Do you see math students struggling to engage in math practices?

–       Unwilling to share their thinking with others?

–       Giving up easily rather than persevering to solve problems?

–       Unsure of how they can work together to learn?

Read Use Your Math Power ebooks to  students.  Project the ebooks for all to observe the characters persevere to understand unfamiliar problems and reconsider misconceptions.  Your students will discover how they can discuss math problems just like the children in the books! Now available on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Here are links for the ebooks:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Monkeys-for-the-Zoo-4109222

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hatching-Butterflies-4110841

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Penguins-on-Parade-4110849

In addition,  three Use Your Math Power Readers’ Theater Scripts focusing on fractions and division with remainders as well as the Common Core Math Practices are now available on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Animal Race               

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Penguins-on-Parade-4110849

The Cupcake Bakers

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Cupcake-Bakers-Math-Readers-Theater-4060504

What’s the Problem?

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Whats-the-Problem-Math-Readers-Theater-4060559

Each script is $1.50.  A set of the three scripts is $3.00.

In the scripts, Mr. Trotter’s students work to make sense of fractions and division with remainders. Here are descriptions of the scripts.

Animal Race
In Animal Race, students see children learn to help each other ask questions and work through confusions in math together as they strengthen their growth mindset.  As your students take on the roles in this script, they will see strategies they can use to compare fractions such as model drawing, drawing number lines and using their understanding of numerators and denominators.

The Cupcake Bakers

In The Cupcake Bakers, students see children learning to work together more cooperatively, giving everyone a chance to share their thinking so they all see themselves growing in math.  As your students take on the roles in this script, they see strategies they can use to find equivalent fractions.  They explore ways to use number lines, paper folding and knowledge about unit fractions to find equivalent fractions.

What’s the Problem?

In What’s the Problem Readers’ Theater students see how children learn to work more cooperatively by sharing their understanding more completely and learning from each others’ ideas.  As your students take on the roles in this script, they see ways to create different types of division story problems, use the relationship between multiplication and division, and interpret remainders.

An instructor at the University of Arizona Center for Retention-Recruitment for Math Teachers just ordered a second set of Use Your Math Power books. This instructor and her students loved the first set of books she’d ordered.  I thought you might be interested in how she used the books to help teachers deepen their understanding of teaching and learning guided by the Common Core Math Standards.

This instructor used the books in workshops to help teachers tease out what the Standards for Mathematical Practice really MEAN and how they might look.  They first discussed examples of a practice in action within K-5 content clusters.  Then they read a Use Your Math Power book that exemplified the practice, discussed the attributes exemplified in the book and examples of other math practices within the story.  They also looked at key representations in the book, the reasoning for using those representations, and significant benefits of the representations.  Finally, they focused on the messaging in the book and how it fits with the 4 academic mindsets they discuss.

This instructor has also used the Use Your Math Power books in methods courses with secondary students as a way to look at diversity in terms of gender, culture, and race representation in mathematics literature.  In an institute this summer, she plans to focus on content and learning trajectories with the sets she just purchased. Teachers will examine important questions. Where is the child in the book along the trajectory, and what might be next for him/her?

I know that many math educators have used the Use Your Math Power books to help teachers explore the Standards for Mathematical Practice.  They provide a unique opportunity to examine children learning to engage in the practices.  I hope you will appreciate hearing these ideas from the University of Arizona.

I’m so delighted by letters from Newton, Massachusetts 2nd graders about my Use Your Math Power books!  A pair of students wrote,

“You did a really good job teaching kids to use their math power and never give up even if you do not understand the problem.”

Another pair wrote: “Monkeys for the Zoo….made our synapses fire!’

The class linked using your math power with their class conversations about Growth Mindset.  It’s so wonderful to read that the books reinforce the importance of a growth mindset for these students!  I hope the books help your students learn about engaging in math as thinkers and learners this coming school year.

One of these second graders wrote to me saying:

“In my opinion, Penguins on Parade is great because it teaches kids about tens frames and to use their growth mindset (Math Power). And you make the problems fun with monkeys or butterflies not with dots or stripes. You make it fun with the different characters. You do a great job! Please make more books!”

Two other students wrote about how they like the problems in the books and the way students work together to solve a problem in Monkeys for the Zoo.

