Math for All Seasons

by Harry Briggs, Greg Tang, Harry Briggs (Illustrator)

Overview

Greg Tang follows up the fun, innovative, New York Times bestseller GRAPES OF MATH with his second uproariously punny math book -- this time with a theme of seasons and a focus on groups of fives.

Your challenge is to find the sumWithout counting one by oneWhy not count? It's much too slow --Adding is the way to go!Make clever groups before you start --Then add them in a way that's smart!MATH FOR ALL SEASONS will challenge every kid -- and every parent -- to open their minds and solve problems in new and unexpected ways. By looking for patterns, symmetries, and familiar number combinations within eye-catching pictures, math will become easier, quicker, and more fun than anyone could have imagined!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338193749
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	03/28/2017
Series:	Scholastic Bookshelf
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Lexile:	NP (what's this?)
File size:	39 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Greg Tang was tutoring math in his daughter's class when he noticed something interesting about the dominoes they were using. Each white dot had a pencil mark on it, which meant the children had been counting them one at a time. Mr. Tang taught them to look for patterns instead, and to add and subtract groups of dots in order to calculate the dominoes' value quickly. From there, he developed a new method of teaching arithmetic in a visual and spontaneous way. His method teaches both computational and problem-solving skills, and is so fun and challenging that children forget they are learning math! He believes that all kids are capable of doing well in math, and he has a mission to make math a natural part of every child's life. He has successfully taught his method to children from ages five to ten.Grapes of Math and Math for All Seasons are part of a series of books that will help children gain the range of skills needed for higher math. His books challenge and encourage children to use creativity and common sense to solve problems, rather than formulas and memorization.Greg Tang has an impressive mathematics background. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in economics from Harvard, and he also holds an M.A. degree in Math Education from New York University. He has applied his problem-solving methods in building successful companies and products in a variety of industries. Greg Tang currently lives in Belmont, Massachusetts, with his family.

Editorial Reviews

Mathematically challenged? Never fear -- Greg Tang is here! The creator of the popular and award-winning The Grapes of Math, is back with another stellar collection of math riddles disguised as poems (or is it the other way around?). Kids are encouraged use some creative problem solving -- instead of simply adding items one by one, they learn to group them to make adding easier and to look for patterns that will lead to additional shortcuts. Bright computer-generated illustrations fill these pages. Each layout illustrates a season: For summer sunning, butterflies are shown drinking lemonade and flying about, as the text reads, "How many dots adorn their wings?/See what clever thinking brings/There is a mate for every one/Make groups of ten and you'll be done!" Best of all, solutions are illustrated and explained at the end of the book. A fabulous gift for reluctant learners and innovative teachers.

bn.com

Move over, worksheets and pencils! The team behind The Grapes of Math once again proves that posing number problems through verse and vivid pictures is a powerful path to math learning. With titles like "Raining Cats and Frogs" and "Amazing Grain," the poems span the seasons, encouraging readers to look for patterns and symmetry in the playful illustrations. Each poem poses a "how many" question about the accompanying picture of seasonal items, from acorns and hatching chicks to dandelions and icicles. Several creatively convey facts about their timely topics, as in "Not-So-Dandy Lions": "These lions are a stubborn breedD / There's never just a single weed./ The trouble starts when they get loose,/ They catch a breeze and reproduce!" the simple verse then hints at effective strategies to make counting faster and easier. With 10 dandelions pictured on the opposing page, Tang poses the question "How many plants are still in bloom?" then suggests: "Count by fives the plants you see,/ Then subtract the seedy three!" Briggs sprinkles his computer-generated artwork with fun-loving graphics throughout. Summer-themed poems show a pigeon wearing swim goggles diving into a bird bath and a lemonade-drinking butterfly. Any time of year is a good time to delve into these pictorial puzzles. Ages 7-10. (Mar.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 1-3-Another calculated success from the creators of Grapes of Math (Scholastic, 2001). Each spread features a crisp, bright illustration with a rhymed couplet that poses a counting task and gives a suggested strategy. The 16 riddles take readers through the seasons beginning with tulips and hatching chicks in springtime and ending with snowflakes and gift boxes in winter. This ambitious work encourages creative problem solving in several ways. Youngsters learn to pair or group items to make adding easier, subtract to add (such as two 5s are 10 minus 2 equals 8), and to look for patterns and symmetries that provide further shortcuts to addition. Since most children are inclined to count items one by one, Tang's book will present them with a new tactic: recognizing visual groupings (twos, threes, and fives) to make adding faster and more accurate, and provide them with some training in it. Another plus is that the strategies learned early in the book are used more than once, thereby reinforcing the skills. Solutions are illustrated and explained at the back of the book. Though only one is offered for each scenario, it is possible that readers might find alternate, yet equally valid groupings. Math's appealing computer artwork, poetry, holiday and seasonal themes, and challenges add up to a winning combination.-Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Although these math riddles can be fun, there is a major discrepancy between the character of the book and the age group it is intended for. Tang's versified math problems encourage readers to tackle addition and subtraction questions in their head as well as on the page. With conceptual thinking involved, it is reasonable to peg this for six- to ten-year-olds, despite the ultimate simplicity of the adding and subtracting. Readers have to learn to group objects in counterintuitive ways-up and down, say, rather than left to right, or fill in blanks and then subtract-and the solutions at the end of the book explain any problems that have been too elusive or confounding. But it is difficult to see beyond these single-case scenarios; the groupings of objects used by Tang are too neat to be applied to the real world, with all its asymmetries. More damaging are the childish illustrations-cutesy, singing gingerbread men, hyper-cuddly bunnies-and the uninspired verse: "Canals and dikes and windmills, too, / Grassy fields and skies of blue. / In Holland spring's the time of year / For pretty flowers far and near." Difficult to imagine ten-year-olds enamored of that. (Picture book. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews