Novels with Math Content

When a science teacher asked me for book recommendations and I decided to make it a post to share with my fellow teachers, it made me remember a couple of years ago when a math teacher made the same request. This made me want to share that list as well.

This list is was originally a list for a 6th grade teacher to use as read alouds and/or independent reading, but as I have worked on expanding it, it has grown to include books for older and younger students. I didn't include many picture books though there are tons of math picture books. I tried to stay with 4th and up.

Novels with Math Content

This list contains books that I recommended to her and have read as well as books that I added this week because of  research and with the help of some friends on Twitter. 

    Uses math to describe human relationships and events

  "Math whiz" friend, Geometry in pool, Gallileo

  Theorems, Functions, Graphs

  Mathematical land

  Protagonist with autism who is passionate about mathematics

  Protagonist uses math in her everyday life

  Mathematical instincts, Talented mathematician 

  A boy meets the number devil in his dreams and explores math with him

        Nonfiction  (Series) Math concepts, Math vocabulary

  Aunt mathematician

  Codes, Fibonacci sequence

  (Series) Protagonist with mathematical talents

  (Series) Protagonist hates math

  Vinge singularity

  Tesseract, Dimensions

  Characters with mathematical talents

  (Series) Claudia struggles with math in all of the books, this one it is the focus

  Mathematically talented boy looking for a math tutor to expand his knowledge

  Fun math "problems"

  Mathematical land filled with mathematical concepts and math history

 Math equation is a clue in a murder

 Geometry 

 Stocks, Payroll

What other titles would you add to this list?

Muhammad Ali: The People's Champion

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Here at Teach Mentor Texts we are always looking for more ways to support teachers! We've found that teachers seem to be constantly on the lookout for great nonfiction. We know we are! To help with this undying quest for outstanding non-fiction, we are excited to participate in Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and The Nonfiction Detectives. Every Wednesday, you'll find a non-fiction review here - although it may not always be a picture book review. Please visit Kid Lit Frenzy and The Nonfiction Detectives to see what non-fiction others have to share, too. 

Title: Muhammad Ali: The People's Champion

Author: Walter Dean Myers

Illustrator: Alix Delinois

Publisher: Collins

Publication Date: December, 2009

Genre/Format: Biography/Picture Book

Goodreads Summary: "I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me."

     He was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky. His very first boxing coach, former police officer Joe Martin, told him, "You better learn how to fight before you start challenging people." Once considered the underdog, Cassius, later known as Muhammad Ali, would eventually win the title of heavyweight champion of the world. Acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers recounts the champ's most famous fights and examines the depth and complexity of the larger-than-life legend Muhammad Ali. The bold, vibrant art of Alix Delinois reflects the beauty and power of the man who could "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
What I Think: Muhammad Ali's story is more than just about boxing. It is about civil rights, religion, the Vietnam War, and Parkinson's disease. 

     Muhammad Ali was a nontraditional boxer and a person that beat his own drum. Walter Dean Myers makes sure to include many different quotes throughout to show the reader not only his personality but how others perceived him. 

     I loved the illustrations in this book. They were true pieces of artwork. Very colorful, bold and beautiful. I did feel that sometimes the artist focused more on the political issues for his illustrations instead of Muhammad's story. For example, there is a page where Muhammad was winning championships and there is one line about black people not being able to get into places and the illustration is of picketers and police with attack dogs. It just didn't seem to fit. I that the art and prose had connected more without, but I don't think it takes away too much from the book. 

     I am not quite interested in reading Myers's biography about Muhammad Ali because I know that there is much more to learn.

Read Together: Grades 2 to 8

Read Alone: Grades 3 to 5

Read With: The Greatest Muhammad Ali by Walter Dean Myers, Nonfiction books about Muhammad Ali, boxing, civil rights, the Olympics

Snatch of Text: "Louisville was a quiet southern town. People rode buses to get around, but a lot of young boys preferred to ride their bicycles. 

     "One night this kid cam downstairs, and he was crying. Somebody had stolen his bicycle, and of course he was very upset about that," Joe Martin, a former policeman, said. "He was only twelve years old then, and he was going to whip whoever stole his bicycle. I said, 'Well, you better learn how to fight before you start challenging people.'"

     In his spare time Joe Martin taught kids how to box. Soon, Cassius became a student." (p. 5)

Mentor Text for: Text Features, Making Connections, Primary Sources

Writing Prompts: What is something that Muhammad Ali did that shows that he is brave and deserves to be called The People's Champion?

