I love children’s books that teach math concepts! One that I used today is called, Pigs will be Pigs by Amy Axelrod, pictures by Sharon McGinley-Nally. I work with a couple 1st graders once a week and I found that using books like this provide a way for us to talk about vocabulary in addition to a math topic. The topic in this book is money so I created a quick chart. Here is a .pdf of the chart.
We first wrote the name for each bill and coin. Then, as I read the book, students kept track of the money the pigs found by making tally marks on the chart. When I finished reading, the students counted their tally marks and we found the total.
There are several ways to extend this book. Here are a few ideas…
- Talk about the presidents, monuments, and other items on each bill and coin. Here’s a nice reference about coins in circulation.
- There is a nice interactive read-aloud on You Tube that poses questions throughout the book.
- The pigs go to a restaurant in the book and the menu is printed on two of the pages. Have kids order a meal and calculate the total. Or, give them a certain amount of money and have them order meals for their family.
What are some children’s books that you know of that teach math concepts? Please share!
Love it, Lynn thanks for all you do! I may use this with some of my 2nd & 3rd graders in title math! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Lynn! I used those books when I taught 3rd grade and we would keep track of the total. Great idea! I have some other math materials that may be helpful for you or that I could possibly use with the girls.