Sunday, May 12, 2013

Place Value Must Read Mentor Text


Yay for math mentor texts!!

I love reading books in math!

I could probably wait and share these books when school starts next year, but then again, I can just share them again when that rolls around, too!  ;O)

I have a hard time picking just one book each Sunday.  So, I'll share two that I really love to use to introduce place value and to do an informal assessment as to where my students are in their number sense and understanding of writing and reading numbers.

In fourth grade, they need to know place value up to one million.  Here are the two books I introduce it with.

The first is

I like this book because it relates a million to real life.  Kids have no idea how much a million really is.  This book puts it into perspective.  




I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend 23 days of my life counting to 1 million.  But sometimes kids just don't even realize how BIG that number is, so I like this book because it shows them just how big it is!

The next book I use to do an informal assessment.  Usually when I read it, the students have white boards and markers and we go through this together.


This book is covered in dots.  A million of them, in fact.  My cameras were not cooperating very well, so my pictures aren't stellar but I hope you can get an idea of what it looks like.  The entire book has a million dots and on each page, there is a fact, with a number.  There is also a dot or two circled on each page.  That circled dot is the dot that corresponds to the number in the fact.  Here is a page:


Can you see all of those teeny tiny black dots all over the page?  The fact says, "It is 24,901 miles around the Earth at the equator."  The color of the box around the fact tells you what color the circle is at the top of the page. So since this fact is in a green box, the circle is green.  Then, the purple arrow tells you that there have been 47,679 dots so far on all of the pages you have turned.  It's a running total.

So, what I do is I read the fact to the class before showing them the picture.  I ask them to write the number on their white board.  Then, I spot check them.  Then, I show them the picture and we find the dot together.  Then, I read them the number in the purple arrow and have them write that number on their white board as well.  It's very simple, but they love it (because they all want to find that dot!) and it's a quick way for me to assess if they can even write their numbers correctly.

Of course, I also throw out words like value and digit and place and see how many of them can tell me the value of the number in the thousands place, etc.  They also write that and show me on their white boards.  You can take it as far as you want to!

Here are a few more pictures.  I just love the illustrations.  Sorry for the poor photo quality.



I usually never finish reading this book because I just do this for a quick informal assessment.  But, I do leave the book out so that the students can read it and go searching for the dots.  Every year, this is a class favorite!


So, these are two very simple books that I use to introduce and pre-assess place value in my classroom at the beginning of the year!!

Now, it's your turn!




(If you have never linked up before you can check HERE for more information.)


I can't wait to see what math mentor texts you link up this week!!  I hope everyone is able to enjoy Mother's Day today!
Amanda

For the Linky- Please make yourself a SANDWICH!  Please comment on the person who linked up before you and the person that linked up after you.  I know everyone puts in a lot of time and effort to these posts and I want everyone to feel the love!!!  (Haha, see, you're a sandwich...you know...because you are in the middle of the comments...do you get it?)  ;O)

Next week's topic- Science



22 comments:

  1. I love How Much is a Million, but Millions of Dots is new to me. It looks like such a fantastic book. Looks like I have another book to add to my wishlist!

    Hunter's Tales from Teaching

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  2. Hi ladies~I'm not linking up today because I don't teach math and I'm running out the door for Mother's Day festivities! :) Yay! I am intrigued by the dots book! That's awesome and even though I don't teach math, it's going on the Books A Million wishlist right now simply because it looks cool! Happy Sunday!
    Brandee @ Creating Lifelong Learners

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  4. I could totally see my second graders thinking they could count all the dots in that book. Never heard of it before, thanks for sharing!
    Jessica
    Literacy Spark

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  5. My copy of How Much is a Million is in such bad shape it looks like it is a million years old! I forgot all about Millions of Dots this year - the problem when you don't buy the book just get it from the library - but now I pinned it. Thanks for sharing how you use it with the whiteboards - love that!

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  6. I've never heard of Millions of Dots-can't wait to get my hands on it! Thanks for sharing!
    Joanne
    Head Over Heels For Teaching

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  7. Thanks for stopping by my blog...I never know if you get the messages that I leave after your comment so I decided to pop over and leave one here...I'm getting ready to link up anyway! Thanks for commenting on my owl product...my obsessions are chevron, polka dots, and owls and this product has it all. No...I would love to make clip art but I don't have a drawing bone in my body. When I draw something it looks like a 3 year old drew it so I'll stick with buying my products. In fact I'm making something with your daisy frames (adorable) right now. You girls do an amazing job on everything you do. I'm going to link up with you right now so I'll see you soon! Love ya girlies!
    Stephanie Ann
    Sparkling in Third Grade

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  8. Love the Millions of Dots book!

    EmilyK

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  9. I love How Much is a Million! I have seen the other one before, but never took the time to take a closer look. Thanks so much for sharing!

    Have a great week--
    Sarah @ Hoots N Hollers

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  10. Oh wow - I don't have either of those - definitely going to check them out. I think my own girls would love them as much as my students!

    Jen
    Runde's Room

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  11. Dots is a new one to me! I have used how much is a million for a long time and still love it! This year I started using all the King's Tens for place value and have another book I love called on beyond a million. Thanks for sharing!!!! I can't wait to see all the link ups. Just in time for thinking about ordering new books for next year!

    I clicked over from learning to the core and I am so glad I did
    Tara
    The Math Maniac

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  12. Thanks again for hosting this link up.
    How Much is a Million is a fav of my first graders as well. We certainly do not have to teach place value to the millions, but they are always very impressed by "big numbers." Lots of oooing and aahhing whenever I read it.
    Have a great week.

    School Is a Happy Place

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  13. I had never heard of A MIllion Dots! I love Andrew Clements so I might have to get this!

    Rosie
    Rosie's Rambles

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  14. I love "How Much is a Million" but have never heard of "A Million Dots"! Pinned both in my folder for reminders throughout the year. You girls are the best!
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

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  15. How Much is a Million is great! I haven't heard of A Million Dots, but it looks so interesting. I will be on the lookout for it.

    Thanks for sharing and hosting this great linky!

    Becky
    Compassionate Teacher

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  16. I had never heard of A Million Dots before, but I'm going to have to get a copy for myself! I love Andrew Clements work, and A Million Dots looks like a winner for sure! Thanks so much for sharing it!

    Kayla
    Primary Junction

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  17. It is hard to choose just one book! I loved using How Much is a Million when I taught 2nd grade. A Million Dots is a new one for me, and it looks fantastic! It really helps to comprehend how much a million can be!

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  18. I love the sounds of the book "How Much is a Million." My first graders LOVE to act older and try to tell me they can already do multiplication and know big numbers like one million!! They even tell me they can add one million plus one million! :) When we do things with number of the day many of them try to say "a million!!" when I ask for a starting number... I have to calm them down and say they can choose "one million" when they are older...and let's use number we know up to 120! If I read this book I can see them all...eyes wide open...saying "oh man!" "Can you believe that?!" They will go nuts for this book! Thanks for sharing!

    Amanda
    Learning to the Core

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  19. Thanks for hosting this linky party. My post will go up tomorrow since I just found you today. Hopefully someday my math book I've written about place value to the millions will be published : ). I am starting to have a linky party all about math and this Thursday will be the first one and the theme is Place Value too--how funny, but great minds think alike ; )
    Kids Math Teacher

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  20. What a great linky and post! I'm featuring this on Bagels and Blogs on Sunday.

    Donna
    Math Coach’s Corner

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