Skip Counting
Counting Through Story Telling
Teaching mathematics through literacy-based task can be a great way to intertwine the Australian Curriculum and engage students that arn't strong learners in mathematics. Integrating mathematics and literacy creates an interweaving of curriculum rather than a compartmentalizing of academic subjects. Many children’s books provide a natural, meaningful path for exploring and exchanging ideas about math concepts" (Cutler et al. 2003) Below are a few examples of where mathematics has been incorporated into story telling activities.
Ten Little Ladybugs
Children love stories. Not only do they love stories, they love stories that include things that can be played with on the pages. The story of Ten Little Ladybugs is all about helping a child learn how to start at one and go to ten. Each page has a little ladybug on it, but instead of just being flat ladybugs, these ladybugs pop off of the page and look real. As you turn the page, a new ladybug will pop up, eventually going from one ladybug to ten!
Gerth, M., & Beith, L. (2000). Ten little ladybugs. Santa Monica, CA: Piggy Toes Press.
Spunky Monkeys on Parade
The "Monkey Day" parade is a very big deal. The crowd loves to watch the Monkey Cyclists who cycle two by two (2, 4, 6, 8…). They're followed by the Monkey Tumblers, who travel in groups of three (3, 6, 9, 12…). Finally there's the Monkey Band lined up four across (4, 8, 12, 16…). Counting by 2s, 3s and 4s is called skip counting and is an important step in the development of multiplication skills.
Teachers may read the story with their students and talk about what is going on in each picture. Encourage the children to interact with the illustrations and count the monkeys aloud as you read.
Murphy, S., & Avril, L. (1999). Spunky monkeys on parade. New York: HarperCollins
Two of Everything
Mr. Haktak digs up a curious brass pot in his garden and decides to carry his coin purse in it. When Mrs. Haktak's hairpin slips into the pot, she reaches in and pulls out two coin purses and two hairpins--this is a magic pot!
Two of everything shows the pattern of counting by two's throughout the book, each time Mr's Haktak's pull out two objects she count up how many items she has, this allows students to count along as they read.
Hong, L. (1993). Two of everything: A Chinese folktale. Morton Grove, Ill.: A. Whitman.