I hope you will enjoy this teacher review of Use Your Math Power books from  the Valley View School District.  Primary teachers in this Illinois district recently received copies of the Use Your Math Power picture books. The Director of Pre K – 5 Math and Science shared the books with her teachers.  Now teachers are sharing the books  and activities with their students to support their work solving math problems.

“The story math books are an excellent resource to encourage inquiry based learning.  The stories are engaging and hold the students’ attention.  The books have problems at the end of the story that naturally lead to students working collaboratively or independently.  The book we read today, “Penguins on Parade”, had an open ended question at the end that students performed at different levels.  For example, some students went above 300, some above 200, and all students at least met the success criteria of at least 100.  I would encourage every teacher to use these books as part of intervention time, or as an extension of daily math lessons.  I would say the only con for me was it took about an hour to complete the entire activity, but teachers can split it up.”        -Saeed Ghafoor (1^st grade teacher, Valley View 365U)

Our district enjoys a diverse community, providing many settings for learning, sharing, and celebrating. The Board of Education works in partnership with the community to provide engaged learning opportunities and a safe environment that result in continuous learning for all students.

“What are the Use Your Math Power  (UYMP) books,?” asked a teacher recently.  “Are they a resource?”  “What purpose would they serve in my classroom or school?”

Perhaps the request that led me to write these books helps with these questions.  A first grade teacher I was coaching asked, “Is there a picture book that shows students engaged in math discourse?  I am working to get my students to all engage thoughtfully in discussions, but some struggle.  I use picture books to give students models for other behaviors.  So why not for math discourse.”

I couldn’t find the books this teacher wanted, but I thank her for the idea for my UYMP books.  In each of these books Ms. Green engages her primary classroom in making sense of and solving an unfamiliar problem.  These children are learning to use the Standards for Mathematical Practice.  As in your classroom, children have struggles in the books, but your students can see how other children share ideas, take risks, ask questions, and learn to engage effectively.  I’ll give you a glimpse into each book.

I’ll start with the first pages of Hatching Butterflies.

As the story continues, Hannah asks Carlos what he didn’t understand. He eventually asks why she subtracted when the butterflies don’t fly away, and they need more butterflies.  With time and a number line, they are able to see a way to add up to find how many more they need.  When they share their strategy with the class, another pair says they got the same answer by subtracting.  In a turn and talk and a group discussion, we see the students use a number line to figure out why they can add up or subtract to find the solution.  And Carlos and Hannah have learned to work together.

Before I go on to the first pages of Monkeys for the Zoo, here’s a bit about the books as a resource.  With read alouds and discussions the books help students consider how they can participate in math class more effectively.  In addition, I know that teachers and other educators have used the books in professional development, goal setting, and a variety of activities to help them enhance student participation.  My other posts give more details about use of the books.

Now for Monkeys for the Zoo.

Well, another child does suggest a way, 3 Howlers and 10 Spiders. Gradually more ideas are suggested, and someone asks if there can be more than one right answer.  During the discussion, Mia overcomes her reticence to speak and shares her idea.  The story ends with Mia finding lots of ways as she helps Ben understand why they are finding so many answers.

And finally,  the beginning pages of Penguins on Parade.

Using the ten frames, Zoe helps Trevor see that they can figure out a strategy to get the numbers for the count, but they’re using ones.  Ms Green has them share their work with the class to help everyone.  Together the children find the pattern in the count, 8, 18, 28, 38, discuss the pattern and why it works when you count by tens from a non-zero number.  And Trevor develops some confidence about figuring out how to solve problems that he hasn’t been taught how to do.

I hope you will take a peek at my other posts that give more ideas about the books.  Enjoy!

I have developed a chart to show the connection between the Use Your Math Power picture books and the math content standards and practice standards.  In each  UYMP book, students work on a problem that addresses two or more of the content standards at first and second grade and  engage in ways that model most of the practice standards.  One of the books addresses one of the content standards for kindergarten.

I hope this chart uymp-standards-match-document-11-10-16 will be helpful.  Two of the pages at the end of each book examine how the practice standards appear in that book.  They look like this:

Those are also attached here for your use!

Hatching Butterflies and the Standards of Mathematical Practice: butterflies-smps

Monkeys for the Zoo and the Standards of Mathematical Practice: uymp-monkeys_-smps

Penguins on Parade and the Standards of Mathematical Practice: penguins_-smps