Using Children's Literature to Teach Problem Solving in Math: Addressing the Standards for Mathematical Practice in K-5

by Jeanne White

Overview

Learn how children’s literature can help K–5 students see the real-life applications of mathematical concepts. This user-friendly book shows how to use stories to engage students in building critical reasoning, abstract thinking, and communication skills, all while helping students understand the relevance of math in their everyday lives. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the eight Standards for Mathematical Practice, and offers examples of children’s literature that can be used to help students develop that practice.

You’ll find out how to:

• Encourage students to persevere in solving mathematical problems and use multiple approaches to find the answer;
• Help students reason abstractly with the aid of concrete objects and visuals;
• Guide students in constructing arguments to explain their reasoning and engage in critical discussion with their peers;
• Teach students to recognize mathematical patterns and use them to solve problems efficiently;
• And more!

The book offers activities for beginners as well as for more advanced problem solvers. Each chapter also provides guidance for ELLs and students with special needs, so no matter your classroom environment, you’ll be able to use these strategies to make math class more dynamic, engaging, and fun.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138694705
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/16/2016
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jeanne White has been an educator since 1992 when she began teaching elementary school in the south suburbs of Chicago. She is currently a Professor of Education at Elmhurst College.

Table of Contents

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Introduction-Addressing the Standards for Mathematical Practice in K-5

Breaking Down the Practice Standards

Creating a Problem Solving Community

Chapter 1-Make Sense and Persevere

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades K-2 Problem Solvers?

7 Blind Mice-K.OA Decompose numbers into pairs

MATH-Terpieces: The Art of Problem Solving-1.OA Use 2 and 3 addends to find a sum

Splash!-2.OA Represent addition and subtraction problems

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades 3-5 Problem Solvers?

The Warlord’s Kites-3.MD Use the formula for the area of a rectangle

A Remainder of One-4.OA Solve multi-step word problems with whole numbers

Multiplying Menace-5.NF Multiply a whole number by a fraction

Wrapping It Up

Chapter 2- Reason Abstractly

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades K-2 Problem Solvers?

Each Orange Had 8 Slices-K.OA Count to answer, How many?

Ten Flashing Fireflies-1.OA Explore the Commutative Property of Addition

Rooster’s Off to See the World-1.OA Explore the Associative Property of Addition

Spaghetti and Meatballs for All!-2.G Partition rectangles into rows and columns

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades 3-5 Problem Solvers?

Racing Around-3.MD Solve problems involving perimeters of polygons

Fractions, Decimals and Percents-4.NF Understand decimal notation for fractions

Count to a Million-5.NBT Understand the value of 0 in a multi-digit number

Wrapping It Up

Chapter 3-Construct Arguments

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades K-2 Problem Solvers?

How Many Mice?-K.OA Represent addition and subtraction

Mall Mania-1.NBT Add two-digit numbers using various strategies

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?-2.NBT Skip-count and compare three-digit numbers

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades 3-5 Problem Solvers?

Full House-3.NF Understand how fractions are written as part/whole

The Warlord’s Puzzle-4.G Classify 2-D figures and recognizing right triangles

The Hershey’s Fractions Book-5.NF Use equivalent fractions to add & subtract fractions

Wrapping It Up

Chapter 4-Create a Model

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades K-2 Problem Solvers?

The Doorbell Rang-K.OA Represent addition in various ways

Bigger, Better, Best!-1.G Compose 2-D shapes into composite shapes

Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday-2.MD Solve word problems with money

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades 3-5 Problem Solvers?

Tiger Math-3.MD Draw graphs to represent a data set with several categories

Actual Size-4.MD Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements

Polly’s Pen Pal-5.MD Convert among different-sized measurement units

Wrapping It Up

Chapter 5-Use Mathematical Tools

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades K-2 Problem Solvers?

Patterns in Peru-K.G Describe relative positions

How Big is a Foot?-1.MD Iterate length units

Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone-2.G Recognize attributes of 3D objects

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades 3-5 Problem Solvers?

Inchworm and a Half-3.MD Generate measurement data by measuring lengths

Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland-4.MD-Understand concepts of angles

Perimeter, Area and Volume-5.MD Understand concepts of volume measurement

Wrapping It Up

Chapter 6-Attend to Precision

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades K-2 Problem Solvers?

If You Were a Triangle-K.G Identify 2D shapes

Lemonade for Sale-1.MD Represent and interpret data

Measuring Penny-2.MD Measure and estimate lengths

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades 3-5 Problem Solvers?

Chimp Math-3.MD Solve problems involving measurement of intervals of time

Hershey’s Weights and Measures-4.MD Express and record units of measurement

Sir Cumference and the Viking’s Map-5.G Graph points on a coordinate plane

Wrapping It Up

Chapter 7-Look for Structure

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades K-2 Problem Solvers?

The Button Box-K.MD Identify attributes for sorting

The Greedy Triangle-1.G Explore attributes of shapes

Earth Day-Hooray!-2.NBT Use place value to add and subtract

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades 3-5 Problem Solvers?

Hershey’s Kisses Multiplication and Division-3.OA Relate multiplication and division

If You Hopped Like a Frog-4.MD Solve problems involving measurement

Cheetah Math-5.NBT Explain division calculations

Wrapping It Up

Chapter 8-Apply Repeated Reasoning

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades K-2 Problem Solvers?

Bunches of Buttons: Counting by Tens-K.CC Count to 100 by tens

The King’s Commissioners-1.NBT Represent tens and ones

Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens-2.NBT Represent three-digit numbers

What Does This Standard Mean for Grades 3-5 Problem Solvers?

Math Appeal-3.OA Represent and solve problems involving multiplication

The Warlord’s Beads. -4.NBT Understand place value for multi-digit numbers

Anno’s Magic Seeds-5.OA Generate numerical patterns

Wrapping It Up

Next Steps

Appendix

References

Editorial Reviews

The entire time I was reading this, I thought of the various ways that I could bring this resource into our district. I love how it breaks it down easily and explains how to embed the SMP and strategies into the everyday language of the classroom. The use of the book is almost scripted, allowing the teacher easy entry into the practice standard.”
—Aubrey Carpenter, Instructional Math Coach, Danville District 118, Danville, Illinois

“This book helps students make connections with children’s literature and the Mathematical Practices. The author provides examples of specific stories and related activities to encourage problem solving and real-life application. Each chapter presents an in-depth look at one of the eight Mathematical Practices, offering fun, engaging challenges for all students. The directions and questions provide teachers with easy access to complex processes and proficiencies such as perseverance, critical thinking, and abstract reasoning. If you want to help your students develop a positive mathematical mindset, you should add this resource to your collection!”
–Jennifer Taylor-Cox, Educational Consultant and Author of Math Intervention P-2 and Math Intervention 3-5

"This is an inspirational and motivating way of approaching problem solving in contemporary mathematics education...Although the picturebook market is vast and rich, teachers do not often come across recommendations for about 50 mathematics picturebooks in one book, accompanied by didactical comments and guides on how to use these picturebooks in mathematics education.The book Using Children’s Literature to Teach Problem Solving in Math helps fill this gap."
-Dubravka Glasnović Gracin, Libri & Liberi

From the Publisher