Monday Math Literature Volume 33

If you missed last week's post about my favorite counting books, you can check it out here!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my new favorite (and free!) penguin computer game Place The Penguins.  In that post, I talked about two of my new favorite penguin books,Penguin Chick and 365 Penguins.  Today, I want to share with you another book that I purchased at the same time that also has a penguin theme.

How Big Is a Million?

This is the story of Pipkin, a curious penguin who reminds me of a K-2 student who wants the big questions answered.  What he wants to know most of all is how big is a million? He waddles around and finds what 10, 100, 1000 look like.  He can't seem to find a million of anything despite looking all over the South Pole.  Finally, he returns home and his Mom shows him a million stars.

I love how this book incorporates penguins and math.  Because I do a series of penguin math centers and penguin problem solving with my first graders, this book is perfect for reading to them.  I love how it shoes 10, 100 and 1000.  So many of my students at the first grade level think 100 is the biggest thing there is and have many misconceptions about a million.  This book is a fun and gentle way to show them more about the numbers they will be learning in the future.  It also ties in nicely with the penguin information they are learning in science class about the way penguins huddle up to stay warm, what they eat and what the climate is like.  It is a great addition to an integrated unit on penguins.  

Looking for more penguin stuff?  Check out these two free penguin addition fact iPad apps!

Head over to volume 34 to read more about some great geometry books for grades K-2.