Friday 15 August 2014

A Little Summer Reading...and a Giveaway!

I love to read, and as you know I love math, so why not combine the two!!

I thoroughly enjoy sitting/lying down to read a good book. However, since having kids, it's a luxury I can rarely afford!

So when I actually find the time to read, it needs to be an easy, quick read.

When my mom retired, she passed a few of her school items on to me. One of those items was the book, Norma Normal and the Missing Math Teacher by Taralee Turner. Of course, after reading the title I was hooked!

I can't wait to read this book to my class! It was such a fun read and I have always loved integrating reading into math class.

This cleverly written book is about a teenage girl, Norma, who loves a good math problem. When her favourite math teacher ends up missing, things get a little out of hand when she takes on the job of finding her herself. Along the way she must solve math related clues (clues you could have your own students solve), in order to locate her missing math teacher.

I really enjoyed the characters and their interactions with each other. Being a teacher and dealing with teenagers the majority of my day, I can attest that the representation of teenagers in this book is spot-on! The characters will be completely relatable to your students and I bet they will find this story hilarious!

After reading this book, I was interested to learn a little more about the author. Turns out, she just happens to live in Winnipeg (where I live), and works at the university I graduated from. I also googled the book and realized that the only place you can purchase it is a bookstore in Winnipeg.

Sooooooooooooo, I got to thinking, what if I contacted her to see if she would be interested in teaming up on a giveaway, with the prize being her book? Can you guess what she said?

She said YES, and offered to provide me with 5 books!

That means that 5 lucky winners will receive their very own copy of Norma Normal and the Missing Math Teacher for their classroom, and to make things even better, one of those lucky winners will also receive my "Math Stories" resource. This resource is full of activities designed to be used with math related stories.

In order to enter you must leave me a blog post stating your favorite "math story" that you read in your classroom.

I'll go first - I love One Grain of Rice by Demi.

The giveaway will be open until Sunday night and winners will be announced on Monday.

Good luck!





Stay tuned! Tomorrow I will be posting a Q & A with the author!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

82 comments:

  1. Math Curse would be for the first day of school. I love to hear how students see math in real life.

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  2. 1 + 1 = 5 and Other Unlikely Additions - Gets kids to think creatively as a mathematician!

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  3. I'm with Misty, Jon Scieszka's Math Curse is one of my faves!
    I didn't know you were from Winnipeg, too! Small world!

    Dawn
    Apples, Owls, and Peppermint Mochas

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    1. I always love finding other Canadians in the blogging world. First time, I've run into another Winnipegger!
      Nice to meet ya!

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  4. Being a math teacher I have so many.The Math Curse is probably my favorite, followed by the Sir Cumference series.

    Kim
    Quinnessential Lessons

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  5. I love the Sir Cumference series. But I also like Measuring Penny for younger grades and measuring. :)

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  6. The Greedy Triangle is my favorite math book. Thanks for the opportunity. This book looks fantastic!!!!! :)

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  7. Grapes of Math or Math for all Seasons

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  8. Greedy Triangle is my favorite to read aloud to the class.

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  9. I am all about the Sir Circumference books with my middles, as an elementary teacher though, I loved 10 Black dots and seeing what my students could create with 10 black dots. They were so imaginative!

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  10. Being a middle school teacher I LOVED reading the series of books (lots of mini stories) by Danica McKellar because who doesn't love quirky titles like Kiss My Math and Math Doesn't Suck!

    Jennifer Smith-Sloane
    4mulaFun

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    1. Just ordered her books for my classroom. I'm excited to read them!

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    2. Great stories from an awesome series for middle schoolers!

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  11. I love the Math curse!
    Jenna

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  12. I use the Sir cumference books. The kids love them!

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  13. "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliet. I've done an entire pentominoes unit with this book.

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  14. How do I find out what number follower I am on TpT? I looked and don't see that info.

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    1. If you were already following me prior to the giveaway, just type "already following".

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  15. Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat- a quick formative assessment at the beginning of the year to assess what math concepts my students know.

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  16. The book I like to start the year with is about how math is woven into everyday life. It is called A Day with No Math, such a fun read.

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  17. If You Hopped Like a Frog by David M. Schwartz
    When I taught middle school I always began our proportions unit by reading this book to the students. Then our learning activity had the students using their own measurements in the scenarios described in the book.

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    1. Love that book! I do a similar activity with my students!

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  18. The Sir Cumference Books, every likes them. Have also read and recommended the Danica McKeller books!

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  19. For area and perimeter I love using "Spaghetti and Meatballs for All". Super cute giveaway!

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    1. Haven't heard of that one. I will add it to my list!
      Thanks for sharing Meg.

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  20. For measurement "I LOVE to use How Big is a Foot?"

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  21. I read Math Curse at the beginning of the year!

