Archive for the ‘math’ Category
Sep
book bonanza – the king’s chessboard
We read The King’s Chessboard at my Math Alive! class this week. The children all loved it and I hope it taught them the power of knowing math, the foolishness of pride, and the immensity of the doubling principle.
This book tells the story of a proud and foolish king who wants to reward one of his subjects. The man does not want to be rewarded, but the king insists. The man then allows the king to give him one grain of rice on the first day, two grains of rice the second day, four grains the third day, eight grains the fourth day, sixteen the fifth day, and so on, for the course of 64 days. One day for every square on a chessboard. Well, if you do the math, you end up with a VERY large number by the 64th day. Go ahead…figure it out and post back here with your answer! Bonus points for anyone who also figures out the total amount of grains of rice that would be given over the full 64 days.
My children love this book and now my math students love it as well. Check it out at your library or buy it for your own home library and I guarantee you will love it! Make sure you add in a proud and loud voice for the king and you are assured read-aloud success!
Nov
g is for googol
I found another math book I love and have to share it with you! G is For Googol by David Schwartz is an alphabet book with each letter standing for a mathematical concept. The concepts are all explained thoroughly and hilariously. It is sure to draw in math lovers and math haters. Blythe started it last night and was giggling on every page.
An example of its humor:
“I am sure you are wondering how to write 2 billion with exponents. If you aren’t wondering, start wondering now!”
We are going to have a delightful time going through this book together and separately.
Enjoy!
Oct
read any math lately?
I have a rather large collection of books that teach math principles as part of the story. I thought everyone did. I thought everyone would know about these books and have an obsession with collecting them and strewing them throughout their homes so that children grow up reading books that teach mathematical concepts and it is just part of their daily life.
I was wrong. Time after time I have had people tell me they have never heard of these types of books. Well, I am here to spread the message far and wide and to share with you our favorites!
I don’t want you to think I am saying working out problems is bad. It is great and we love the Right Start Math Program. However, it is NOT sufficient. I am living proof that a person can get all the answers right and have no clue what it means. I was always in the highest math classes. I took Trig and AP Calculus. I had no clue what I was doing, but I could follow the formula and churn out the right answer and get an A on the test. I want my children to understand numbers and their relationships with each other. I want them to see math in everything. I want them to think like a mathematician. One of my approaches to doing this is to read math with them. To read about inventors and thinkers and creative people throughout time. I want them to know there is a long history of people wondering about numbers and working hard to come up with answers. I want them to have examples to look to if they decide to be a mathematician. I want them to see patterns and possibilities in all the world around them. These books are my early attempts to do just that.
We have not moved up to the next level of books yet, but we are getting there and when we do, I will have a whole ‘nother post on books that are great for incorporating algebra, trig, physics, and calculus in them.
First of all, there are two websites that will change your life and the way you look at math.
They are both fabulous resources for changing your math paradigm and for finding out about wonderful books and ideas to teach math. I have learned about a lot of these books at Living Math or on the yahoo list sponsored by Living Math.
So, here are our favorite books, in no particular order, just off the top of my head as I sit here typing. Some of these are overtly teach math principles, some of them are teaching patterns, time, histories, inventions as a sidelight to the story. Some of them are MUST-HAVES in my mind, some of them are great to check-out from the library. All of them have been beneficial.
Books We Own and Have Enjoyed (okay, I guess I am going to include a few that we don’t own and have checked out from the library)
Spaghetti and Meatballs for All by Marilyn Burns (anything by Marilyn Burns is fabulous! She is the guru of learning and teaching math in creative ways.)
Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream by Cindy Neuschwander
Sea Squares by Joy Hulme
Sir Cumference series by Cindy Neuschwander
My Full Moon is Square by Elinor J. Pinczes
Inchworm and a Half by Elinor J. Pinczes
Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar by Masaichiro & Mitsumasa Anno
Anno’s Math Games by Masaichiro & Mitsumasa Anno
Anno’s Magic Seeds by Masaichiro & Mitsumasa Anno
Anno’s Hat Tricks by Masaichiro & Mitsumasa Anno
The Warlord’s Puzzle by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Alarm by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Messenger by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Beads by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Fish by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Kites by Virginia Walton Pilegard
The Warlord’s Puppeteer by Virginia Walton Pilegard
Mathematicians are People, Too Stories from the Lives of Great
Mathematicians by Luetta Reimer & Wilbert Reimer (both volumes are fabulous!)Arctic Fives Arrive by Elinor J. Pinczes
One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes
A Remainder of One by Elinor J. Pinczes
Senefer: A Young Genius in Old Egypt by Beatrice Lumpkin
The King’s Commissioners by Aileen Friedman
Ten Sly Piranhas by William Wise
The King’s Chessboard by David Birch
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The I Hate Mathematics! Book by Marilyn Burns (currently Blythe’s favorite)
Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest by Steve Jenkins
Biggest, Strongest, Fastest by Steve Jenkins
Roman Numerals I to MM by Arthur Geisart
What’s Faster Than a Speeding Cheetah? by Robert E. Wells
What’s Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew? by Robert E. Wells
How Do You Lift a Lion? by Robert E. Wells
Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing Ever? by Robert Wells
What’s Older Than A Giant Turtle? by Robert E. Wells
How Do You Tell What Time It Is? by Robert E. Wells
How Tall, How Short, How Faraway by David Adler
Math for Smarty Pants by Marilyn Burns
Multiplying Menace: The Revenge Of Rumpelstiltskin (A Math Adventure)
Murderous Maths by Kjartan Poskitt
How Much Is A Million? by David A. Schwartz
One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
The Quiltmaker’s Gift Jeff Brumbeau
Flatland : A Romance of Many Dimensions Edwin A. Abbott
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth (story of Erastothenes) by Kevin Hawkes
String, Straightedge and Shadow: The Story of Geometry by Julia E. Diggins
The Go-Around Dollar by Barbara Johnston Adams
Tight Times by Barbara Shook Hazen
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? A Fast, Clear, and Fun
Explanation of the Economics by Richard J. Maybury (an Uncle Eric book)The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics by Norton Juster
Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss
Can You Count Ten Toes? by Denis Roche
From Zero to Ten: The Story of Numbers by Vivian French
Mummy Math : An Adventure in Geometry by Cindy Neuschwander
What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras? A Math Adventure by Julie Ellis
Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick
Along Came Galileo by Jeanne Bendik
Mathematics Illustrated Dictionary: Facts, Figures and People
Telling Time by Stephen Cartwright (Usborne Books)
Radio Boy by Sharon Phillips Denslow
Julia Morgan Built a Castle by Celeste Davidson Mannis
Too Many Cooks by Andrea Buckless
Striking it Rich: The Story of the California Gold Rush by Stephen Krensky
What’s Up With That Cup? by Sheila Keenan
The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis
Pizza Counting by Christina Dobson
A Dozen Eggs by Harriet Ziefert
Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Splitting the Herd: A Corral of Odds and Evens by Trudy Harris
The Great Bridge-Building Contest by Bo Zaunders
How High is the Sky? by Anna Milbourne (Usborne Book)
How Big Is A Million? by Anna Milbourne (Usborne Book
My Place by Nadia Wheatley
Starry Messenger by Peter Sis
A Million Dots by Andrew Clements
Great Books for Older Children and Adults
A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science by Michael Schneider
The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet by Michael L. Munk
I know I have more…this is just what I pulled off our shelves this week…so I may need to add more books to this post later.
These are books we haven’t read, but I think sound fabulous and I want to get them.
The Joy of Mathematics by Theoni Pappas, Math in nature/science/art/music/history/literature – classic
The Number Devil by Enzensberger, Multi-concepts, cute illustrations. Fun classic, very wide appeal, can be read aloud to even very young kids
The Story of 1 (PBS Home Video) One hour well presented video on the history of the number 1. Available at Blockbuster, Netflix and many libraries.
Better Than a Lemonade Stand: Small Business Ideas for Kids
The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures, by
Malba Tahan, Chapter book, loosely based on the story of Khayyam
The Ten Things All Future Mathematicians and Scientists Must Know But Are Rarely Taught (great resource book)
The Book of Think by Marilyn Burns
The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat by Theoni Pappas (just checked out today at the library…will have a review soon!)
Hopefully this will get you started on your own math journey! If you have any questions about specific books, I will do my best to answer them.