Topics Covered: Civil Rights, Boxing, Olympics, Race, Religion- Islam, Supreme Court, Africa, Parkinson's Disease

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The Ticky-Tacky Doll and The Kissing Hand

This little guy goes to kindergarten today! I'm so excited for him! It's an awesome feeling to think that he was my little baby and now he's five and he's going to school. He just seems like such a little person now that he'll be a student. I can't wait to watch him grow and learn this year! We've read two perfect back-to-school books that I want to share with you!

Title: The Ticky-Tacky Doll 
Author: Cynthia Rylant 
Illustrator: Harvey Stevenson 
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books 
Publication Date: August 2002 
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: The ticky-tacky doll has been one little girl's best friend ever since Grandmama sewed it for her. They do everything together--eat, sleep, play, even dream.
Then school starts, and for the first time the little girl has to leave her beloved companion behind at home. Without the ticky-tacky doll by her side, she grows more sad-eyed and lonely each day.Luckily, Grandmama knows just what to do...
What I Think: I know I recognized this title and I'm sure I had read it before, but I didn't remember much about it until I read it last week. Yesterday, I took my son to kindergarten orientation. We met his teacher and put away all of his school supplies. It was actually a fun experience being a parent as opposed to a student or a teacher after all these years. I have to say I was choked up a few times but I did not shed any real tears. As his mom, I know how articulate and how much of a chatterbox my kiddo can be, but I also know how easily he clams up with new people or new situations. Once he warms up, he's okay, but he usually does get shy. Before going to school, we read this book and I gave him two new blankets that I crocheted for him. He loves crocheted blankets and sleeps with them. He calls them "eehee" which is what my husband called his blanket when he was young. I made him a blanket and then I made him a mini-eehee that he could put in his pocket or in his backpack. He loved it. I'm fairly confident he won't have the same experience that the girl in this book does, but I love that through books, we can recognize the fact that new experiences can be scary and hard sometimes. By giving him his little eehee, I hope it's like giving Dumbo his feather. He doesn't need it and he'll be fine without it, but I showed him how much I care and that I will be thinking about him. It's hard to really show him that I will be thinking of him in a concrete way - but this does just that. It ties him to home and his family.
     Building a rapport and developing a community in a classroom or a school is crucial. I know teachers work hard towards this but I'm realistic about the fact that kids in a classroom are still one of many and that the love they feel from home is different from the caring they feel from school. I love this book because it does acknowledge the feelings kids might be feeling knowing they are away from home. This book brings these feelings to the forefront and gives us an opportunity to talk about them and discuss how to deal with them.

Read Together: Pre-K - 3 

Read Alone: 2 - 5 

Read With: The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, Pete the Cat and His School Shoes by Eric Litwin, Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell

Snatch of Text:  
"Once there was a little girl who owned a ticky-tacky
doll. It was ticky, her mother said, because Grandmama
had made it from sewing scraps. And it was tacky
because pieces of cloth hung from it like soft bits of hair."
Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Visualizing 

Writing Strategies to Practice: Personal Narrative, Descriptive, Imagery

Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when someone or something helped you feel brave.

Topics Covered: Family, New Experiences, School, Fear, Courage

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Title: The Kissing Hand  

Author: Audrey Penn 

Illustrator: Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak 

Publisher: Tanglewood Press 

Publication Date: January 1993 

Genre/Format: Fiction/ Picture Book 

GoodReads Summary: School is starting in the forest, but Chester Raccoon does not want to go. To help ease Chester's fears, Mrs. Raccoon shares a family secret called the Kissing Hand to give him the reassurance of her love any time his world feels a little scary. Since its first publication in 1993, this heartwarming book has become a children's classic that has touched the lives of millions of children and their parents, especially at times of separation, whether starting school, entering daycare, or going to camp. It is widely used by kindergarten teachers on the first day of school. Stickers at the back will help children and their parents keep their Kissing Hand alive. 

What I Think: Last year, I challenged Kellee to read and review some of my favorite picture books and The Kissing Hand was among my all-time favorites. While I adore The Ticky-Tacky Doll, it is a different kind of story. The Kissing Hand focuses on going to school for the first time and about leaving home and being away from parents. It's a little bit more general than The Ticky-Tacky Doll, even though it's along the same lines. It also tugs the heartstrings of kids and adults alike. Last night, my husband and I gave Peanut his own copy. We had each written letters to him on the cover pages of the book. We told him how proud of him we are and how excited we are to hear about how great school is for him. As I was reading my letter to him, I saw that he had covered his face with his blanket. I stopped reading and had to ask him if he was okay. He said he was sad because it was so nice and then he started crying. He reminds me completely of me. He's a very a sensitive and really sweet kid. I'm so happy for this book because it lets my peanut see that others might feel the same way, that it's okay, and then gives him a way to feel okay about it. Again, it makes the idea of love, which is abstract, into something more concrete. It also helps me, as his mom, feel better knowing that he has a way to know that I'm thinking about him even when we are are miles apart. 

