Read-Alouds and Math ... Perfect Together!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

I just love a read-aloud that supports math teaching! Even the most reluctant math student can be drawn in by a good story. Sometimes coming at a concept from a different direction may be just what a struggler needs to make things "click"!


Shaping Up Summer, part of the Math in Nature series, is newly published by Owl Kids Books, which is associated with Chickadee magazine. The author is Lizann Flatt.

 

The premise of the book is how things in nature might be different if animals and plants knew what people do about numbers, specifically geometry. On the first few pages, it seemed like this would be a pretty standard search and find book. But as it goes on, it gets into some pretty interesting and sophisticated stuff!

 

 

Examples: find the lines that aren't parallel ... which 3D shapes have circle faces... which animals are symmetrical, and where would their line of symmetry be ... which words describe relational positions... obviously a lot more than just search and find! There are so many opportunities in this book for lots of math conversations at many levels, to keep many levels of learners engaged.

 

 

This spread gives you a better idea of what I mean, plus it shows you the intricate and beautiful collage illustrations. The math concept here is discovering the rule. The text reads, "Should skunks sketch warning shapes onto the ground before turning their black-and-white backsides around? Which skunk has made only triangles? What shape rules are the other skunks following?" {Okay, I guess that was a weird page to quote, but you must admit that if any of your kiddos had gone off into space, the word "backsides" would have brought their attention back in a hurry! :) }
Anyway, two of the skunks' footprints follow obvious rules like "all triangles", while the third is quite a bit trickier to discover - and there's your differentiation!

 

 

 





The poetic language of the book is beautiful ...

 

"Would spiders weave webs to spin silken scenes?"

"Would a newt not feel the need to hide if it knew how to show off its symmetrical side?"

 

 

There's no need to relegate this book to your pile of books about summer. Honestly, I'm not sure why the title was chosen, other than the fact that it's the last in a four-part series, and the first three were fall, spring, and winter! Summer doesn't play an important role at all in this book.

 

 

If you decide that you might be purchasing this book to add to your math read-alouds collection, I'd appreciate it if you'd use my Amazon Associates link. Thanks so much!

If you're always looking for new math story books to read to your class, you'll want to take a look at Debbie Kemp's Common Core-aligned math literature list. It's free at her TPT store!

 

 

 



I'm linking up again this week at Deanna Jump's blog for her weekly Let's Talk About Books Linky. Head over there for some new and wonderful book ideas for your class!

Happy Teaching!

Bats at the Library, A Fun Book for October

Hi, Book Lovers!

Does your class love Stellaluna? Of course! What's not to love about such a treasure of a book? What a loving lesson on friendship and valuing the uniqueness in others and yourself. I also like it because it's perfect for October without being either scary or Halloween-focused.

Now, maybe you're looking for a new book about bats, also non-scary. Well, here's one I think you and your class will really enjoy! Bats at the Library, by Brian Lies, is one of those books that's great fun on many levels.

 I am an Amazon Affliate, and could receive small compensation for your purchase. I'd be just as happy if you enjoyed this great book by checking it out at your local library! ;)


The text is rhyming, which in some books is kind of forced, but not here. Lies does a really nice job of keeping the text lyrical and natural as he describes the adventures of a colony of bats that gets into the library through a window left open one night.

The real fun comes in the illustrations. First of all, they are just plain gorgeous.They're also printed on paper that is that lovely satiny texture that I just love to run my hand over. (By the way, reviewers say the Kindle version just doesn't do it justice. Stick with the book.)

These are playful bats who are out for a good time, whether it's playing in the fountain (check out the swimmies on the baby bats!), playing with the copy machine (kids will giggle!), or enjoying a book chat. I love the way that Lies has made this library a place that's impossible not to love!

You and your students will find lots of famous characters from children's literature pictured throughout the book. Look for Little Red Riding Bat and the police officer from Make Way for Ducklings, among many others. I'm thinking that this would be a great book to bring out again for Children's Book Week, or any other celebration of libraries and books.

You'll want to share the "About the Author" photo on the back flap with your kiddos- it's upside down!. This author is a man who "gets" kid humor!

Here's a little freebie that you might like to use as a response to the reading. Your students will write about the antics of the bats when they arrive at the library in your own school! Back their completed writing with a black mat for display, or laminate and assemble as a cute class book!

Click here or on the image to download.

Bats at the Library is definitely on my list of favorite bat books. You might just feel the same!


Have you read this book? I'd love to hear your opinion, so please leave a comment!

Happy Teaching!