One of my favorite ways to teach a lesson is to incorporate a
picture book into the mini lesson. I
would do this in all subject areas whenever I could find a good picture book
that matched the lesson. Math was no
exception. Not only did I use picture
books during my lesson, but I would also set out math books for students to
read when they finished their activity/center early.
While teaching second grade, we usually started the year off
with place value. I didn’t usually need
to teach basic number sense but I would set out books, like those described below
that included numbers 1-10 and skills such as counting. These books would be great in a pre-K,
kindergarten or first grade classroom. There
are TONS of other titles that would fit into this category. This just happened to be the books in my
personal collection.
Fat Frogs on a Skinny Log by Sara Riches is a basic counting book that
practices numbers one through ten. This
book could also be used for an adjective lesson because each page adds another
word to describe the log including slippery, slimy, slithery and shaky. As I type those, I realize the book could
also be used for teaching alliteration.
George’s Store at theShore by Francine Bassede is another
basic counting book for numbers one through ten. This is a good book because there is
one-to-one matching with the objects described in the story and the pictures in
the book. This allows students to be
able to count the items and match it to the number on the page.
Bat Jamboree by Kathi Appelt counts up to ten but then it counts
back down to one again. This book uses
rhyme and funny illustrations to tell the story.
Zero is the Leaves on the Tree by Betsy Franco is a
little different twist on the normal counting book. This book focuses only on the number
zero. I was drawn to this book because
we rarely address zero but expect the students to know what zero means. It is written poetically and the pictures
match so that students understand that zero means nothing left.
Those are just a few books from my collection that could be
used for number sense or counting in the early grades. What books do you like to use to teach number
sense?
Happy Teaching,
Sara
