Children's Literature
Check out the books I have chosen that I feel provide a great opportunity for you and your child to explore literacy and mathematics together. The books below focus specifically on measurement, but still maintain strong literary value. I have deeply evaluated these books for both their literary and mathematics value and you can view the details of my findings listed below.
Tips for reading with your child: Click on the link below to view tips that will guide you through reading with your child.
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Activities: Click on the link below to view fun activities that you can do with your child that directly relate to each of the books listed below.
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How Tall, How Short, How Far Away
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Age Appropriateness
All of the mathematical content that is present in this book is in alignment with what we are learning in our measurement unit in class. It also is supported by the Pennsylvania math standard 2.3.3.B: Identify a measurable characteristic of an object, select an appropriate standard or non-standard unit of measure and tool, and determine the measurement to a specified level of accuracy.
Your third grader will also enjoy the pages that invite them to join in on the measuring fun. Be a part of the reading experience and feel free to help make it possible for them! |
Front & Back Matter
The front and back matter of a children's book may include the front and back covers, the title page, and any pages that come after the story has ended. The front and back matter included in this book include:
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Vocabulary & Content Accuracy
Vocabulary: Within this book, various vocabulary words are underlined. This is probably also the most valuable visual feature within the book. Vocabulary words that you may focus on with your child throughout this book include (but are not limited to) the following:
Content Accuracy: All of mathematical content in this book is accurate and age appropriate. I have verified that all conversions and historical statements are true as told. |
Illustrations
The illustrations in this book prove to be a great asset to the text and help to extend and clarify the storyline. As you can see from the page of the book that is displayed on the right, the illustrations are not absolutely necessary, but they do help to give the reader a clearer visual image.
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Instructive Suggestions
How Tall, How Short, How Far Away extends a great hand that invites you and your child to participate in exploring measurement systems. I recommend that during one of your readings of this book that you follow through with the text's suggestions. As you can see from the image on the right, the book invites you and your child to record your height on a wall using the units of measure of ancient Egypt.
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Readability Score
A readability score is a score that is assigned to a book to ensure that it reaches an age appropriate audience. This score can be assigned to any text by following a few simple directions. If you are interested in finding the readability score of These directions can be found below. I have used the Fry Readability Graph to identify the appropriate readability score for How Tall, How Short, How Far Away. The readability score that I have assigned this particular text is 3rd grade, which simply means that the plot fell within the 3rd grade area on the graph.
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Steps to Find Readability
1. Randomly select three passages from the book: one from the beginning, one from the middle, and one from the end.
2. Count out 100 words. 3. Count the number of sentences in the 100 words- include proper nouns and numerals. 4. Count the number of syllables in the 100 words. 5. Find the average number of sentences from the three passages. 6. Find the average number of syllables from the three passages. 7. Plot the two points on the graph. Wherever the two points intersect represents the appropriate grade level for the book. |
Cook-A-Doodle-Doo!
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Age Appropriateness
All of the content that is presented in this book is in alignment with the measurement unit that we are currently studying in class. The content also directly aligns with Pennsylvania State and Common Core standards.
Your child will also enjoy the humor that is brought on by the animal characters silly mistakes and misunderstandings. |
Front & Back Matter
The front and back matter of a children's book may include the front and back covers, the title page, and any pages that come after the story has ended. The front and back matter included in this book include:
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Vocabulary & Content Accuracy
Vocabulary: Within this book, there are some words that your child may be unfamiliar with and others that focus on mathematical concepts. I have selected a few of them from the book and listed them below. You can focus on these with your child as you read. Please do not limit yourself to this list.
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Illustrations
The illustrations in this book do a wonderful job of conveying the satirical humor that the animals provide throughout the story. As you can see from the image on the right, the illustrator shows the turtle attempting to make sense of the recipe, while wearing a pot on his head, and the iguana using scissors to cut the stick of butter.
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Visual Features
There is one visual feature present within this book that should not go amiss! Approximately 12 pages into the story, a feature appears on either the left or right margin of each spread. This is a white strip that includes further explanation or information extending what is already on the page. For example, the image on the right shows a page where the margin goes into a further explanation of how you can measure dry ingredients. It also includes a cups to grams conversion at the the bottom of the margin.
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Instructive Suggestions
This book includes much confusion on the part of the animals. They struggle to make sense of many words and directions, such as the word sift. Talk with you child about these misconceptions that the animals are experiencing and why they are not right. The image on the right displays a page where Iguana measures the flour with a ruler rather than a cup.
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Readability Score
I have used the Fry Readability Graph to identify the appropriate readability score for Cook-A-Doodle-Doo. The readability score that I have assigned this particular text is 3rd grade, which simply means that the plot fell within the 3rd grade area on the graph.
Refer to the directions under Readability Score for How Tall, How Short, How Far Away to see what the readability score is and how you can conduct one on your own. |