to help students learn how to find math combinations that lead into early multiplication and division lessons. Students can find factors of a given number, say 150 (since 100 was used in the book), and see how many equal rows can be made with a tangible object such as pennies, beans, erasers, etc. For a more extensive activity, each student could write their own story, like One Hundred Hungry Ants, using a different number, object marching, destination, and whatever else one can think of!

One More Sheep

Title: One More Sheep

Author: Mij Kelly

Illustrator: Russell Ayto

Grades: Pre-K - 1

NCTM Content Standards: Numbers & Operations, Connections, Problem Solving

Summary: Silly Sam seems too sleepy to simply count his sheep. He thought they were all in for the night, but then there's a knock at the door. The sheep are suspicious and insist he count them before he lets in the mysterious visitor! Will Sam be able to stay awake long enough to count to ten? -- Fun to read.

Uses: Can be used to practice counting to ten (eleven when you include the mysterious visitor). The sheep count to ten as part of the narrative, but children could count them in other places in the text as well (cover, being tucked into bed by Sam, etc.) to determine if they are all there. The text utilizes rhyme, rhythm and pattern.

Spaghetti and Meatballs for All!

Written by Marilyn Burns
Illustrated by Debbie Tilley

Recommended grade level: K-5

NCTM Content Standards: Number and Operation, Geometry, Problem Solving, Connections, Representation

Summary: Mr. and Mrs. Comfort decide to host a dinner part. They invite 32 of their nearest and dearest. They rent 8 square tables to seat their guests-- each seats 4. As the guests arrive on the day of the party, they begin to push the tables together so that they can all sit with the Comforts. Mrs. Comfort warns the guests that their table configuration will not accommodate all 32 guests, but they do not listen to her. Ultimately, everyone recognizes that the only way to solve the seating situation is to separate all 8 tables. Mrs. Comfort is exasperated but in the end, everyone has a seat.

Uses for this book: For younger children, teachers can have students count and then document the number of guests who arrive at the party. Slightly older children can discuss the amount of food that the Comforts purchase for their party and how much each guest can eat (i.e. ½ a loaf of garlic bread, 3 meatballs, etc.) However, this book is ideal for helping students to understand that different shapes with the same area can have different perimeters. A teacher can begin by holding a discussion where the class figures out why Mrs. Comfort continuously says, “But that won’t work.” Students can use square shaped magnets or laminated pieces of card stock to rearrange the table setup as you read each part of the story. This activity can either be done as a whole class or by each student at his or her desk. Students can calculate perimeter and area after each arrangement and talk about their findings at the end of the story. Additionally, students can be asked to calculate how many tables it would take to seat 12, 16, 24 or 36 people—this activity allows them to apply what they learned from the story to other scenarios. And finally, students can plan their own parties, complete with menus and table setups based on how many people they plan to invite.

Uno's Garden

Title: Uno's Garden

Author and Illustrator: Graeme Base

Recommended Grade Level: 3-5

NCTM Content Standards: Number and Operations, and Algebra

Summary of the Book: This book is about a character named Uno, who goes to visit a forest one day. He decides that he would like to move to the forest and make it his permanent home. He is amazed at the beautiful plants and unique animals. As more and more people make their way to this forest, and more buildings are put up, the animals and plants start to disappear. Eventually the forest is no longer full of plants and animals and the occupants decide to leave. Uno and his family stay and slowly allow for the plants and animals to come back.

Suggestions for Use: The three different mathematical patterns, subtraction, squares, and doubles, are not explained explicitly in the story, so students could figure out what pattern is being used in the increasing or decreasing amounts that are represented. Once they understand the concepts, students could write out words or word problems to describe the content on a certain page. For example they could deal with 9 times 9 equals 81 plants and have to say “there are 9 different types of plants, and there are 9 of each of these different types, how many plants are there in total?” You could also have them go through and write a word problem using subtraction, multiplication, division, squares, and doubles. This book could also extend beyond mathematics instruction and spark a conversation about environmental concerns.

-Lindsay

Chasing Vermeer

Title: Chasing Vermeer

Author: Blue Balliett

Recommended Grade Level: 5-8

NCTM Standards: Geometry, Algebra, and Problem Solving

Summary: Blue Balliett introduces readers to a pair of precocious kids on a quest full of patterns, puzzles, and the power of blue M&Ms. Eleven year old Petra and Calder may be in the same sixth grade class, but they barely know each other. It’s only after a near collision during a museum field trip that they discover their shared worship of art, their teacher Ms. Hussey, and the blue candy that doesn’t melt in your hands. Their friendship is strengthened when a creative thief steals a valuable Vermeer painting en route to Chicago, their home town. When the thief leaves a trail of public clues via the newspaper, Petra and Calder decide to try and recover the painting themselves. But tracking down the Vermeer isn’t easy, as Calder and Petra try to figure out what a set of pentominos (mathematical puzzle pieces), a mysterious book about unexplainable phenomena and a suddenly very nervous Ms. Hussey have to do with a centuries old artwork. When the thief ups the ante by declaring that he or she may very well destroy the painting, the two friends know they have to make the pieces of the puzzle fit before it’s too late!

Uses/Activities: This book would be a great tie-in for mathematics and English. Students can read the story for English, and use the pentominos in math class. The pentominos can be used to make different shapes--useful in geometry class--and students can create their own set of petominos. There are also many activities in the back of the book regarding mathematics. Students can come up with their own patterns and codes using mathematical formulas. It's a great hands-on activity and they can write reflections on what they have learned.

You Can, Toucan, Math

Written by David A. Adler
Illustrated by Edward Miller

Recommended Grade Level: 2-4

NCTM standards: Number and Operations, Problem Solving

Summary: From Two Toucans to Crows in Rows, this book presents twenty-one bird-themed rhyming word problems. These number riddles ask readers to decide whether to use addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division to solve the word problem. For younger grade levels, children can also discover the answer by simply counting the birds in the colorful illustrations. A typical riddle goes: "Two toucans, / and seven, / and four toucans more -/ how many toucans / are two, seven, and four?"

Uses for this book: This book serves as a good introduction into basic word problem solving for students in grades 2-3. The book could be used across grades 2-4 since teachers can pick and choose the number riddles that best suit their purpose. It could be used in 4th grade to help students review or refresh their memory on the four different number operations. In addition, in 4th grade, the teacher could read one number riddle a day for three straight weeks or sporadically throughout the year. The four number operation fact table endpapers could help students to test their own knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.

One activity that students could do is to create their own number riddle. The class could decide on a topic to write their rhyming word problems on in case they want an unifying theme. Otherwise, students could select a topic of their choice to do their number riddle on. Afterwards, the teacher could collect the students' number riddles to make a classroom book of rhyming word problems.

A Drop of Water

Title: A Drop of Water

Author: Walter Wick

Recommended Grade Level: 6-8

NCTM Content Standard: Geometry

Summary: Vivid photographs illustrate the various states of water in A Drop of Water. The photos and accompanying explanations explore water from its simplest form as tiny molecules to its more complex forms as vapor, ice, snowflakes, and clouds. Water is also analyzed in its multiple stages of movement, including condensation and evaporation. Each new page contains a striking image of water to stimulate awe in the reader and a brief summary to explain the featured phenomenon. A list of potential experiments involving water are included at the end of the book.

Uses/Activities: Water is presented in its form as soap bubbles in the book. Students could read about water in this state and then use soap bubbles to learn about geometry, specifically circles. The activity would go as follows:
Groups of students receive bubble mix. Students blow bubbles and when the bubbles pop, they measure the radius, diameter, and circumference of the circles left by the bubbles (very quickly before they completely disappear)! After recording the data in a table, students work collaboratively to discover the relationship between radius, diameter, and circumference of a circle.