Giveaway: How Big is a Million? (children's math book)

This past year we did a big penguin study. Always looking to make math connections, we especially enjoyed How Big is a Million?, an Usborne book. I'm excited to work with Jen at Chestnut Grove Academy to offer this book in a back-to-school giveaway!

The book...
Pipkin, a young penguin, wants to know How Big is a Million? He finds ten fish, 100 penguins, and 1,000 snowflakes, but he cannot find a million. Finally, his mother takes him outside to look at the starry night. In a pocket in the back of the book, the reader finds a poster depicting exactly one million stars. In contrast to some other "million" books where the quantity is distributed throughout the book, this picture allows the reader a glimpse of a million of something in one shot. Sweet book for exploring the concept of one million.

As a side note, I wondered if the book actually shows 1,000 snowflakes. I knew it depicts 10, 100, and a million, but I wasn't sure about 1,000. A friend of mine found some information from the author, explaining how the book developed. Fascinating! (I was glad we didn't have to count all 1,000 in order to check for accuracy!)


**GIVEAWAY**

Enter to Win:

Prize (1): one copy of How Big is a Million?
**U.S. shipping only.**

Contest Details:
Begins today and continues through September 10th. Contest ends at midnight on the 10th (U.S. Eastern time) and a winner will be announced on that week's Math Monday Blog Hop. I will choose a winner at random using Random.org.

How to enter:
You may choose as many as you like from the following, leaving a comment (in the comment section at the bottom of this post) being mandatory (unless you think I have superpowers and can figure out your contact info by osmosis.)

#1: Become a follower of my blog. (Or tell me that you already are.)

#2: Become a follower of Jen's blog, Chestnut Grove Academy.

#3: Visit Jen's Usborne page and comment about one Usborne book that interests you.

Please make sure that I have a way to contact you...such as janedoe at gmail dot com. If I don't hear back from a real person within 24 hours, I'll draw again.

Good luck!

Dealing with Difficult Behaviors, Especially ANGER

Over at Fun in First, Jodi wrote a post about Dealing with the Difficult Child. As a teacher and mom of five kids, I've certainly dealt with my share. Over the past few years, I've sometimes worked as a respite care provider for kids with significant behavioral issues. Whether you're dealing with a difficult child in the classroom or at home, here are a few ideas...

1. Working with a kid that quickly goes from 0-60 on the anger scale? Maybe he shuts down entirely? Chances are, the child's brain has shifted from the cortex (the front, thinking part of the brain) to the lower brain, sometimes dubbed the "reptilian brain," and entered into fight, flight, or freeze mode. Unfortunately, you can't really reason with someone in this mode. It's akin to reasoning with a lizard. So you need to do whatever it takes to get the child out of the lower brain. Usually, that means using few words. Instead, try...
2. Jumping. If you've got a mini-trampoline, all the better. You won't be the first one to have one in your home or classroom for that purpose! If the child is able to repeat a positive phrase while jumping, great! Something like "I make wise choices," can help. As I understand it, the joint compression involved with jumping can produce seratonin or "happy hormone." Pushing hard against a wall (I tell kids to try to push the wall down!) can have the same effect.
3. "Steel and spaghetti." I learned this technique from an incredible child psychologist. (Same with #2, actually!) Have the child tense every bit of his body as tight as he can (steel) for several seconds and then completely relax every part of his body, bending forward so that his fingers are dropping toward the ground (spaghetti.)
4. Try doing the Brain Gym PACE sequence.When I took Brain Gym training, we were told to use this with students to prepare for new learning. So it's good for many reasons! 

Are you interested in learning more about dealing with difficult behaviors? If so, let me know so I can post more. It's a topic that greatly interests me.

Math Monday Blog Hop #21

It's BACK TO SCHOOL time!!!!

To celebrate, I'll soon be hosting a giveaway! (Hopefully later this week, so check back.) In the meantime, join in the blog hop for math lessons and resources. I've been getting some fabulous ideas from you all. Thank you!







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Math Monday Blog Hop #20

I can't believe we're at week #20!!!! Wow!

I have 1.5 weeks of teacher inservices to go. (Math, dontcha know!) I've been saving up all kinds of ideas. I've got product reviews. A giveaway to do. But that will need to wait til my WORK is done. ;) Meanwhile, please post your fabulous math ideas. I'll be back with mine in 10 days or so!






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Math Monday Blog Hop #19

I have a couple weeks of teacher inservices to go. In September, I'll be back to more math ideas. Meanwhile, what are you planning in MATH for your first couple weeks back in school??








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Math Monday Blog Hop #18

P.S. Sorry about the lack of postings...I'm doing teacher inservices this month. In September, I'll be back to more math ideas. Meanwhile, I'm soooo enjoying reading all of your ideas! Keep contributing! :)







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Math Monday Blog Hop #17

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Math Monday Blog Hop #16

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Square Cat

We've been enjoying a new book, Square Cat, that I first learned about through Brimful Curiosities.

