Great Picture Books for Middle School Students

Math Picture Books for Middle School

Learning math concepts is so much easier and loads more fun when presented in picture book format. Your child's comprehension of mathematical concepts can speed on despite the slower pace needed to acquire computational skills (like memorizing their math facts).

Good books are an excellent way to open mathematical discussions with children. There are quite a number of good picture books that correlate with mathematical topics. 

The Power of Picture Books in Teaching Math, Science, and Social Studies: Grades PreK-8

This book's 50-plus lessons--each based on a different picture book or story--will help classroom teachers build a foundation for teaching math, science, and social studies concepts to students. Each lesson uses children's literature to make challenging, abstract concepts relevant to children's lives, inviting them to learn these concepts while responding to a story's illustrations, theme, characters, and plot. The lessons also demonstrate how teachers can use children's literature to meet national standards in math, science, and social studies.

Teaching Early Math Skills With Favorite Picture Books: Math Lessons Based on Popular Books That Connect to the Standards and Build Skills in Problem Solving and Critical Thinking

A master kindergarten teacher shares her classroom-tested, inquiry-based lessons for using picture book and concept book favorites to help young learners build skills in number sense, basic operations, patterns and algebra, geometry and spatial sense, time, money, and measurement, and more. Lessons challenge students to problem solve and use critical thinking skills. Includes interactive reproducible activities and manipulatives. For use with Grades K–1.

Picturing Math: Hands-On Activities to Connect Math With Picture Books

Do your students dread math lessons? Engage and excite them with the activities in "Picturing Math," a unique book that uses picture books to teach elementary students math concepts. Each activity in this book focuses on a popular children's book and gives teachers fun lessons that relate to the math concepts explored in the picture books. Subjects covered include problem solving, geometry, measurement, algebra, and probability. Your students will love doing math with these exciting activities! Grades 2-4.

More Suggestions

[Read More...]

Grouping, Comparing & Matching: Picture Books for Math

	Just Enough Carrots : Comparing Amounts by Stuart J. Murphy While a bunny and his mother shop in a grocery store for lunch guests, the reader may count and compare the amounts of carrots, peanuts, and worms in the grocery carts of other shoppers.
	Pair of Socks, A: Matching by Stuart J. Murphy Does a polka-dotted sock match a striped sock? Young children will learn about matching, an important early math skill, as a lonely striped sock searches the house for its mate. They will may even be inspired to practice this skill in their own sock drawers!
	Sorting by Henry Pluckrose Children can become mathematical problem solvers, learning to communicate and reason mathematically, by using the Math Counts series. The full-color photographs and simple text encourage talk about topics that are essentially mathematical.
	Stay in Line by Teddy Slater Twelve children on a class trip to the zoo have fun grouping themselves into lines of different sizes.

[Read More...]

Estimating: Picture Books for Math

Estimating: Picture Books for Math

	Betcha! Estimating (Mathstart, Level 3)  by Stuart J. Murphy What do cars, toys, people, and jelly beans have in common? They can all be estimated. Two friends try out their estimating skills and find out that estimating can have real rewards––especially when there’s a contest to enter!

Powers of Two: Picture Books for Math

The King's Chessboard by David Birch A proud king, too vain to admit what he does not know, learns a valuable lesson when he readily grants his wise man a special request.

[Read More...]

Charts & Graphs: Picture Books for Math

Charts and graphs allow children to work with and interpret data.

The Best Vacation Ever by Stuart J. Murphy This busy family needs a vacation, but they don’t know where to go. Mom and Dad want peace and quiet. Grandma wants to go somewhere hot. Fluffer wants to go somewhere that pets can go, too! The pig-tailed narrator gathers all this data and makes a chart to help determine the perfect vacation destination. Learning math is fun when a vacation is the answer!

	Charts and Graphs by Karen Bryant-Mole (Usborne Math Skills Series)
	Lemonade for Sale by Stuart J. Murphy The Elm Street Kids Club decides to sell lemonade to earn money to fix up their clubhouse and they use a graph to keep track of their sales.
	Tiger Math : Learning to Graph from a Baby Tiger by Ann Whitehead Nagda, Cindy Bickel This innovative book uses graphs to tell the story of T.J., a Siberian tiger cub born at the Denver Zoo. T.J. is orphaned when he is just a few weeks old. At first he refuses to eat his new food, and the zoo staff worries. If the baby tiger doesn't start to eat soon, he will starve. But the staff refuses to give up, and finally their love and persistence pay off: T.J. grows into a huge, beautiful, and very healthy tiger.

[Read More...]

Problem Solving: Picture Books for Math

	Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst Although Alexander and his money are quickly parted, he comes to realize all the things that can be done with a dollar.
	Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner by Amy Schwartz Although some of the things her older sister taught her at home seem a little unusual at school, other lessons help make Annabelle's first day in kindergarten a success.
	The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang This innovative and delightful book challenges children ­ and parents ­ to open their minds and solve problems in new and unexpected ways. By looking for patterns, symmetries, and familiar number combinations displayed within eye-catching pictures, math will become easier and quicker ­ and much more fun ­ than anyone could have ever imagined!
	Math Appeal: Mind Stretching Math Riddles by Greg Tang (Author), Harry Briggs (Illustrator) In this follow up to Grapes of Math, and Math for All Seasons, Greg Tangs deals with four key rules for problem solving: have an open mind, look for unusual number combinations, use multiple skills and look for patterns. With this new title, Tang continues to challenge kids with his innovative approach to math.
	Math for All Seasons by Greg Tang, Harry Briggs (Illustrator) Your challenge is to find the sumWithout counting one by oneWhy not count? It's much too slow --Adding is the way to go!Make clever groups before you start --Then add them in a way that's smart!MATH FOR ALL SEASONS will challenge every kid -- and every parent -- to open their minds and solve problems in new and unexpected ways. By looking for patterns, symmetries, and familiar number combinations within eye-catching pictures, math will become easier, quicker, and more fun than anyone could have imagined!
	Tyrannosaurus Math by Michelle Markel (Author), Doug Cushman (Illustrator)

[Read More...]