Read Together: Pre-K - 3 

Read Alone: 2 - 5 

Read With: The Ticky Tacky Doll by Cynthia Rylant, Pete the Cat and His School Shoes by Eric Litwin, Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell

Snatch of Text:  

     "Mrs. Raccoon took Chester by the hand

and nuzzled him on the ear.

     'Sometimes we all have to do things we

don't want to do, 'she told him gently. Even

if they seem strange and scary at first. But you

will love school once you start.'"

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Visualizing

Writing Strategies to Practice: Personal Narrative 

Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you had to try something new or do something you were scared of.  

Topics Covered: Family, New Experiences, School, Fear, Courage

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 08/27/12

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA! 

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!

After doing the meme for a couple of weeks, we realized this would be a fun meme to start up with a kidlit focus - anyone reading and reviewing books in children's literature - it can be picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, you name it in the world of kidlit and it's in! We have loved being a part of this meme and we hope you do too!  We encourage everyone participating to go and visit the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and to comment on as many posts as you can. We love talking books and believe in sharing and discussing what we're reading. We hope you join us!

Last Week's Book Adventures:

Jen Says: It was a mediocre reading week for me. I did finish both of my audiobooks: Hattie Big Sky and Stupid Fast. I was excited to finish both of them and then I did start Airborn by Kenneth Oppel,  which comes highly recommended by Kellee. I did start to reread The One and Only Ivan and I have read bits of the other books I am working on...I just haven't had time to sit and really get into a book. Things have just been super busy! It's definitely that time of year!

Kellee Says: This week was a bit better. I am still in a bit of a slump, but reading is becoming a part of my life again as I get back into the swing of teaching, my extra preps, my continuing role of a mentor for the two other teachers in my department, and my new role as department head. This week I was able to finish My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer by Jennifer Gennari and Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel. I really enjoyed them both and they will both be reviewed at some point soon. 

Reviewed Last Week:

   

Just click on any picture above to go read the review

Upcoming Book Adventures: 

Jen Says: I will definitely be rereading Ivan and then focusing on the professional books I have going. In the car, I'll keep listening to Airborn. It's fairly long so I'm not sure I'll make it to another audiobook this week. Can you believe I still have Fortune Wookiee? I have so many other books to read before I want to let myself crack it open. I can already feel it's going to be a busy week but I'm going to get to it sooner than later.

Today, I'm off to kindergarten orientation with my Peanut! Then he starts school officially on Tuesday. I'm so excited for him. We'll be reading The Kissing Hand and The Ticky Tacky Doll. Two of my favorite back-to-school read alouds, especially with my baby going to school!

Kellee Says: I hope to push myself a bit more this week and get through 3 books. I am starting The Scorpio Races on audiobook and I hope to get to Ginny Rorby's Dolphin Sky and Scott Nash's The High Skies Adventure of Blue Jay the Pirate. We'll see how it goes!

This Week's Reviews:

      

Check back throughout the week to hear about these books. 

So, what are you reading this week? 

Please link up below and don't forget to check out other blogs to see what they are reading!

and

I Love You, THE and END!

It's been two weeks since I shared how our amazing summer of Teachers Write is not actually coming to an end. For me, the summer is over, I've been back at school all week. Days of waking up and crawling into my laundry room with time enough to write with nowhere to really be are gone (for now) but the writing continues. I haven't been able to keep up with writing daily but I've found time here and there to keep writing and plugging away on my work in progress.

Yesterday, I had intended to write a sentimental post about the passing of dear Ivan. I have been so sad all week and my ideas about what I want to say about Ivan and his story have been simmering in my head. There's definitely a blog post to be written, but when I got home from having coffee with a friend and from complaining to her that I have so much to do, I realized taking time to work on my book and try to finish it was what really needed to be done. I knew I would feel awesome if I could just finish it!

The house was quiet and I thought about sitting at my kitchen table to write...but then I realized the laundry room was where I needed to be. My little stool where I had rested my laptop all summer was still there. My fleece blanket sat atop the dryer, just waiting for me, too. It took two seconds to be all set up and ready to go. I closed the door and told myself it was time. I was determined to finish.

There was a part where I felt stuck. I sat there and started at the page, knowing it was so close to the end. Knowing I didn't want to give up. I did what I have been doing all summer...I just wrote something. I have fully accepted that a first draft's job is just to be. I'm cool with it maybe not being exactly what I want. I know I can go back. It's a freeing feeling! 