Poor Eula. Life is difficult when you're square. Literally. A square cat cannot fit through a mouse hole. If you fall over, you can't get back up. Even clothes don't fit quite right. Eula's round friends, Patsy and Maude, try to help her "feel round," giving her hoop earrings, a beehive hat, and round rouged cheeks. When that fails, Patsy and Maude slip on boxes and try being square. Eula gradually learns that there are advantages to being a truly square cat.

I love the way the book explores the concept of "square" in such a creative way. And who can resist the lure of a book that examines what it means to appreciate the uniqueness in every individual?

If you're a kindergarten teacher, the book provides a bridge to some of the Common Core/National Content Standards in geometry. It would also make a great story to begin the school year, whether at home or at school. Check out Brimful Curiosities for a cute art project she did along with the book.

Disclaimer: I received nothing for this review. If you purchase the book from Amazon, any commissions I make (at no additional cost to you) will be sent to Grace and Hope to provide foster care to orphans in China.

Poison Number Game (Great for Road Trips!)

Over at The Teaching Nest, Lauren posted a great game that requires kids to strategize how to take 1 to 2 Unifix cubes away at a time (from a stack of 10) in order to avoid being the person stuck with the last cube...the "poison" cube.

My kids play a similar game, often while riding on long car trips. It's also a great classroom game. Here's how it goes:

Players: 2 or more

Object: Go around the group, counting to 20 by saying either one or two numbers. Avoid being the one to say "20" as 20 is the "poison" number.

So a group of 3 kids might say:

Sue: 1
Bob: 2-3
Joe: 4
Sue 5-6
Bob: 7
Joe: 8-9
Sue: 10-11
Bob: 12
Joe: 13-14
Sue: 15
Bob: 16-17
Joe: 18
Sue: 19
Bob: I'm stuck with 20!

The more you play, the better you get at strategizing how to avoid 20.

Math Monday Blog Hop #15

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Whispering Books...at Home...and in Other Subjects, Like MATH

Have you read Donalyn Miller's book, The Book Whisperer? I finished it a week ago in preparation for the read along; I promised to write an entry talking about the book as it applies to homeschoolers. My thoughts are still percolating. The more I reflect on the reading, the more I think it applies to much, much more than my intended assignment and includes both homeschoolers and classroom teachers.

Whispering Books at Home or School
First, the book strongly resonates with me because I began teaching in middle school language arts. If I were to boil down Miller's book to its essence, I'd say that she is challenging teachers to make reading more real for kids, moving away from the artificiality of book projects and reports where students read novels in small groups or as an entire class study, focussing instead on kids choosing their own titles and reading, reading, reading. She attests to growth in both student interest in reading and their subsequent rise in test scores as they make their own choices and read...a lot! This paragraph (p. 51) especially speaks to me:

In The Power of Reading, his meta-analysis of research investigating independent reading over the past forty years, Stephen Krashen reveals that no single literacy activity has a more positive effect on students' comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, spelling, writing ability, and overall academic achievement than free voluntary reading. By loading the instructional day with traditional drill-and-kill activities such as weekly spelling and vocabulary lists and tests, grammar workbook exercises, and low-level comprehension assignments, all of which have a minimal or, in many cases, negative impact on student achievement, Krashen asserts that we are denying students access to the one activity that has been proven over and over again to increase their language acquisition and competence as communicators: again, free, voluntary reading.

In the homeschool setting, opportunities for "free, voluntary reading" are abundant. Or at least they can be. But so much depends on the teacher, just as it does in the classroom. Some classroom teachers leave students little reading choices; it's no different in the homeschool setting. Some homeschoolers choose curriculum that prescribes what a child is to do from early morning til late in the afternoon. Others give children complete freedom to choose. Even with reading freedom I think Miller's plan hinges on the teacher (whether in the classroom or at home) knowing a wide variety of literature in order to continually recommend new options to the child. I suppose homeschool parents wouldn't need to have this personal knowledge as long as they were aware of the necessity and could find others (such as librarians) to help expose the child to a variety of books that would pique interest.

Whispering Other Subjects...like Math
The more I consider Miller's message, the more I wonder to what extent it should apply to other content areas. She talks about how in-school reading should look more like real-life reading. When you and I read, we select books that interest us. When we're excited about content, we share it with our friends in informal ways. We don't do projects. We're not forced to sit through slow, boring studies with 30 of our closest friends, analyzing for character, setting, plot, etc. as we go.

So how does this thinking apply to other subjects? Why should we complete dozens of math problems when there are real-life math opportunities--dozens of them--encountered by students on a daily basis? Why should we read science texts if we can experience science in the real world? How do we authenticate "school" whether the location is at home or in a public building? What if we take the following sentences from Miller's book and replace the bold (mine) with other subjects/content (in parentheses) such as math?

My students' self-concept as readers (mathematicians) must extend beyond the classroom...(at home or at school)...or they have gained nothing lasting from me. If teachers (or homeschoolers) control reading (mathematics), we never give ownership of it to students. Students will not walk out of our classrooms (homes) with internal motivation to read (do math) if they see reading (math) as an act that takes place only in school under the control of their teachers. Reading (math, science, etc) ultimately belongs to readers (learners), not schools, and not schoolteachers (whether at home or at school.) p. 171

I have no answers, but I'm interested in the discussion. Have you read Miller's book? What are your thoughts? How does it apply to homeschooling? What about other content areas during the school day?

Foster Care in China (Amazon Commissions)

A momentary interruption from usual postings...  I saw this video and wanted to make it available to anyone who is interested in knowing more about my "Amazon commission cause."

If you don't already know, commissions from Amazon purchases through this site (at no additional cost to you) are used to help place children in foster care in China. Please take a moment to see the amazing results:



My youngest son's life was also changed through Grace and Hope's foster care program. (Though my son is not the boy in the video, he is equally smart and handsome! :) ) THANK YOU for your help!!!

BIG QUESTION for YOU & Update: Children's Math & Literature List

What did I do today?

1. Went book shopping. That resulted in a need to update my "Math Books for Kids" list. Yes, I know I recently did it. Now it's significantly longer.

2. I added links to the list. If I've mentioned the book(s) on my blog in either the form of lesson or review, they are now linked.

3. On reader request, I put an * beside some of my favorite titles. This was hard. I like a lot of books but wanted to really limit the # of *. Too many * and they'd be meaningless. What do you think? Too few? Too many?

Here's my BIG QUESTION...

How can I make the list more helpful to you? As a teacher? As a homeschooler?


Also, specifically for teachers...  If you are using the Common Core (National) Standards in Math, would it be helpful to have some sort of links to which standards the books help to address by grade level? Or are my categories good enough?

Please leave me feedback if you have suggestions on how I might improve the list!

Thanks, bunches!

Where is the SMath?

Where is the SMath is an incredible site to help kids of all ages consider science and math in the everyday world. With each post you'll find a photo and are invited to consider where the science/math (hence, SMath) is in that picture. Readers can see contributions from other students as they attempt to figure out the photo. For example, a recent photo shows a pile of Lego guys. Questions invite you to think about:

How many lego guys do you think there are in this box.  Explain your thinking.

How are the lego guys different and alike?

What are the attributes that make them that way?

This would be a great site to begin your day with students...whether you are in a regular classroom or teaching at home.

Math Monday Blog Hop #14

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What if all the Numbers Vanished????

Have you ever stopped to think about what our world would be like without numbers? No value on money. No time. No dates. No ages. No recipe amounts. No mph or mpg. No weights. No # of Google Friends or Feedburner Readers or Facebook Friends. (Now that would indeed be tragic!!!)

Loreen Leedy has considered just this scenario (well, okay, maybe not the last couple) in her book, Missing Math: A Number Mystery. When all the numbers go missing, the town's detective must solve the case. Spoiler alert! (In the amusing ending, the number thief is punished; he has to return all numbers back to all phone books. Yikes!)

Use this book to invite children to reflect on the importance of numbers in daily life. Then, children can write their own creative pieces on "a day in my life" (or an hour, a lunchtime, a music lesson, etc.) without numbers.  This would be particularly useful as a back-to-school activity as kids start thinking about the importance of learning concepts related to numbers.

If you can get your hands on them, two other books (now out-of-print) explore the same concept: Neil's Numberless World and A Day With No Math. If you own them, you're lucky. If you don't, keep your eyes open! And order Missing Math before it's OOP! :)

Disclaimer: If you're interested in purchasing any of these books through Amazon, all commissions go toward foster care through Grace and Hope at no additional cost to you. I keep no money. I received nothing for this book review. If you have one of these OOP books and are looking for a new owner, my birthday is coming up! LOL. :)

Huge Children's Math Book List...Lots of New Additions

I just added many, many new titles to my bibliography of math-related children's books. You'll find some great summer reading!

Disclaimer: If you're interested in purchasing any of these books through Amazon, all commissions go toward foster care through Grace and Hope at no additional cost to you. I keep no money.

Math Monday Blog Hop #13

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July 4th Math and Logic Puzzle

Need a mid-summer math and logic puzzle to challenge kiddos of all ages? Try Cross the River, Patriot!, a "history-inspired math and logic puzzle" that looks like a great game to try anywhere...including the backyard patio table. (The game board is a free pdf available from the site.)

P.S. Hope you're enjoying the summer! About all I've done so far this summer is teach continuing education math classes for teachers. :) I have all kinds of new ideas to share as the workshops wind down and the school year gets started. Keep tuning in. ;)