Resources
Student Resources
Anno, Mitsumasa. (1995). Anno's Magic Seeds. New York: Philomel Books.
A wizard gives Jack two golden seeds and directs him to eat one and bury the other. He promises it will grow and give 2 more magic seeds in the fall. Jack does as he is told, and the cycle repeats for a number of years, until Jack decides to bury both seeds. The tale of exponential growth is discovered as Jack buries more and more seeds. The math tale becomes even more rigorous as Jack marries, has a child, begins to store some seeds and sell others... until a hurricane wipes out the crops and Jack must begin all over again.
Axelrod. Amy. (1994). Pigs will be Pigs: Fun with Math and Money. New York: Simon
and Schuster Books for Young Readers.
After gobbling up all the groceries, Mr. Pig, Mrs. Pig and their two piglets are hungry again, but the Piggy bank is empty. The Pigs turn their house upside down looking for spare change so that they can go out to dinner. Readers are meant to keep a tally of the dimes and nickels the Pigs locate. Finally, after finding a grand total of $34.67, the Pigs spend almost all of it at a Mexican restaurant and readers can calculate the tab by reading a menu.
Burns, Marilyn. (1997). Spaghetti and Meatballs for All: A Mathematical Story. New
York: Scholastic.
Mrs. and Mr. Comfort are throwing a dinner party for their family. They find out there will be 32 people. They arrange 8 tables with 4 chairs each. The problem arises when the families begin to arrive and want to sit together. They begin pushing the tables together to make one big table. As more and more guests arrive, the families continue to rearrange the tables so everyone can sit together. Of course throughout this time Mrs. Comfort is getting very distraught because she knows that if the tables are pushed together there will not be a seat for everyone. The story continues with more arrangements of the tables until eventually the tables start being pulled apart as the rest of the family arrives. In the end the tables again end up as 8 tables with 4 chairs each, just as Mrs. Comfort had originally set.
Demi. (1997). One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale. New York: Scholastic.
It's the story of Rani, a clever girl who outsmarts a very selfish raja and saves her village. When offered a reward for a good deed, she asks only for one grain of rice, doubled each day for 30 days. That's lots of rice: enough to feed a village for a good long time—and to teach a greedy raja a lesson.
Lewis, J. Patrick. (2002). Arithmetickle: An Even Number of Odd Riddle-Rhymes. San
Diego: Harcourt.
This book offers a variety of clever math riddles with titles like "Finger Play" (which teaches a nifty trick for multiplying by nine) and "Your Average Cow," which asks kids to compare bovine and human life expectancies. Answers appear (upside-down) below each entry
Neuschwander, Cindy. (1999). Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi. Watertown,
MA: Charlesbridge.
Covers the number pi through a story in which Sir Cumference drinks a magic potion that turns him into a dragon and only the magic number pi can transform him back.
_____(1997). Sir Cumference and the First Round Table. Watertown,
MA: Charlesbridge.
Explores the topic of taking a rectangular table, which is too long and difficult for everyone seated to see and hear each other, and forming it into various shapes to find the ideal shape for the knights to sit and meet.
_____(2001). Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland. Watertown,
MA: Charlesbridge.
Sir Cumference's son, Radius, in a quest to earn his knighthood by rescuing a king, uses a circular family medallion to discover angles and ultimately the use of a protractor.. The circular medallion (a protractor) given to Radius by his father and his mother, Lady Di of Ameter, aid him in examining every angle along the way. A circular medallion comes with the book.
_____(2006). Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter. Watertown,
MA: Charlesbridge.
Young Per loves to play games. When she visits her uncle Sir Cumference and her aunt Lady Di of Ameter, they teach her a new game involving inners and edges. To solve it, the youngsters must travel to the Isle of Immeter and use a series of geometric formulas to tame the sea serpent and bring peace to the area. This story covers the topics of area and perimeter.
_____(2003). Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone. Watertown,
MA: Charlesbridge.
Simulates the story of King Arthur and implements elements of geometry to solve the riddle.
Teacher Resources
Bluman, Allan G. (2005). Math Word Problems Demystified. New York: McGraw-Hill.
This easy to follow book teaches proven methods for analyzing and solving any type of math word problem. Strategies are given along with many examples and step by step solving methods. This is one in the "Demystified" series. Others include "Algebra Demystified", "Geometry Demystified", and "Calculus Demystified".
exponential growth. (n.d.). The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural
Literacy, Third Edition. Retrieved July 07, 2007, from Dictionary.com website:
http://dictionary.reference.com/ browse/exponential growth
Lampert, Magdalene. (2001). Teaching Problems and the Problems of Teaching. New
Haven: Yale University Press.
In this book an experienced classroom teacher and noted researcher on teaching takes us into her fifth grade math class through the course of a year. Magdalene Lampert shows how classroom dynamics—the complex relationship of teacher, student, and content—are critical in the process of bringing each student to a deeper understanding of mathematics, or any other subject.
Pullman, Phyllis. (2001). How to Solve Word Problems in Arithmetic. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Formatted for 5th through 8th grade-level arithmetic, helps students by emphasizing the mechanics and grammar of problem-solving, and focusing on problems involving arithmetic skills, area, percent, basic geometry, measurement, and statistics. This is also in a series. Other titles include, "How to Solve Word Problems in Algebra", "How…in Geometry", and "How…in Calculus".
SparkNotes. (2006). Common Word Problems. Retrieved July 26, 2007 from
http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/ books/sat2/math2c/chapter5section6.rhtml.
This site provides a variety of word problems for solving.
Stapel, Elizabeth. (2007). Purplemath. Exponential Word Problems. Retrieved July 26,
2007 from http://www.purplemath.com/modules/ expoprob2.htm.
This website has a few exponential word problems that helped me create problems for this type.
Word Problems For Kids. (1999). Retrieved on July 26, 2007 from
http://www.stfx.ca/special/mathproblems/ welcome.html.
Word problems are categorized from grades 5 to 12. All types of word problems as well as answer are available for use.
Wingard-Nelson, Rebecca. (2004). Problem Solving and Word Problems. Berkeley
Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers.
This book provides an overview of basic problem-solving strategies and skills, including solving algebraic expressions and equations and different kinds of word problems.
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