Math Fair Blues

$Math Fair Blues book cover$

Grade 1
4 skill lessons

Math

Skill lessons

The mathematics the book carries, taught directly. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1Will the Dollhouse Do Instead of the Block
2What Shape Did the Jar Leave Behind
3One Line Across, Two Triangles Out
4Count the Sides, Count the Corners, Fill In the Row

Math + reading

Math through the reading

The same book, entered through a sentence it prints. Change one word in the reading and the numbers change with it.

No math-through-reading lessons for this book yet.

Reading

Reading and language lessons

The same book read as a text. What a word means in its sentence, how a character is shown, how the writing is put together - no mathematics.

No reading and language lessons for this book yet.

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Skill lessons

4 lessons on the mathematics the book carries. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1. Will the Dollhouse Do Instead of the Block Reasoning · Testing two shapes for same size and same shape

Seth wants the yellow block Dana is using, and finds a plastic dollhouse whose bottom is the same size and shape as the block, so he prints with that instead. The chart at the back of the book says congruent means same size and same shape, which is Seth's sentence word for word. Students stamp two objects, cut one mark out and lay it on the other, running both halves of that test with their hands; then they do it again with a big jar and a little jar, where the shape half passes and the size half fails. A child who says no has to say which half failed, and holding the two halves apart is the work.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Stamp the block, then stamp the second object (5 min)
Stamp the flat face of the block once, then stamp the bottom of the plastic house beside it with the same paint. Cut nothing yet. Look at the two marks and tell your partner what you think will happen when one is laid on the other.
Word preview: size
I spotted a little plastic dollhouse.
The bottom was the same size and shape as the block.
2. Lay one mark on top of the other (5 min)
Cut out one of the two marks and lay it on the other. Slide it and turn it until it sits as well as it can. Say whether the edges finish together all the way round, and then say the two things you have just checked: same size, and same shape.
Word preview: congruent
Congruent means same size and same shape.
Find the shapes that are congruent.
3. Try a big jar against a little jar (6 min)
Stamp the mouth of the big jar and the mouth of the little jar side by side. Cut out the little mark and lay it on the big one. Say what matches and what does not, and name which of the two words this pair fails on. Keep both marks on the sheet where you can point at them.
Word preview: shape
We could use other jars too. Bigger ones.
4. Say both parts of the reason (4 min)
Take your two pairs of marks to another pair of students. For each pair say whether the two marks are congruent, and give both halves of the reason with a finger on each mark. Where a pair fails, name the half it failed on before you say anything else about it.
Word preview: congruent, size
The bottom was the same size and shape as the block.
Congruent means same size and same shape.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Stamp the block, then stamp the second object (4 min)
Stamp the flat face of the block once, then stamp the bottom of the plastic house beside it. Look at the two marks and say what you think will happen when one goes on the other.
Word preview: size
I spotted a little plastic dollhouse.
The bottom was the same size and shape as the block.
2. Lay one mark on top of the other (5 min)
Cut one mark out and lay it on the other, sliding and turning it until it sits as well as it can. Say whether the edges finish together all the way round, and name the two things you checked: same size, and same shape.
Word preview: congruent
Congruent means same size and same shape.
Find the shapes that are congruent.

Three levels

Support: Keep the block and the house pair only and leave the jars in the box. Stamp, cut and lay one mark on the other exactly as at grade, but answer one question at a time: first, do the edges finish together, and then, is it the same shape. Two marks and two questions rather than four marks and a failing pair to account for.
At Grade: Both pairs stamped, one mark of each pair cut out and laid on the other, the block pair judged congruent and the jar pair judged not, with both halves of the reason said aloud and the failing half named for the jars.
Extension: Print two marks that are the same size and the same shape but sit the other way up, or turned a quarter turn, and say whether turning one changes your answer. Then pick two objects in the room you believe will print congruent marks, say so before you ink them, and stamp them to find out whether you were right.

English learners

Laying one mark on another and watching the edges is a test a child can run, and be right about, with no English at all. The English that has to be taught is size and shape held apart, because the book's definition needs both at once and a child who hears only one of them will call the big circle and the little circle congruent. Put a card down for each half and let the child touch the card for the half being checked. Congruent is a long word and it is the book's own; say it slowly, and let it arrive after the test rather than before it. The frame to rehearse is: same size, and same shape, so they are congruent, said with a finger on each mark. Invite a child to say what happened when the marks went on top of each other in their strongest language first, sliding the mark again as they speak, then say the frame in English.