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  22. There are so many ways to incirpoiratwe math and reading. Made my wish list at Amazon. Might have to add a few more.

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    1. Greedy Triangle and Million More or Less. Some of my favorites

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  23. I love "The Greedy Triangle". Thanks for the giveaway!

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  24. One that really amazes the kids when I read it is "How Big Is A Foot?" by Rolf Mylier. This book does a great job explaining why a standard unit of measurement is so important.

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  25. I'm new to teaching 6th grade math this year. I can't wait to use some of these books.

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  26. The Warlord's Puzzle by Virginia Pilegard uses tangrams - a different side of math.

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  27. Candy Corn Contest
    Book by Patricia Reilly Giff

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  28. The Sir Circumference series and stories from Danica McKellar's books.

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  29. We read Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi. We stop and measure circles ourselves as Radius does.

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  30. Stuart Murphy Math Start books

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  31. I love the Greedy Triangle. There are so many books that can be used to teach math. I also love the Murphy Stewart series for the elementary grade students.

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  32. I like Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar :-)

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  33. This will be my first year teaching so I haven't read a math book yet. I love all the ideas that I'm getting from this blog.

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    1. Good luck! You never forget your first year!
      I wish you all the best, and hope you came across some new ideas to try this year!
      Kim

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  34. I love using 10 Black Dots with primary. I also use these fractured fairy tales from mathadventures.com. I project them using my Aver and stop to let the students solve the problems along the way. Success from grade 3-8!

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  35. Math Curse is my favorite math story!

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  36. Can You Count to a Googol? By Robert E. Wells

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  37. If I were lucky enough to win, the book would go far and wide. I'm over two mentoring programs that our church sponsors at two Title 1 schools. I would share this with each mentor to read with their mentee. Fun, fun, fun!!!

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  38. I like to use Math Curse with my students. :)

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  40. I love math! I use lots of books to teach math related concepts. I like How Big is a Blue Whale? To teach measurement, the Sir Cumference series, Sam and the Blue Ribbon Quilt to teach patterns, shapes, symmetry, etc.

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  41. I love Even Steven and Odd Todd. Great tool for teaching odd and even. Love how the illustrator makes Todd look like a hippie :)

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  42. Grandfather Tang's Story is a great read to introduce tangrams to class and learn how to make simple animal shapes.

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  43. My favorite Math story to read to children is Pigs on a Blanket by Amy Axelrod. I love the humor of this story as it teaches time.

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  44. My favorite book to read is Math Curse and my students love it!

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  45. Wow! Looks like a very cool book. Hw great it would be to share with my awesome new class as we begin new adventures in Math this year. :)

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  46. Trying this once again. Wifi keeps cutting out so to continue.... Favorite math book... tough to choose just one but love The Greedy Triangle. :)

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  47. In 2nd grade we love to read How Big is a Foot? And compare the size of our feet!

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  48. I loved reading Math Curse to my Third Graders. Moving to fourth and looking for something new in addition to this. Hope to win!

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  49. Math Curse by Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith. It helps students to see that math is all around them. Students enjoy following along, calculating the math...and then I increase the speed of reading each page to keep them on their toes. Students then create their own Math Curse page to share with other students.

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  50. One of my favorites is Flight by Robert Burleigh. It is the story of Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. I use it to introduce the 4 coordinate graphing because the book talks about how Linbergh has to use flight charts to map route once he left the visuals of the land. It's a great way to help the students see the importance of plotting the points correctly.

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  51. Any of the eight Greg Tang books are excellent: Grapes of Math, Math Appeal, etc.

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  52. Love math stories! Math Curse & Sir Cumference are two of my favs. I am always looking for others.

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  53. I love The Math Curse and The Greedy Triangle.

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  54. A Grain of Rice by Helena Pittman is a favourite of mine. There is a similar story also by the author Demi. Both are very engaging!
    Sidney

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  55. I love the Sir Cumference series for my middle school kids. They miss read aloud time from elementary school and are super engaged!

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  56. The Greedy Triangle is my favorite.

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  57. I love the Wayside School; Sideways Arithmetic books!

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  58. "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliet was a great book! What a great giveaway, Kim!

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  59. I have so many favorites, but I have to say I love "Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi." I reaad it to my 5th graders every year as part of our Pi Day celebration.

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  60. The Greedy Triangle is one of my favorites

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  61. Replies
    1. Haven't heard of this one, but the title alone has me very interested!! Thanks for sharing!

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  62. I teach First Grade so feel like I get left out of "cool" math books! BUT....this year I linked poetry and math by using the Grapes of Math! My kids LOVED it and so did I! The reading group I used it in didn't want to return it to our book room! :)

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  63. I enjoy sharing the Greg Tang books with my students.

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  64. the greedy triangle is one of my favourites.

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  65. I love to share Math Curse with my 5th graders on the first day of school.

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