Children's Literature
Books can be about anything. From real life situations or things to amazing make-believe worlds that are too good to be true. Below I have chosen books that I think give you and your child a great opportunity to integrate literacy and mathematics and discover more about algebra. These books have a specific focus on algebra. However, they still each have strong literary value and properly portray the literary elements. Also, I have these books an in-depth evaluation for their literary and mathematics value and you can view the details of my findings below.
Books can be about anything. From real life situations or things to amazing make-believe worlds that are too good to be true. Below I have chosen books that I think give you and your child a great opportunity to integrate literacy and mathematics and discover more about algebra. These books have a specific focus on algebra. However, they still each have strong literary value and properly portray the literary elements. Also, I have these books an in-depth evaluation for their literary and mathematics value and you can view the details of my findings below.
Arithme-Tickle: An Even Number of Odd Riddle-Rhymes
Written by J. Patrick Lewis; Illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
This authentic piece of literature features 18 rhyming, problem-solving riddles. These riddles are basically word problems that involve the use of addition, subtraction, and multiplication to solve problems that include calculating weights, determining the amount of time it takes to travel somewhere, and finding averages. Overall, the writing in this book flows very easily when read because it is full of rhyming riddles and the theme of the story is to show the relationship and connection between algebra and everyday situations.
This book aligns with a majority of the PA Common Core Standards we are focusing on for this unit on algebra, which makes it age appropriate for third graders. The front and back matter that this book consists of includes the front cover, full title page (title, author's name, illustrator's name), publication page, table of contents, and the back cover. Also, the illustrations of this book clarify and extend the text of each riddle. A good example of this is in the riddle "Going to Kalamazoo" because the illustration displays exactly what is written in the text of the riddle. Another reason I chose this book is because each riddle poses a question that the reader is to solve. This gives the reader a lot of practice solving basic algebra equations and expressions as well as word problems. In the end, this book does not directly state the vocabulary of our unit, but by solving each riddle the reader is indirectly becoming more familiar with the vocabulary of this unit. This type of practice is essential.
One instructive suggestion you can do with your child while reading this book is to get some scratch paper out and for each riddle take a break from reading and have them solve for the answer of the problem. Giving your child this additional time for hands-on practice will help them feel more comfortable when they get to more complex word problems, equations, and expressions in the future.
Finally, the readability score that I found for this book is between the middle and end of third grade. The way to find a readability score for any book is a pretty simple process that takes about seven steps. First, chose three sections or passages from the book (It's best to chose one from the beginning, one from the middle, and one from the end.). Second, count out 100 words in each section. Third, count the number of sentences in each section of 100 words. Fourth, count the number of syllables in each section (The best way to do this is to read the section out loud and write a tally for each syllable.). Fifth, find the average number of sentences of the three sections. Sixth, find the average number of syllables in each section. Seventh, use the Fry Graph for Estimating Reading Ages by Grade Level to plot those two averages on the graph and wherever that may be is the readability level of that book.
Written by J. Patrick Lewis; Illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
This authentic piece of literature features 18 rhyming, problem-solving riddles. These riddles are basically word problems that involve the use of addition, subtraction, and multiplication to solve problems that include calculating weights, determining the amount of time it takes to travel somewhere, and finding averages. Overall, the writing in this book flows very easily when read because it is full of rhyming riddles and the theme of the story is to show the relationship and connection between algebra and everyday situations.
This book aligns with a majority of the PA Common Core Standards we are focusing on for this unit on algebra, which makes it age appropriate for third graders. The front and back matter that this book consists of includes the front cover, full title page (title, author's name, illustrator's name), publication page, table of contents, and the back cover. Also, the illustrations of this book clarify and extend the text of each riddle. A good example of this is in the riddle "Going to Kalamazoo" because the illustration displays exactly what is written in the text of the riddle. Another reason I chose this book is because each riddle poses a question that the reader is to solve. This gives the reader a lot of practice solving basic algebra equations and expressions as well as word problems. In the end, this book does not directly state the vocabulary of our unit, but by solving each riddle the reader is indirectly becoming more familiar with the vocabulary of this unit. This type of practice is essential.
One instructive suggestion you can do with your child while reading this book is to get some scratch paper out and for each riddle take a break from reading and have them solve for the answer of the problem. Giving your child this additional time for hands-on practice will help them feel more comfortable when they get to more complex word problems, equations, and expressions in the future.
Finally, the readability score that I found for this book is between the middle and end of third grade. The way to find a readability score for any book is a pretty simple process that takes about seven steps. First, chose three sections or passages from the book (It's best to chose one from the beginning, one from the middle, and one from the end.). Second, count out 100 words in each section. Third, count the number of sentences in each section of 100 words. Fourth, count the number of syllables in each section (The best way to do this is to read the section out loud and write a tally for each syllable.). Fifth, find the average number of sentences of the three sections. Sixth, find the average number of syllables in each section. Seventh, use the Fry Graph for Estimating Reading Ages by Grade Level to plot those two averages on the graph and wherever that may be is the readability level of that book.
Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems
Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins; Illustrated by Karen Barbour
This authentic piece of literature features a collection of sixteen poems by a variety of authors including Lee Bennett Hopkins. Each poem is about a mathematical concept or algebraic term that include the Pythagorean theorem, the mathematical process that goes into building a house, and the infinite amount of real-life answers that math provides for us. Again, the writing in this book flows very easily when read because it is full of poems that rhyme and the theme of this story is to show the reader how much math and algebra are used in the world.
This book aligns with a majority of the PA Common Core Standards we are focusing on for this unit on algebra, which makes it age appropriate for third graders. The front and back matter that this book has consists of the front cover, end-papers (the pages that are just inside the front and back covers), half title page (just the title of the book), publication page, table of contents, and the back cover. Also, the illustrations of this book clarify and extend the text of each poem. Another reason I chose this book is because it introduces your children to complex concepts they will be learning about in the future like the Pythagorean theorem. That would be one instructive suggestion I think is beneficial to all children. Simply introducing young children to content and concepts they will be learning in later grades enables them to start a familiarity with these math ideas in order to build their prior knowledge and be prepared to learn about those terms when they get older. Finally, the readability score that I found for this book was third grade, which it should be because the poems that are in this book are each only about a page long.
Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins; Illustrated by Karen Barbour
This authentic piece of literature features a collection of sixteen poems by a variety of authors including Lee Bennett Hopkins. Each poem is about a mathematical concept or algebraic term that include the Pythagorean theorem, the mathematical process that goes into building a house, and the infinite amount of real-life answers that math provides for us. Again, the writing in this book flows very easily when read because it is full of poems that rhyme and the theme of this story is to show the reader how much math and algebra are used in the world.
This book aligns with a majority of the PA Common Core Standards we are focusing on for this unit on algebra, which makes it age appropriate for third graders. The front and back matter that this book has consists of the front cover, end-papers (the pages that are just inside the front and back covers), half title page (just the title of the book), publication page, table of contents, and the back cover. Also, the illustrations of this book clarify and extend the text of each poem. Another reason I chose this book is because it introduces your children to complex concepts they will be learning about in the future like the Pythagorean theorem. That would be one instructive suggestion I think is beneficial to all children. Simply introducing young children to content and concepts they will be learning in later grades enables them to start a familiarity with these math ideas in order to build their prior knowledge and be prepared to learn about those terms when they get older. Finally, the readability score that I found for this book was third grade, which it should be because the poems that are in this book are each only about a page long.