Materials

A wooden block with one flat rectangular face per pair
A small plastic house or box with a flat bottom the same size as the block's face, per pair
A shallow tray of washable paint per pair, one colour
White paper, several sheets per pair
Scissors per pair
A big jar and a little jar, both with round mouths, per pair
Word cards: congruent, size, shape

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

2. What Shape Did the Jar Leave Behind Concept · Naming the flat shape an object's face prints

This book prints its shapes rather than drawing them. A washed jelly jar dipped in red paint leaves a perfect red circle, a yellow block leaves the rectangle Seth wanted, and a candy box leaves triangles from its top and its bottom. Students ink one object at a time, stamp it once, and then look at the mark instead of the thing that made it, naming the mark with a shape word the book's own chart uses. Every mark is cut out and sorted under a name card, and each child finishes with an object in one hand and a finger on its print, saying the object first and the shape second. What the lesson is for is that the shape belongs to the mark: the jar is a jar, and what it left behind is a circle.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Print the jar and name what it left (5 min)
Press the mouth of the washed jar into the shallow paint and stamp it once in the middle of your paper. Lift it straight up and look at the mark, not at the jar. Run one finger all the way round the mark without stopping or lifting it, and say the shape name out loud as your finger goes round. Say it once more with the jar behind your back.
Word preview: circle
She washed the empty jelly jar and dipped it into the red paint.
Then she pressed it onto her shirt, Abracadabra, a perfect red circle.
2. Stamp the block and the box lid (6 min)
Stamp one flat face of the wooden block beside your circle, then stamp the triangle box lid beside that. Count the straight edges of each new mark by touching each one once, and say the shape name. Stamp each object a second time so you have two marks from the same face, and check that the second mark has as many straight edges as the first.
Word preview: rectangle, triangle
She was making a nice sharp print with a yellow block.
It was just the shape I wanted, a rectangle.
Here we use the top for green triangles and the bottom for yellow, and we all got to have another snack.
3. Sort every print under a name card (5 min)
Cut your marks apart and put each one under the name card it belongs to: circle, rectangle, triangle, square. Say what made each mark as you put it down. If a mark will not go under any of the four cards, lay it beside them and say what you can about it rather than forcing it under one.
Word preview: square
We can print lots of shapes, triangles, squares, rectangles, whatever we can find.
Here are some two dimensional shapes.
4. Say the object, then say the shape (4 min)
Hold up one object and put a finger of your other hand on the mark it made. Tell your partner the object first and the shape second: the jar made a circle. Your partner says whether your finger is on the right mark, then holds up a different object and does the same for you.
2D shapes, just like the ones on our shirts.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Print the jar and name what it left (4 min)
Press the jar's mouth into the paint and stamp it once on your paper. Lift it straight up and look at the mark rather than the jar. Run one finger all the way round the mark and say the shape name as your finger goes round.
Word preview: circle
She washed the empty jelly jar and dipped it into the red paint.
Then she pressed it onto her shirt, Abracadabra, a perfect red circle.
2. Stamp the block and the box lid (5 min)
Stamp one flat face of the block beside your circle, then the triangle box lid beside that. Touch each straight edge of each new mark once as you count it, and say the shape name for each.
Word preview: rectangle, triangle
She was making a nice sharp print with a yellow block.
It was just the shape I wanted, a rectangle.
Here we use the top for green triangles and the bottom for yellow, and we all got to have another snack.

Three levels

Support: Work with the jar and the block only, two objects and two faces. Stamp each one twice so there are four marks on the sheet, and sort those four under two name cards rather than four. The finger still travels all the way round the circle and along every straight edge of the rectangle, and the child still says which object made which mark.
At Grade: All three objects stamped twice, every mark cut out and sorted under the four name cards, the straight edges counted by touch on each mark, and both names said aloud for one object with a finger resting on its print.
Extension: Find something in the room whose flat face will print a square, say how you knew before you ink it, and stamp it to find out. Then stamp one object twice on the same spot, turned a little the second time, and say what the two marks together tell you about the face you used.

