RM Winter 2017

were so long that King Arthur became hoarse from speaking loudly to be heard at the other end of the table, so he asked for the table to be redesigned. Designers experiment with several different shapes as vocabulary is introduced throughout the story. Finally, the round table came to be. After the story, give students different cylindrical shapes (cans of different sizes work well). Allow students time to explore with string and a ruler to investigate any relationships between the diameter and the circumference of the cylinders. Direct students to measure the diameter of the cylinders and make predictions about the circumference. Students can record their predictions and mark which ones they predicted the closest. At some point, students will begin to realize that the circumference is a little more than three times the diameter (i.e., 3.14 to be exact). Fractions Full House by Dayle Ann Dodds (2007) is a colorfully illustrated book about Miss Bloom who’s Strawberry Inn has six rooms. When she is there alone, she uses 1/6 of the bedrooms. This delightful rhyming format follows the arrival of each guest as the house fills to 6/6 and ends with a midnight pizza party. In this activity, each child (or partners) has one circle of fraction pieces broken into sixths and separated as the story begins. Miss Broom is the only person at the inn, so students will place one fraction piece (1/6) in the circle. As each guest arrives and the fraction is named in the book, the students place an additional 1/6 in the circle until all six pieces are in place, making one whole. On the last page, have the students demonstrate what happened by removing five of the six pieces leaving the one piece for Miss Broom. The teacher should allow students time to explore with their own full set of fraction circles, investigating greater/less than and equivalency. Once the story is finished and students have had an opportunity to explore, students create their own fraction story. Dayle Ann Dodds has designed a Common Core aligned literacy-based set of lessons and activities to accompany this book, and it can be accessed through teacherspayteachers.com by searching for the author. Conclusion It is necessary to engage students in mathematics instruction, but this may be difficult to do at times. Integrating books into mathematics instruction is one way to engage students and to develop their understanding of real-life applications of mathematics. We have provided suggestions for planning and using children’s literature to support learning mathematics that we hope will be helpful for teachers.

each time change within the story. When students are practicing using clocks, it is important that the teacher or assistant monitors students as they move the clock to make sure that their settings are correct. Once students have had some experience working with manipulating the clocks, they can make their own Grouchy Ladybug clock. The template for making the clock can be found at http://www.memphis.edu/socialwork/pdfs/thegrouchyladybug_ teacher.pdf . Additional math activities (and other subjects) relating to this adorable book can be found on Pinterest, as well. Linear Measurement How Big is a Foot? by Rolf Myller (1990) is about a king who wants to have a bed built for this queen. He walked the perimeter of the rectangle in the space where the queen lay in order to have the measurements for her new bed. The apprentice had a smaller foot than the king, so the bed was too small. The problem is solved when the apprentice makes a sculpture of the king’s foot in order to measure properly. There are several places in the story where students have an opportunity to problem solve. First, when the king wonders how big to make the bed, students can identify a variety of ways to find the right size. When the bed is too small and the apprentice must find a solution, another opportunity arises for students to problem solve. In both cases, some students will go directly to standard forms of measurement whereas others will come up with less conventional ways (non-standard measurement). Small groups can determine a solution, and each group can share with the class. In order to actively engage students in arranging items from smallest to largest, each student can work with a partner and trace around each other’s foot (with the shoe on) on construction paper, and then, students cut out their paper foot. After that, students arrange the paper feet side by side from smallest to largest. Further develop this activity by having each student measure their paper foot with non-standard (i.e., paper clips or gummy bears) and standard units of measurement. The unit of measurement should be appropriate for the grade level and the standards being taught. If the topic is US customary measurement, some students may measure to the nearest inch, half inch, quarter inch, eighth inch depending on the level of the student. If the topic is using metric measurement, a centimeter is a reasonable unit for linear measurement for small items. Additionally, students can trace the foot on a square centimeter grid or square inch grid to determine the area. The next higher level of thinking requires students to sketch a rectangular bed using square grid paper when given specific linear measurements and then to determine the area (i.e., 6 feet long and 3 feet wide renders an area of 18 square feet, or 5 feet long and 4 feet wide renders an area of 20 square feet, etc.). Finally, it is beneficial to provide closure by asking a question such as, “Why do you think the ruler was invented?” Students should demonstrate an understanding that a standard unit of measurement is necessary so that everyone has the same concept of specific lengths. Measuring Circles Sir Cumference by Cindy Neuschwander (1997) tells the story of King Arthur and his knights. The meetings they held

Reading Matters Teaching Matters

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