I got chills when I go to the very end. I wrote it and then went back and made a few changes. I moved a few sentences around and reread it. I was excited trying to imagine how a reader might be feeling when he or she gets to the end. I hope it's as goose-bump-inducing for them as it was for me. 

And then I got to type this:

THE and END are pretty awesome words right now. Of course, I know it's not the end AT ALL! It kind of feels like it's the beginning all over again actually. It's the beginning of revision! Later today, I'll print all 182 pages of my first draft. I'll clip it all together and put it in an envelope. I'll write: Do not open until Sunday, October 7th, 2012. And then I'll tuck it onto a bookshelf next to my bed. 

Not only is it the beginning of revision for this book, it's also the beginning of another work in progress. I have a few stories that have been rolling around in my head and I think I know which one is up next. I've decided to give Scrivener a try. Starting a new WIP seems like the right time to start with my Scrivener trial. I'm very excited to see what it can do!

I'm thrilled to be able to experience what it's like to get to the end of a first draft of an entire book. It's truly exhilarating. I feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. I'd love to hear how you are doing with your writing! Are you still writing? Do you plan to keep writing and how might it be different during the school year. How do you feel when you finish a draft? And do you look forward to revising? (I have a feeling revising might be more work than getting the first draft written...) Thanks for stopping by and sharing!

Girl Parts

Title: Girl Parts 
Author: John M. Cusick  
Publisher: Candlewick Press 
Publication Date: August 2010 
Genre/Format: Science Fiction/Novel 
GoodReads Summary: David and Charlie are opposites. David has a million friends, online and off. Charlie is a soulful outsider, off the grid completely. But neither feels close to anybody. When David’s parents present him with a hot Companion bot designed to encourage healthy bonds and treat his “dissociative disorder,” he can’t get enough of luscious redheaded Rose — and he can’t get it soon. Companions come with strict intimacy protocols, and whenever he tries anything, David gets an electric shock. Parted from the boy she was built to love, Rose turns to Charlie, who finds he can open up, knowing Rose isn’t real. With Charlie’s help, the ideal “companion” is about to become her own best friend. In a stunning and hilarious debut, John Cusick takes rollicking aim at internet culture and our craving for meaningful connection in an uberconnected world.  
What I Think: This book had me intrigued when I found it was about a near-future world where kids' relationships are so different because of the heightened use of technology. It's amazing to think of how different the world is now from when I was a kid or from when my parents were kids. I try to remind myself continually how kids lack a perspective of how life was like without technology. I didn't have a computer in my house until I was in at least junior high but I did have a computer through high school and college. Now, my husband and I both have laptops and iPads. Our kids love the iPads and are able to navigate them as easily as we are. Even my two year old can push the button to light up the iPad and then swipe to unlock the screen, swipe to find the app he wants, and figure out how to get into a game or show without any help. It's amazing. He has totally tried to use the television or the laptop screen as a touch screen. It's so cute to watch but also a reminder of how much his mind already thinks in the most current technological way.
     In this near-future world, kids who are so entrenched in online relationships and technology are prescribed companions. These companions are basically droids or robots that help them develop a healthy human to "human" relationship. The book tells two stories and how the interact and mesh together. I would recommend this to high school students and especially in a class that looks closely at relationships or technology. I can only imagine the discussions that would ensue!
Read Together: Grades 8 - 12 
Read Alone: Grades 8 - 12 
Read With: So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, Unwind by Neal Shusterman  
Snatch of Text:  
"Even before Nora and the power died, Charlie's and David's lives were mixed up together like pigments on a palette." p. 1

"Charlie Nuvola was weird. He looked weird; he acted weird; he was interested in weird things. Worst of all, he didn't seem to know or care that everyone else thought he was weird." p. 3

"'My name is Dr. Roger. some of you have met with me already, and I hope to meet with each of you in time. For now, though, one question: how are you today?'
Silence.
'No, I mean it: how are you today?'
The students looked left and right uncertainly.
'Tell me. How are you?'
Twelve hundred voices said, 'Fine.'
'That's the easy answer,' said Dr. Roger. 'But I want you to reach for the hard answer, which is how you really feel, down inside.'" p. 52
Mentor Text For: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Personal Narrative, Expository, Persuasive
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you felt you were misunderstood. Research and write about how technology is a part of our lives now. How does technology change how we interact with each other? Write about why you think technology is useful/important.
Topics Covered: Relationships, Friendship, Love, Family, Self-Esteem, Technology, Robots/Droids

I *heart* It: