Math: picture books are GREAT learning fun!

Here are some great picture books we've been using lately to reinforce math concepts. Check these out and I'm sure you'll agree that this is a great way to learn maths!

Kroll, Virginia – Equal Shmequal – equal is more than just the same number and this book helps kids realize that even numbers don’t always make even teams as some forest animals try to have create equal teams for tug-a-war! Very cute and great way to open discussion on concept of “equal” (including an author’s note at the end that explains “equal” from different views: artist, lawyers, sports, mathematicians)
Time Life Editors – Right in Your Own Backyard: Nature Math – filled with lots of puzzles, interesting facts and activities, this book links math with nature! Covers all the basic concepts in a fun, easy way.
Hewavisenti, Lakshmi – Shapes and Solids: with games and puzzles – great overview (with fun projects) for learning all about shapes and solids (tessellations, reflectiosn, moebius strips, tangrams, etc.)
Kohl, Herbert – Insides, Outsides, Loops and Lines – now this is a fun book for exploring closed and open shapes made completely with lines; lots of great games and activities for all ages.
Micklethwait, Lucy – I Spy Shapes in Art – this is another great art book for kids from Micklethwait. Here, the focus is on regular geometric shapes (so, the 14 paintings are primarily modern art) and the kids can really investigate these individual paintings looking for the shape to “spy” and also looking for other shapes in the paintings. Great cross-curriculum stuff here!
Neuschwander, Cindy – Sir Cumference and the First Round Table: A Math Adventure – tells the tale of how to create other regular shapes from a rectangle as well as a description of diameter, radius and circumference.
Neuschwander, Cindy – Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi: A Math Adventure – tells the tale of Pi and proves the measurement is always 3.14159…...
Neuschwander, Cindy – Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland: A Math Adventure – tells the tale of how to measure angles and describes acute, right, obtuse and straight angles.
Neuschwander, Cindy – Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone: A Math Adventure – tells the tale of how to create other regular shapes from a rectangle as well as a description of diameter, radius and Euler’s Law that says that any straight-sided, solid shape that, if the numbers of faces on a solid is added to the number of points (or vertices), then subtracted from the number of its edges, the answer will ALWAYS be two – works for every polyhedron.
Neuschwander, Cindy – Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter: A Math Adventure – tells the tale of Per and her cousin Radius and their discovery that an area of a circle equals half the circumference times the radius (also, area = pi x radius-squared).
Pluckrose, Henry – Math Counts: Shape – cute picture book about regular geometric shapes and looking for (and finding) them everywhere.
Reisberg, Joanne – Zachary Zormer Shape Transformer – when measuring perimeter, Zack teaches the class about moebius strips, expanding frame and increasing the size of light. This is a fun book – the kids really got into stumping dad with the doubled length of the moebius and the five-times-larger frame!
Wilson, John – Mosaic and Tessellated Patterns: How to Create Them – this is a great Dover book that gives wonderful illustrations of tessellation and mosaic patterns (with great overviews of how to create a myriad of designs). The book includes 32 “plates” to color … which copy wonderfully so you can color, and color and color!

Books: curing math phobia ...

... or at least geometric phobia!

Here are some books we've been using to study regular geometric shapes, both two- and three-dimensional shapes. These books show that math, at least geometry, can not only be interesting and fun, but also artistic and creative!

Hewavisenti, Lakshmi – Shapes and Solids: with games and puzzles – great overview (with fun projects) for learning all about shapes and solids (tessellations, reflectiosn, moebius strips, tangrams, etc.)
Kohl, Herbert – Insides, Outsides, Loops and Lines – now this is a fun book for exploring closed and open shapes made completely with lines; lots of great games and activities for all ages.
Micklethwait, Lucy – I Spy Shapes in Art – this is another great art book for kids from Micklethwait. Here, the focus is on regular geometric shapes (so, the 14 paintings are primarily modern art) and the kids can really investigate these individual paintings looking for the shape to “spy” and also looking for other shapes in the paintings. Great cross-curriculum stuff here!
Pluckrose, Henry: Math Counts: Shape – cute picture book about regular geometric shapes and looking for (and finding) them everywhere. Just because this is written for the littles, doesn't mean you can't use it if you just have older ones -- have them do a full picture using as many regular shapes as possible; or search for shapes while driving in the car; or create 3-d sculptures based on shapes.
Wilson, John – Mosaic and Tessellated Patterns: How to Create Them – this is a great Dover book that gives wonderful illustrations of tessellation and mosaic patterns (with great overviews of how to create a myriad of designs). The book includes 32 “plates” to color … which copy wonderfully so you can color, and color and color!

Geometry can be a bit scary -- but make it interesting and creative and you will all have fun!

Books: Random Reading Day

Occasionally, I gather a bunch of different books and we sit and read for the day. These may be easy readers, older picture books or just a random selection of things to read; the books may be all one author's, all one subject/theme or just a mish-mash of fun reads.

We call this "random reading day" and we have so much fun -- often launching off into rabbit trails or individual kids' interests are piqued.

Here's our list of great, mixed picture books we read today in case you'd like to try this too:

Tiger of the Snows: Tenzing Norgay - The boy whose dream was Everest by Robert Burleigh and illustrated by Ed Young – a beautifully illustrated picture biography of the Sherpa mountaineer who climbed with Sir Edmund Hillary to the top of the world, Mt. Everest!

Stealing Home: Jackie Robinson Against the Odds by Robert Burleigh and illustrated by Mike Wimmer – a very exciting picture book of Jackie Robinson’s ability to steal home. The pictures are wonderful and the text exciting. A fabulous baseball book.

The Red Wolf by Margaret Shannon – ok, this one is near and dear to my heart! A little princess is kept in a tower by her loving (if slightly obsessive) father who worries the world will corrupt her. She is given the gift of a golden chest full of WOOL with a note that says “knit what you want”. She knits a red wolf suit and escapes. The rest of this rather unique story has the kids guessing until the end.

A Small Tall Tale from the Far Far North by Peter Sis – this is the story of a real man: Jan Welzl, who left his home in Moravia in the late 1800s and headed for the Far North. Based on facts as well as the tall-tales the man himself told, Peter Sis creates a beautifully detailed picture book of life in the Far North. A fabulous lead-in to a study of Alaska, exploring, and Eskimos.

Black Beauty’s Early Days in the Meadow by Anna Sewell and illustrated by Jane Monroe Donovan – the pictures of this book are worth hunting for this one! Anna Sewell’s story of Black Beauty is enhanced with this picture book that tells of the pony’s life in the fields and the very important lessons he learns from his mother.

Read Anything Good Lately? By Susan Allen and Jane Lindaman, illustrated by Vicky Enright – if you love reading, you’ll love this unique alphabet book where the writers describe different things you can read using the letters of the alphabet. At the end are some other ideas of things to read and we had fun thinking of where you would read an essay (on an elephant?) or a picture book (on a pony?). A wonderful introduction for those learning to read.

Thanksgiving Wish by Michael J. Rosen and paintings by John Thompson – this book always makes me cry, but in a good way! The story of a grandma’s traditional thanksgiving feast is enhanced by the first thanksgiving after she dies. A wonderful book that we’ll read every year at Thanksgiving!

One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes and illustrated by Bonnie Mackan – how many ways can 100 be re-grouped to make it to the picnic in time? This is a great, repetitive book that had my kids responding right along with the ants. Great way to introduce multiplication/division with 100.

One Hundred is a Family by Pam Munoz Ryan and illustrated by Benrei Huang – starting with one family, this is a great counting book that shows that even 100 people living in an apartment house are a family. Lots of fun in this counting book.

On Beyond a Million: An Amazing Math Journey by David M. Schwartz and illustrated by Paul Meisel – is a great introduction to the power of ten and how easy it is to count to a googol if you count exponentially. But, as the book clearly points out, you can never count to infinity nor are bajillion or gazillion real numbers. Lots of fun in this math book.

Roman Numbers I to MM by Arthur Geisert – is a great way to introduce, practice and review roman numerals. Starting with the basic seven letters I, V, X, L, C, D and M – you can make ANY number imaginable (Romans didn’t have a symbol for beyond “thousand”). And Geisert proves it with his MMMMDCCLXIV (4764) pigs and other drawings throughout the book. One thing that’s very cool (other than page numbers in Roman numerals) is the last 11 pages are practice pages for what XI means or how many tire swings. Lots of great rabbit trails from this one!

As you can see, it's really a mixed bag today -- some I chose for their illustrations, some for their content, some becuase I'd heard good things about the authors. All were well-received and have the kids really thinking (and understanding that reading really can be fun and interesting). Here's a blog post of more books from Random Reading day.