Math Content in Children's Literature

Thank you for stopping by She Reads Books today. I am so thrilled you decided to stop by! Today I will be sharing my reviews on five math content books in children's literature and how I would use the books in my future classroom. I hope you enjoy my picks!






Book #1: Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 by Bill Martin, Jr. and Michael Sampson


Book Review: Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 is a cute story for early readers. This story teaches early readers how to count through its vibrant illustrations and through its use of rhyming. In this story, the numbers can be found taking over an apple tree and the number zero is worried that there is not any room for him. The story is sure to keep children engaged and learning through the reading of the entire book. I recommend this book to any teacher and parent to read to their students and children because it teaches them about numbers, but it is also such a cute story.

Lesson Idea: In my future classroom, I would love to use this book as a read-aloud to introduce numbers and counting to my future students. One lesson idea I have for this book is for my students to draw a card with a number on it, and with that number, they would draw that many things (for example, a student picked the number two, so he drew two houses). This will help the student be able to recognize different numbers in ordinary things. 

Below I have attached a link to a read-aloud of the story in case you wanted to check out the story!






Book #2: Little Critter - Numbers by Mercer Mayer


Book Review: Little Critter - Numbers has to be one of the cutest stories ever! It is such a simple book for children to learn their numbers through and it is in a real-world setting – the zoo. It is about Little Critter, who enjoys a day at the zoo counting all the animals he comes across. I recommend this story to teachers and parents because it is such a cute story set in a real-world setting and most children can relate to this story (as soon as they learn how to count, they count just about everything they see).   
  
Lesson Idea: In my future classroom, I would love to use this book as a read-aloud to show my students the many different ways they can count numbers. One lesson idea I have for this story is to develop an activity for my students to complete. The activity would be an I Spy activity that would take place in my classroom. The students will complete a worksheet that has a multitude of items on there and they have to find them in the classroom and record how many of them they see in the classroom.

Below I have attached the author's website and Twitter in case you wanted to check out the author!

Book #3: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin


Book Review: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons is a cute and really simple story for children. It is about Pete, a cat, who wears a shirt with four colorful groovy buttons, but he loses every button until he has no buttons left, except his belly button. This story teaches children how to count and it teaches them the basic principles of subtraction. Even though the story teaches about math content, it is sure to keep children engaged through its vibrant illustrations and its use of repetition. I recommend this story to teachers and parents because it is such an imaginative and cute story.
  
Lesson Idea: In my future classroom, I would love to use this book as a read-aloud to introduce numbers and the concept of subtraction. One lesson idea I have for this story is for my students to use buttons to demonstrate numbers, the concept of addition, and the concept of subtraction. 

Below I have attached the author's website, Twitter, and a link to a read-aloud of the story in case you wanted to check out the author or the story itself!

Book #4: Spooky Hour by Tony Mitton

Book Review: Spooky Hour may be a little complex for some readers, but it would be a great story to use around Halloween in the classroom. It is about a cat and a dog who go on an adventure throughout the night and they spot many creatures throughout the hours during the night. The creatures they come across; they also count how many there are before they move on to different ones. The illustrations and the use of literary techniques are my two favorite things about this story. I recommend this story to teachers and parents because it teaches children about numbers and to recognize various literary techniques in a work.

Lesson Idea: In my future classroom, I would love to use this book as a read-aloud during Halloween to teach telling time on a clock. I would like to create an activity that would get the students up and moving around the classroom. For example, I would have various Halloween characters posted around the room with a clock and the students would move to each station writing down on their worksheet what the time is on the clock and how do they know that is what time the clock is showing. I would also have a station where the students draw their own character and clock and they would record what time it is on the clock and what their character is doing at that specific time.

Below I have attached the author's website and a link to a read-aloud of the story in case you wanted to check out the author or the story itself!

Book #5: You Wouldn’t Want to Live Without Math by Anne Rooney


Book Review: You Wouldn’t Want to Live Without Math takes readers on a journey explaining the historical significance of math and how it was first developed. The story also includes examples of how we would not be able to live without math and why we wouldn’t want to live without math. It is such a beautiful story through its illustrations and its use of words. I recommend this book to any teacher and parent to read to their students and children because it teaches them why math is important, and it gets them excited to learn about math.

Lesson Idea: In my future classroom, I would love to use this book as a read-aloud during our scheduled math time at the beginning of the year because it explains to children why learning math is important, and it shows them many ways in how math is used in the world today. One lesson idea I have for this story is for my students to write down as many ways they use math every day in three minutes and then share some of their responses with the class. 

Below I have attached the author's website and Twitter in case you wanted to check out the author!




I hope that you enjoyed my book reviews and lesson ideas. I hope you consider adding all five books to your classroom library if you have not already!

Happy Reading,

Ashley  

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