The Coin Counting Book

The Coin Counting Book

Author: Rozanne Williams

Genre: Mathematics

Grade Level: Grades K-2

Year Published: 2001

Summary

This book consists of many rhymes that involve coins and math problems. There are many pictures and diagrams that depict the math problems being stated. The math problems including counting coins; for example, adding up a certain number of nickels or quarters so it equals a dollar. The book consists of a number of these rhymes and math problems, with many colorful pictures. 

About the Author

Rozanne Williams is a teacher, writer and speaker. She has three kids, and currently resides in Southern California. She has many pets in her family, and she has lived in many different places all over the world, including Germany. She has written about 188 books that are geared towards beginning readers and writers. When she is not writing, she loves to experiment with cooking, garden, and read a good book!

Source: http://www.magicbookgarden.com/about_roz.html

How to Use it

This book can be used to supplement a unit on Money in a primary age classroom! 

Pre-Reading: The teacher will have examples of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollars to show the kids how much each are worth, and explain to them that they are going to be working on counting and adding money. This will introduce the children to what they are going to be seeing in the book, and enable them to better understand the book.

 

Post-Reading: The students could have an activity day the day after doing this book, that involves shopping and make transactions with a cash register. The teacher would set it up so each student will have to make a certain amount of money with the coins they have, in order to buy something from the fake supermarket.

 

What do I Think?

I teach first grade, so this book is definitely appropriate for my kids. In February, we launch a unit about counting and identifying money. This book can be used as a read-aloud for the class, and also as a basis for learning about money. I loved this book! I think it also has some challenging problems that could be used with kids who need to be challenged. This book will be a great supplement to any classroom. In addition, it is always great to integrate literature into math. 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar  

Author: Eric Carle

Genre: Fiction

Grade Level: Pre-K- Grade 2

Year Published: 1969

Summary

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a classic children's book that starts off with an egg on a leaf, and from it emerges an extremely famished caterpillar. The caterpillar proceeds through the days of the week, eating more and more each different day. He eats all types of food, including lollipops and ice cream. At the end of the week, he has a really severe stomachache. He eats a leaf to settle his stomach, and he then goes into a cocoon, and emerges at the end of the story a beautiful butterfly. 

About the Author

Eric Carle was born in Syracuse, New York in 1929. When he was about 6 years old, he moved to Germany with his parents. Germany is where he received his education, and he attended Akademie der bildenden Kunste, which is a famous art school. Eric had always wanted to return to the states, and he did so in 1952. By a chance, Bill Martin Jr. saw a red lobster that Eric had made for his advertising job, and their meeting resulted in the beginning of ERic's career as an author: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? One of the most interesting aspects of his books are that the illustrations are the result of collages, using colored tissue paper. Eric currently lives with his wife, Barbara, splitting their time between the Florida Keys and North Carolina.

Source: http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html

How to Use it

This book can be used for so many different purposes in the classroom, it's hard to narrow it down to just one! But using it to teach/reinforce the days of the week is a great one to start with. 

Pre-Reading: Sing a Days of the Week song. In general, talk about the different days of the week and aspects of the words (beginning/ending letters, sounds, etc).  

Post-Reading: Discuss: What did the caterpillar eat on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc? Assess students on their comprehension by listening to their responses. Introduce the post-reading activity: Making a Class Book about different days of the week. Every student would get a paper saying: On ___(day)____, ____(name)_____ ate __________! There would also be room for an illustration. The teacher would model an example: (On Tuesday, Mrs. Smith ate pizza!) Have a quick brainstorm session about children's ideas, and have them get to work. Bind all pages together with a cover, and you have a class book!

What do I Think?

This book is  staple in my classroom. I have actually done this class book with my kindergarten class two years ago, and it was a huge success. The kids learned to write the days of the week, and had so much fun coming up with silly foods that they love or that they wanted to eat! This book is a fun way to talk about the days of the week, and the students remember what foods the caterpillar ate on which day, and therefore they retain some knowledge about the days of the week. Another part of this book that I love are the illustrations. They absolutely superb, and are sure to engage any child.