Complete Resource List

Mr. Tiffin brings in three different size pumpkins to the classroom. Charlie is the smallest in the class and very aware of that fact. The kids in the class have to guess which pumpkin has the most seeds, then determine the actual number of seeds in each pumpkin. They come up with different counting strategies (by twos, by fives, and by tens), and find that the smallest pumpkin actually has the most seeds in it. Charlie compares the activity to himself, and sees that the littlest things can have a lot going on inside. This book is great at explicitly showing the counting strategies and groupings being used by the students in the class.  

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Chrysanthemum heads off to school, but ends up having a hard time with the other kids—they all think that her unusual name is too long. As you read, have your child count the letters in Chrysanthemum’s name. Then after reading, have them count the letters in their own name—how does it compare? You could have your child also count the letters in their middle and last names, then find the total.  

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Using rhyming, Murphy tells the story of lizards traveling in different ways to make it to the show. The lizards transport themselves by unicycles, a hot-air balloon, an airplane, and more until all fifty lizards arrive. The skip counting used (by fives and tens) is clearly shown through the pictures, as well as a box on the side of each page to help children keep track of the lizards.  

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This book introduces rounding as a way to estimate sums of several addends. A group of coyotes at a desert ranch try to count all of the different types of animals around the ranch (roadrunners, lizards, grasshoppers). All but one of them tries to count them individually, while another coyote takes their individual counts and estimates the total by rounding each count. The book uses a number line for each count to show the closest round/ “friendly” number, focusing on rounding to the nearest ten. Throughout the book there are also desert-related facts about coyotes, lizards, grasshoppers, cacti, etc. This book is a good starting point for discussion of “friendly” numbers and mental calculations and a good time to revisit the 100 chart and number line to talk about what makes a “friendly” number. One activity that you can do with your child to practice this concept is use a deck of cards, and in partners take turns drawing two cards, put them together to make a two digit number (i.e. drawing a 5 and then an 8 would make 58), and then round that number to the nearest ten. 

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This book uses dinosaur trading cards at a trading fair to discuss equivalent values. Mike and his brother Andy are trying to acquire a T-Rex card, and have to make several trades and deals in order to get it. The book shows each deal in clearly labeled diagrams (i.e. 4 Stegosaurus cards for 1 Triceratops card). As with his rock shop book on classification, Murphy includes factoids throughout, this time about dinosaurs. Children can act out each trade with colored pieces of paper as the book is read aloud; you could also have your children set up a “mall” and barter with each other for different goods.  

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