Here is another book I
love to read to my students in math class.
* Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links*
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* Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links*
“One
Grain of Rice” by Demi.
The theme of this particular
book is best used when teaching about doubling (lower grades) or exponents
(higher grades).
Quick Summary – Rani
convinces the king to give her 1 grain of rice, and double it every day for 30
days.
Before
reading the story, I pose the following question to the students, “Would you
rather receive $1 000 000 today, or receive one penny today and double it every
day for 30 days?” I tell the students they only have 10 seconds to decide, and
they need to write down their answer and explain why. I usually ask for a show
of hands, to see who chose what amount.
As I begin reading the story, the students don’t make a connection between the question and the story until Rani is presented with a single grain of rice. This is where I stop reading. I then ask them to make some predictions; how many grains of rice do they think Rani will receive on the 30th day and how many grains of rice will Rani have received altogether over the whole 30 days? Again, don’t give them too much time, because I guarantee you some students are going to try and do the math in their heads to figure it out! I ask a few students for their predictions, and they usually vary by quite a lot.
Before I continue reading, I get my
students to draw a 5 x 6 chart and label each box Day 1 – Day 30. I tell them
to fill in the chart as I read. Not all the days are mentioned in the story, so
I tell them not to worry and we will go back and fill them all in later. Some
students will insist on filling it in on their own, but it doesn't take long
for them to notice that the numbers get quite big, really fast!
Once the story is finished there is
a chart in the back to help you fill in the missing days. Students are always
amazed with how big the number is on the 30th day, but I remind them
that we still need to figure out how many grains of rice Rani received in
total, over the whole month.
I
have them record, under their predictions, the actual amounts. Then ask them if
they would change their initial choice of taking the $1 000 000, or the penny
doubled, every day for 30 days. Obviously, they will take the penny doubled
every day for 30 days, as it is equivalent to $10 737 418.23! The students who
chose the penny would get over 10 million, that’s over 10 times more money!
I
then tell them to go home and see if they can convince their parents to pay
them their allowance that way!
Interested in incorporating more
reading in your math class? Check out my
“Math Stories” Collection.
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