Math and literature -
Books to promote mathematical thinking
Math and literature are a great combination. Not only do students hear a great story, they learn math concepts at the same time. Kids' books are great inexpensive classroom resources. Use them not only to teach math, but to connect to numerous other subject areas as well.
How Many Bugs in a Box? (Mini Edition): A Pop-up Counting Book
Many books increase mathematical thinking. Children's literature provides a great jumping off place for math activities. First become familiar with the math skills kindergarten children are working towards learning. Once you are comfortable with these it is easier to think of creative activities to practice math skills.
Generally spend about a week building the connections between the math skills and the story. Here are some suggestions.
- Day 1 - Read the book to the students and enjoy it. Have a sharing circle - those who want to say something about the book have an opportunity.
- Day 2 - Look at some of the pictures in the book, have a teacher directed discussion (still not necessarily about math concepts).
- Day 3 - Reread the story. This time focus the students' attention on the math concept.
- Day 4 - Remind children of the math concept and the book. Have an activity ready to reinforce the story and the math concept.
Always demonstrate the activity first. Just explaining is too confusing. I usually do two demos, the second one showing things that can go wrong. I start it with "This time I am going to make mistakes. Can you guess what I am doing wrong?" The kids find it funny and it reinforces that it's okay if you make mistakes.
Stories that are interesting, that present opportunities to teach math skills, and that have good illustrations are perfect for math and literature connections.
Books that increase mathematical thinking and activities:
"Ten Apples Up On Top!" by Theo. Le Sieg (Dr. Suess)
"Ten Little Rubber Ducks" by Eric Carle
"1, 2, 3 to the Zoo" by Eric Carle
All math pages:
Teaching kindergarten & preschool math - how to teach kindergarten and preschool math concepts, sample step-by-step teach measurement, activities and games
Teaching with math manipulatives - how to teach with math manipulatives to help children understand math concepts
Best math manipulatives - choose materials that are useful for more than one math concept, work well for problem solving activities and are tough enough to withstand constant play
Teaching math vocabulary - learn how to teach math vocabulary and specific words as you demonstrate math activities and talk to your students about their math experiences.
Attribute blocks - how to use these math manipulatives for different features: shape, color, size and thickness to help promote logical thinking
Graphing 1 - how to teach graphing to preschool and kindergarten children, includes collecting data and organizing it in a variety of ways
Graphing 2 - more graphing ideas for young children
Measurement - how to find measurement to young children, find opportunities for students to order objects by size, color, shape...
Number Activities - how to provide experiences that build number sense
Number Games - how to improve children's number sense with easy games
Number Skills - what number skills do children need to know?
Pattern 1- how to teach children pattern concepts
Pattern 2 - ideas and games to teach children to recognize, create, copy and extend patterns
Pattern 3 - teach patterning skills to early childhood and preschool students
Sorting and classifying- how to teach children the important skills of sorting, comparing and classifying objects
Math & Literature Connections - how to combine math and literature, learn how to promote math skills as you share good literature
Ten Apples Up on Top - open-ended math activity with Dr. Suess
10 Little Rubber Ducks - ideas to promote math with this wonderful Eric Carle story
1, 2, 3 to the Zoo - another great Eric Carle book, practice counting, making number sets, ordinal numbers and more
