Hands-on, Practical Guidance for Educators

From math, literacy, equity, multilingual learners, and SEL, to assessment, school counseling, and education leadership, our books are research-based and authored by experts on topics most relevant to what educators are facing today.

Look Inside

Numbers and Stories

Using Children's Literature to Teach Young Children Number Sense

By: Rita C. Janes, Elizabeth L. Strong

Count on children’s books to build number sense!

Math and reading go hand in hand, especially among children who are new to both. If you’re looking for a surefire way to build number sense and reading skills at the very same time, rely on this indispensable K-2 resource. Using children’s books as a springboard for learning, it provides 22 ready-to-use lessons—all aligned to the Common Core Standards for Math and ELA.

Inside you’ll find

22 interactive, research-based mathematics investigations
High-quality children’s book selections
Reflection and discussion questions and prompts for both teachers and students
Children’s work pages and formative assessment tools
An online facilitator’s guide

Use these 22 standards-based math investigations to build number sense and reading skills at the very same time. Also included are discussion questions and prompts, formative assessment tools, and an online facilitator’s guide.

Full description

Look Inside

Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781483330945
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2014
Page Count: 224
Publication date: May 06, 2014

Select Format:

Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.

Description

Count on children’s books to build number sense!

Math and reading go hand in hand, especially among young children who are new to both. If you’re looking for a surefire way to build number sense and reading skills at the very same time, rely on this indispensable K-2 resource. Using children’s books as a springboard for standards-based learning, it provides 22 detailed lessons, all ready for immediate implementation.

The authors--one an internationally respected math professional development consultant, the other a language arts specialist--weave together the Common Core Math and ELA standards and practices, supporting you as you combine children’s literature with meaningful mathematical learning experiences. Their book provides

22 interactive, research-based investigations with detailed instructional suggestions and problem-solving tasks
High-quality children’s book selections
Reflection and discussion questions and prompts for both teachers and students
Children’s work pages and formative assessment tools
An online facilitator’s guide

Read this book, try out its investigations, and see the results for yourself. By pairing the books kids love with the math skills they’re building, you’ll give them a rock-solid foundation for future learning.

Key features

Quality children's literature as major resource, with accompanying math text set
Carefully designed, engaging, interactive mathematics investigations connected to Common Core State Standards supported by research - Both CCSS-M and CCSS -ELA
Formative Assessment throughout each investigation
Children's work pages
Reflection and discussion questions, and prompts for children and teachers
Online/Web based facilitators guide

Author(s)

Rita C. Janes

Rita Janes has spent a lifetime as a teacher. She taught at all levels of schooling, including the teaching of mathematics and mathematics education for pre-service teachers. She served as mathematics professional development consultant at the district level with responsibilities from kindergarten to grade 12. In recent years she has been facilitating workshops on mathematics instruction with teachers and school districts across Canada and the United States. She has a special interest in supporting teachers as they strive to integrate the NCTM Process Standards and the CCSS Standards for Mathematical Practice into the content of elementary mathematics programs, helping to make these programs come alive in the classroom.

Rita promotes the use of rich problem solving tasks, mathematical discourse and the posing of good questions to ensure inquiry-oriented classroom environments for all children. Observing how young children are more successful learners of mathematics when it is presented in a familiar context, she finds great success in using children’s literature as this context.

Rita has served on the Board of Directors of National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM); the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM); Chair of the NCTM Professional Development Services Committee; Chair of NCTM Affiliate Services Committee; Member of NCTM Educational Services Committee; President of Newfoundland and Labrador (NLTA) Mathematics Council; President of the NLTA Elementary Teachers Council; and Editor of Teaching Mathematics (an NLTA publication).

Elizabeth L. Strong

Elizabeth Strong is first and foremost a teacher. Her career began as a primary/elementary teacher, then elementary school administer, school district primary education coordinator and university professor. Elizabeth’s professional journey has focused mainly on literacy, language arts, and children’s literature. She has been and continues to be an International, National, Provincial, and Regional professional development presenter and facilitator of topics related to these areas. However, of late, her main focus is effectively using children's literature in the classroom to encourage young children to discover and explore the delights in books of all genres and to support, extend, and enrich all areas of the curriculum.