English learners

Stamping and sorting need no English at all, so a child new to the language can fill a sheet with marks and sort every one of them before saying a word. Circle, rectangle and triangle are close to their Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian words and often arrive half known. Jar, block and lid are the ordinary words that do not, and they are the ones this lesson needs for the first half of every sentence a child says. Keep the object's name and the shape's name on the desk as two cards, so a child can point twice before speaking once. The frame to rehearse is short and fixed, said with the object in one hand and a finger on the mark: the jar made a circle. Invite a child to say what their marks are in their strongest language first, touching each one, and then say the frame in English with the marks still in front of them.

Materials

An empty jar with a clean round mouth per pair
A shallow tray of washable paint per pair, one colour
White paper, several sheets per pair
A wooden block with one flat rectangular face per pair
A box or lid with one flat triangular face per pair
Four name cards per pair: circle, rectangle, triangle, square
Scissors per pair
Word cards: circle, rectangle, triangle

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

3. One Line Across, Two Triangles Out Application · Making two triangles from one square with one line

Joe draws a line across a square from one corner to the other and gets two triangles out of it, which is the book's own answer to Harry having nothing triangle-shaped to print with. Students stamp a square, dot its four corners, draw one straight line between two corners that are not next to each other, and cut. Then they count what is in their hands: two pieces, three sides and three corners on each piece, and six corners across the two where the square had four. The two triangles slide back together into the square they came out of, so the move runs in both directions and can be watched twice.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Stamp a square and dot its corners (5 min)
Stamp the square face once on your paper and cut the mark out. Put a pencil dot on each corner and count the dots aloud. Say how many sides and how many corners you are holding before anything is cut.
Word preview: square, corners
A square has four sides four corners.
2. Draw the line from one corner to the other (5 min)
Put your pencil on one dot and draw one straight line to the dot that is not next to it. One line only, and it has to finish on a dot. Say out loud where your line started and where it finished before you pick up the scissors.
Word preview: corner
She drew a line across a square from one corner to the other.
3. Cut, count and check the pieces (6 min)
Cut along your line and hold up what you have. Count the pieces. Dot the corners of each piece, count the sides and corners of each one, and then count all the corners of both pieces together. Say whether each piece is a triangle and give your counts as the reason.
Word preview: triangle
Two triangles, she said, am I a genius or what?
A triangle has three sides three corners.
4. Put the two triangles back into a square (4 min)
Slide your two pieces back together until they make the square again, then pull them apart and do it once more while your partner watches. Say what one line did and what you can undo. Then say where else in the room a triangle might be hiding inside a shape you can see from your chair.
These were hiding out all over the place.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Draw the line from one corner to the other (4 min)
Put your pencil on one dot of the paper square and draw one straight line to the dot that is not next to it. One line, finishing on a dot. Say where it started and where it finished.
Word preview: corner
She drew a line across a square from one corner to the other.
2. Cut, count and check the pieces (5 min)
Cut along your line and hold up the pieces. Count them, then count the sides and corners of each piece and all the corners of both together. Say whether each piece is a triangle and why.
Word preview: triangle
Two triangles, she said, am I a genius or what?
A triangle has three sides three corners.

Three levels

Support: Use a paper square with its four corners already dotted, and fold it corner to corner before drawing so the line has a crease to follow. Cut on the crease and count what is in your hands: two pieces, three corners each. The counting and the sliding back together stay exactly as they are at grade.
At Grade: The square stamped and cut out, four corners dotted and counted, one straight line drawn between two corners that are not next to each other, the cut made along the line, both pieces counted for sides and for corners, all six corners counted together, and the two triangles slid back into the square.
Extension: Fold and cut a second square the other way, corner to corner across the other two corners, and say whether you get the same two triangles or different ones. Then put all four of your triangles together and find every shape you can make using all four, saying how many sides each one has.

English learners

The cut is the whole lesson and it can be done, watched and copied without English. One line, corner to corner is worth teaching as a whole phrase, because every word in it is doing work: one says not two, line says straight and unbroken, and corner to corner says where both ends have to land. Corner then comes back a minute later in a second job, as the thing being counted, and hearing it twice in one lesson is useful rather than confusing if the dots are there to point at. The frame to rehearse is said with a piece in each hand: one line, two triangles, three corners each. Invite a child to say what their line did in their strongest language first, tracing it again with a finger, and then say the frame in English with both pieces held up.

