Children's Math Book Review: Apollo

Have you read Apollo? While this cute little book was probably not written with the intent of teaching math concepts, I love it for it's ability to explore basic vocabulary with simplicity and humor.

Summary: The owner of a dachshund describes how adorable, obedient, and clever his dog is from all sides and all directions.

Basically, the narrator introduces you to Apollo, looking at his back, middle, front, sides, etc. The reader is exposed to the words: horizontally, vertically, diagonally, left, right, etc. My favorite pages explore the concept of "half" when the pictures show the front half of Apollo but then show "different halves" by showing his top half and bottom half. Great humor and concept exploration for preschool and early primary children. The same author also has a book, Counting With Apollo, that I've not yet seen.

Vertical Stuffed Moose

I handed our older digital camera to my 8yo son this afternoon so he could take photos of stuffed animals, exploring the vocabulary and concepts from the book.

This would also make a great preschool or primary math workbox.

Horizontal Stuffed Moose

1/2 of a Stuffed Dog

Let's Light the Writing Fire!

A lifetime ago, I worked as a high school, then middle school, language arts teacher. One of my primary jobs? Teaching writing. I used fun ideas. Somewhere between then and now, my enthusiasm and joy for teaching writing got lost. It's time to find it!

On the recommendation of one of my favorite teachers, I started reading Kids Have All the Write Stuff; Inspiring Your Children to Put Pencil to Paper. (This book is available on Amazon, used, for the cost of shipping. I highly recommend it.) I'm newly inspired to make big changes in what we're doing with writing. I hope some of you join us!

My New Year's Goal: to excite my boys, ages 4 and 8, about writing!

Suggested Materials: the book has a lot of ideas, but I'm going to start by setting up some type of writing/art station (with tape, mini stapler, pens/pencils, art supplies) and providing each child with a writing box. If you use workboxes, you could continue with that format. I'm choosing to use something that looks different from our regular "school." I bought each boy a Sterilite 14" x 11" x 3 1/4" clip box with snap-on lid.

Box Contents: the idea is for the contents to change on a regular basis, providing many varied opportunities for writing. The box could hold felt pens and paper. A variety of cards. Some stationary. Cut hearts. Stencils. You name it. Anything that will inspire children to write. And what can they write? Anything! Lists, menus, journals, comics, poetry, puzzles...ANYTHING! I want writing to be a playful part of daily life rather than always being associated with regular schoolwork. Here's what we'll start with...

Feelings Journals
My 8yo regularly journals as part of school. To change things up a bit I made some journal templates for each boy that reflect feelings. My 8yo will get to rank each day on a 1-10 scale and then describe why he choose that number. My 4yo gets to circle a face for the day--happy, sad, or in between--and dictate or use invented spelling to tell about his day. I'm having them do this at the table as I prepare dinner so that most of the day has passed before they write. Ideally, I'll join them and write in my own feelings journal.

 Stationary Stuff
I have piles of old stationary (going back to my childhood--check out the photo!) that has pretty designs, pictures, etc. I'm going to put an assortment into each box along with stickers, envelopes and other correspondence-type material. Some of this will be "published" as we send them to friends and relatives. Others will be used as they play...making maps for their adventures, writing to each other, etc.

Future Contents
Mini-books of all kinds. Topic books...I'll demonstrate in a later blog entry. NCR/carbon copy paper. Adding machine tape. Tracing paper. Graph paper. Varied art materials.

I'm planning to change out the contents every few weeks. I'd love to hear your ideas for box materials. Anyone want to join our writing adventure? ;)

Math Toys, Gifts and Games

In anticipation of the holidays (and CyberMonday!), I'll be posting gift ideas this weekend...math games and activities that feel like way too much fun to contain real learning! If you use workboxes, these would be great additions!

If you order from Amazon, all commissions go toward foster care through Grace and Hope (who sponsored my son's foster care in China...making a HUGE difference in his life!!!) at no additional cost to you. THANK YOU!

Question in Comments: What if I want something from Amazon that is NOT on the list? 

Answer: If you click on any of the links below or enter through the Amazon link on the right side of my home page, everything you do is credited toward Grace and Hope even if you don't order what I recommend. As long as you enter through this site, everything you do in that transaction is covered. All toward Grace and Hope! I'm hoping to earn them enough to put one additional child in foster care for one year!

Tune in! (and feel free to submit ideas by emailing love 2 learn 2 day @ gmail dot com)

Calendar
The Children's Mathematics Calendar 2011
M.C. Escher Evolution 2011 Calendar (quite a few tessellations!)
M.C. Escher 2011 Mini Wall Calendar

or related...how about this Pop Quiz Math Clock? :)

Books
Look at the list of math-related children's books!

Games
* Blokus (great geometric/spatial game!)
* Blink
* Mythmatical Battles
* Othello Game
* SET
* Think and Jump
* Tri-Ominoes
* Sleeping Queens Game (Got this in August and played it DAILY til we lost too many cards. Am getting another copy for Christmas!)
* Zeus on the Loose (Review to come! Great math game my son got for his birthday!)
* Frog Juice (with a "smidgen of math and a pinch of probability," our kids are getting this for Christmas!)
* Rat-a-Tat-Cat (we bought for Christmas)
* Rush Hour
* Rush Hour Jr.
* Chocolate Fix
* Math Dice
* Math Dice Jr.
* Clever Castle
* Qwirkle

Logic:
* Metaforms (on my wish list)
* Zoologic

Measurement:
* Inchimals

Puzzles:
* Monkey Pod Tangrams 
* Sudoku Jr. (magnetic w/ movable numbers)
* ThinkFun Sudoku 5x5 (magnetic w/ movable tokens)

Toys and Construction:
* Frigits Deluxe Marble Roll(most played with game from last Xmas)
* Equilibrio, Architecto, Clicko (geometry building activities-very popular at our house!)
* Polydrons
* Quadrilla Marble Railway (granddaddy of marble rolls-wooden to construct)
* Tegu Blocks (wooden blocks with magnetic components)
* Citi Blocks (on our Christmas list after seeing our friend's set!)
* Reptangles

Math DVDs:
* The Story of One
* Donald in Mathmagic Land
* Multiplication Rock
* Flatland, the Movie

* Mathtacular by Justin Holzmann of Sonlight (I've not seen but has great reviews.)
* The Story of Math (I've not seen but has great reviews.)

Stocking Stuffer Gift Sets! (Mostly homemade!)
* Make Milk Cap Magic Square Game and pair w/ Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares book






Disclaimer: to date, I have no affiliation with anything listed on this page. If I receive a review copy, I will state it in the original post. In most cases I just like the product and want to share things I've found and enjoyed. If you order from Amazon, all commissions go toward foster care through Grace and Hope at no additional cost to you. THANK YOU!

Lego Symmetry

After studying line of symmetry and rotational symmetry I thought it'd be fun to do a little hands-on practice. With LEGOS!

Challenge:

1. Create a Lego masterpiece with line symmetry.

• Basic level: build a Lego creation with at least one line of symmetry. When you're done, show the lines of symmetry.
• Advanced: decide on how many lines of symmetry the creation will have. One? Two? More? Build a structure to those specifications.

Give kids a building plate and tell them to begin with a relatively flat structure...more picture-like than building-like.

[Teacher note: visit this site for more information on reflective symmetry.]

2. Create a Lego masterpiece with rotational symmetry.

• Basic: build a Lego creation with rotational symmetry. You choose the order of rotation.
• Advanced: decide on an order of rotation and build a project to match. 

[Teacher note: learn more about rotational symmetry and order of rotation. It's probably worth mentioning that while I don't remember being taught this in elementary school it's now a standard part of elementary math. I'm thrilled that my son will enter high school geometry at a higher level of understanding than I did! I knew squat.]

See the video for our examples. I had my 8yo demonstrate the position of his lines of symmetry with yarn. As you'll see, it's difficult to keep the yarn straight to perfectly identify the lines, but it works. It'd be best to use some sort of frame to make it easier for kids to see the order of rotation. I'll work on that for my next rendition. ;)

I didn't see this idea anywhere else and can't find it on the internet. Perhaps an original idea strikes once a decade. If so, I'm happy to share mine with you!!



Please visit our other lessons on symmetry. Also, check out these art lessons using symmetry.

And take a little peek at this "Symmetry Song." Love the way she filmed it in a mirror!




Doing workboxes? Pop a handful of Legos in the box and challenge your kiddos!

Milk Cap Math: MADS Elimination

Here is another milk cap math game for basic +/-/x/division practice. My 15yo daughter thought of the name, MADS Elimination. (Thanks!)

The object?

M: multiply
A: add
D: divide
S: subtract

...in order to eliminate all milk caps on the playing field. (Before you go completely MADs!)

You'll need:

• two sets of 10 milk caps (any color), numbered 1-10
• two, 1-6 dice

To play the game, each player forms a line of milk caps, 1-10. Players take turns rolling the dice. When dice are rolled, the player may choose to multiply, add, divide, or subtract. So, for example:

Dice rolled: 3 and 5

I can:

M: 3 x 5 (won't work since my caps are 1-10)
A: 3 + 5 = 8
D: 5 / 3 = 2.5 (won't work)
S: 5 - 3 = 2

So I could eliminate either the 2 or the 8 cap. If the cap(s) has already been eliminated, I lose my turn. The first player to eliminate all caps, wins.

You can make this a little easier (preschool) by using 6 caps (1-6) and one die (1-6) and removing caps from the table as you roll each number.

You can make this a little harder by using bigger numbers (on the caps) or having the option of rolling multiple dice. For example, you could roll three, 1-6 dice, and make a number sentence using all three numbers. (You could also use dice with different numbers: 0-5, 4-9, etc.)

Example using 3 dice:

I roll: 1,3,4

I could do any number of combinations...I won't list them all, but for example:

3 - 1 + 4

1 x 4 - 3   (You could even talk about order of operations here.)

4 - 1 + 3

Lots and lots of possibilities for this game!

Running out of math caps yet?? ;)

This is another great math workbox game! ;)

Milk Cap Math: Magic Square Game

Here's another idea for Milk Cap Math...

[As a side note, when I went to find my milk caps, they were gone. I finally located them under the piano in my 4yo's "house." Apparently, they are good for a lot more than MATH!]

Milk Cap Math Magic Square Game

You'll need:
*9 milk caps, any colors, numbered 1-9.

To play:
Place numbers in a 3 cap by 3 cap square as shown. Rearrange numbers so that the sum of any 3 caps (diagonal, column and row) equals 15.

You can play this Magic Square Game online to get the idea, but I recommend using milk caps (or something similar) to manipulate the numbers. When you manually move the numbers, you are able to experiment with different combinations in a way that just isn't possible with the online game.

Thank you SO MUCH to reader, musicalmary, for alerting me to the connection to the book, Ben Franklin and His Magic Squares! We just happen to be studying Ben Franklin right now in history, so this is perfect!!!

This would be another great math workbox!