Elizabeth has served on the International Board On Books for Young Children; the Canadian Children’s Book Centre: Our Choice Committee; the Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence in Science, Technology, and Mathematics Committee; and Canadian Association for Young Children. She has been a member of the Journal of the Early Childhood Education Council, the College of the North Atlantic Early Childhood Education Committee, International Reading Association and a member of and reviewer for the Journal of the National Council of Teachers of English, as well as the President of the Newfoundland Teachers Association Reading Council.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Publisher's Acknowledgments

About the Authors

I. Here's the Story: Fundamental Components for Developing Number Sense Using Children's Literature

1. The Young Child and Mathematics

Why Mathematics for Young Children?

Learning Mathematics in the Early Years

2. The Learning Environment

Features of the Learning Environment

Summary

3. Why Integrate Children's Literature and Mathematics?

Children's Literature and Learning Mathematics

Reasons for Integrating Children's Literature and Mathematics

Summary

4. Essential Features of the Investigations

Design of Investigations

The Context

Important Mathematics

Supporting Children's Learning

Summary

5. Design of the Investigations

Stages of Investigations

The Six Stages

Summary

II. Children's Literature and Number Sense Investigations

Unit 1: Counting and Cardinality

Cardinal Numbers One to Ten - The Water Hole (Graeme Base)

Subitizing - Olly and Me: 1 2 3 (Shirley Hughes)

Counting On - Mouse Count (Ellen Stoll Walsh)

Counting to Find How Many - How Many Snails? A Counting Book (Paul Giganti Jr.)

Counting Backwards - Ten Little Fish (Audrey Wood)

Unit 2: Whole Number and Operations Relationships

Comparing Quantities and Numbers - One Big Building: A Counting Book About Construction (Michael Dahl)

Comparing Numbers - How Many Snails? A Counting Book (Paul Giganti Jr.)

Numbers That Make 10 - Ten Flashing Fireflies (Philemon Sturges)

Odd and Even Numbers - 365 Penguins (Jean-Luc Fromental)

Skip Counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s - Two Ways to Count to Ten: A Liberian Folktale (Ruby Dee)

Doubling Numbers - Minnie's Diner: A Multiplying Menu (Dayle Ann Conrad)

Equal Groups - How Do You Count a Dozen Ducklings? (Sean Chae)

Unit 3: Operations and Algebraic Thinking

Equality and Equations - Balancing Act (Ellen Stoll Walsh) and Equal Shmequal (Virginia Kroll)

Decomposing Numbers/Word Problems - Quack and Count (Keith Baker)

Add Within 20 - The Tub People (Pam Conrad)

Subtraction Within 20/Word Problems - What's the Difference? An Endangered Animal Subtraction Story (Suzanne Slade)

Add Two or More Addends - The Twelve Days of Summer (Jan Andrews)

Unit 4: Operations Within 100 and Place Value

Representing Numbers to 100/Addition and Subtraction - One is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab: A Counting by Feet Book (April Pulley Sayre & Jeff Sayre)

Addition and Subtraction Within 100/Word Problems - The Centipede's 100 Shoes (Tony Ross)

Numbers 10 to 19/Place Value - Let's Count (Tana Hoban)

Numbers 20 to 100/Place Value - Let's Count (Tana Hoban)

Appendices

Appendix A (1-4) - Unit 1: Counting and Cardinality

Appendix B (1-12) - Unit 2: Whole Number and Operations Relationships

Appendix C (1-5) - Unit 3: Operations and Algebraic Thinking

Appendix D (1-8) - Unit 4: Operations Within 100/Place Value

Appendix E (1-2) - Duplicated Appendices

Appendix F - Learning Expectations Correlation Chart

References

Bibliography of Children's Literature for the Investigations

Index

Reviews

“This a great topic. With the push for application of math concepts to prepare for Common Core, this text will be a useful resource for teachers.”

Carol A Amos, Principal
Danville School, Danville, VT

“Teachers will find that this book enhances their math programs aligning problem solving to the Common Core. It provides teachers the opportunity to “dig deeper” into the number sense math content, which is the basis of the Common Core.”

Emily Greaves, First Grade Teacher
Danville School, Danville, VT

“This book is unique in that it provides specific lessons and activities for specific books in children’s literature.”

“The ready to teach lessons, proposed activities, researched-based strategies and techniques would be a welcome asset to teachers.”

Marcia Carlson, 6th Grade Teacher
Crestview Elementary School, Clive, IA

Other Titles in: Mathematics | Teaching Methods & Learning Styles

Select Format:

Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.

Related Resources

Counting Backward Lesson [Lessons and Strategies]