Materials

An object with a flat square face per pair, or pre-cut paper squares
A shallow tray of washable paint per pair, one colour
White paper and a pencil per child
Scissors per pair
A ruler or the folded edge of a card per pair
Word cards: square, triangle, corner

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

4. Count the Sides, Count the Corners, Fill In the Row Representation · Counting the sides and corners of a printed shape

The chart at the back of the book gives each of four shapes a row, and each row carries two counts in the same order, sides first and corners second, down to zero and zero for the circle. Students build those rows from their own prints instead of reading them off the page: a pencil dot on every corner, a tick on every side, and the two counts written into a two-column row beside the print. The circle comes last, so a child who has dotted nothing and ticked nothing has to write a number for it rather than leave the box empty. At the end the rows go beside the book's four, where the square's row and the rectangle's row turn out to carry the same two numbers as each other.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Dot every corner, tick every side (5 min)
Take your triangle print and put a pencil dot on every corner, then a small tick on every side. Count the ticks aloud and then the dots aloud, touching each mark once as you count it. Say your two counts in the order the book's rows use, sides first and corners second.
Word preview: sides, corners
A triangle has three sides three corners.
2. Write your two counts in the row (6 min)
Dot and tick the square print and the rectangle print the same way. Write your two counts into that shape's row card, sides in the first column and corners in the second. Before either of you writes anything else, count your partner's dots yourself and say whether you got their number.
3. Do the circle last and write what you count (4 min)
Put your finger on the circle print and hunt for a corner to dot. Then hunt for a side to tick. Say out loud how many you found, and write that number in both columns of the circle's row rather than leaving them empty.
Word preview: zero
A circle has zero sides zero corners.
4. Hold your rows against the book's rows (5 min)
Lay your row cards in a column and listen while the book's four rows are read out. Say for each of yours whether your two counts match the book's. Then put your square row next to your rectangle row and say what you notice about the numbers, and whether the numbers on their own would let you tell which print was which.
A rectangle has four sides four corners.
A square has four sides four corners.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Dot every corner, tick every side (5 min)
Put a pencil dot on every corner of your triangle print and a tick on every side. Count the ticks aloud, then the dots, touching each mark once. Say the two counts sides first and corners second.
Word preview: sides, corners
A triangle has three sides three corners.
2. Do the circle last and write what you count (4 min)
Now put your finger on the circle print and hunt for a corner to dot, then for a side to tick. Say how many you found and write that number in both columns of its row.
Word preview: zero
A circle has zero sides zero corners.

Three levels

Support: Work with the triangle and the square only, and leave the dots and ticks on the print itself so they can be counted again. Two row cards instead of four, and a partner counts the dots back before a number is written. The circle still comes at the end, because writing a number for nothing is the part worth reaching.
At Grade: All four prints dotted and ticked, both counts written into each row card in the book's order, the circle's row filled in with a number rather than left blank, and every row checked against the book's row as it is read out.
Extension: Fill in a row for the five-sided shape on the table, dotting and ticking it the same way, and then say what a row would have to look like for a shape with one side. Then put your square row beside your rectangle row and say what someone would still have to be told in order to know which print was which, given that the two rows carry the same two numbers.

English learners

Dotting and ticking is a way of counting that leaves the count on the paper, so a teacher can see a miscount without a word being said and a child can be checked without being questioned. Sides and corners are the two words this lesson turns on and they are easy to swap; keeping the dots for corners and the ticks for sides keeps the two words apart in the mouth as well as on the page. Zero is the hard one, because many children say nothing or none rather than a number, and the book prints zero twice in the same row. The frame to rehearse is the book's own order, said while pointing first at the ticks and then at the dots: three sides, three corners. Invite a child to count the dots aloud in their strongest language first, touching each one, and then say the two-part frame in English with the row card in front of them.

Materials

Each pair's own prints from the printing lesson, or a set of paper circles, squares, rectangles and triangles
A pencil per child
A blank two-column row card per shape, headed sides and corners
A paper shape with five sides per pair, and a blank row card for it
Word cards: sides, corners, zero

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.