Lesson #1: Addition with Quack and Count (First Grade)

Lesson provided by: Marilyn Burns;

Burns, M. (2015). Three lessons: Using storybooks to teach math.
Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lessonplan/three-lessons-using-storybooks-teach-math.
When I first read Keith Baker's wonderful Quack and Count (Harcourt Brace, 1999), I
knew it would be ideal for a first-grade lesson about ways to break numbers apart
into different addends. On my next visit to the classroom, I began our lesson by
gathering students on the rug. I showed the children the cover and read the title
and author's name.
It's about ducks! Nelson exclaimed after my introduction. Ducks go quack, he
added.
Let's find out, I responded. I opened to the first spread and read, Seven ducklings
in a row. Count those ducklings as they go. The children counted along with me as I
pointed to each of the ducklings.
I asked the children to count as I read the next rhyme first the six ducklings on
the left and then the one duckling on the right.
How many ducklings do you think there are all together? I asked. Some of the
children knew that there were seven, while others weren't so sure. Together we
counted all of them to verify that there were indeed seven!
I continued reading the rest of the book aloud and asking questions in this same
way. On each page, we counted. We then had a class discussion of the book, talking
about all the things the ducklings did.
For the second reading, I turned the focus to recording equations that would show
our work. As I read, I wrote number sentences on chart paper to keep track of the
ducklings. For example, as the children counted the six ducks on the left and one on
the right, I recorded:
7=6+1
I had the children read the number sentence aloud as I pointed to the symbols.
Then I invited them to help me write equations for the rest of the story. A nice
feature of this story is that the illustrations near the end of the book encourage
thinking about seven with more than two addends. When we finished the rereading,
the chart looked like this:

7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

6
2
5
1
4
2
3
2

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

1
5
2
6
3
3+2
4
2+2+1

I then gave the children seven Unifix cubes each and had them show the
combinations by representing each addend with a train of cubes.
Lastly, I gave the children an independent assignment. Each child chose one of the
number sentences from the chart, copied it, and illustrated it. You can draw
ducklings or any other shapes, I told them. The result: artful number sentences
from ducks to diamonds! Children ready to take on an additional challenge also
wrote and illustrated their own equations, with combinations of more than two
numbers that added up to seven.

Lesson #2: The Greedy Triangle and Friendly Polygons (Third Grade)
Lesson provided by: Sara Ritchie
Ritchie, S. (2009). The greedy triangle and friendly polygons. Retrieved
from
http://www.uleth.ca/edu/currlab/handouts/litlinkshandouts/sararitchi
e2.html.
Subjects:
Primary: Grade 3 Math Shape & Space (3D objects & 2D shapes)
Secondary: Language Arts
General Objective:
In this lesson, we will be doing revision from Grade 2 Shapes and building on that
knowledge to identify other polygons as identified in the Grade 3 Math Shapes
objectives. An attempt at linking math with literature will help to encourage problem
solving thinking in students and encourages reading in all subject areas. Through
this lesson children will be encouraged to seek out polygons in their everyday
surroundings.
Connecting to Alberta Curriclulum Standards:

General Learning Outcome:

Describe the characteristics of 3-D objects and 2-D shapes, and analyze the
relationships among them.
Materials:
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
Polygon images and names chart
Polygon images and names matching cards (for review or center)
Paper for the children to write their own polygon story
Rubric for polygon story, linked to language arts curriculum
Activity 1:
Specific Learner Expectation(s):
Students will identify 3-8 sided polygons (triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon,
hexagon, octagon) based on the number of sides they have.
Students will describe polygons in their surrounding environment.
Students will create an original composition of a changing polygon based on the
story The Greedy Triangle.
Time: 30 minutes
Prior Understandings: It would be beneficial for the students to have done some
prior review on polygons before going over this lesson.
Activity: To introduce this lesson I would do a small amount of review on the
different shapes we already know and introduce the term polygon and its
definition.
Read the story The Greedy Triangle and have the students repeat the polygon
names and count the sides as you read the story.
With the students, create a chart as to how many sides go with what name and the
polygon image.
Allow the students to go about the room and identify the different polygons that
they can see. Can you think of any other polygons that we have outside our
classroom or school? (ex: stop sign = octagon).