Activities! A Bird House! A Sand Castle! A Fish Bowl! And... A Parade!
The Stuart J. Murphy Activities Newsletter comes out every other Wednesday, filled with selections from a vast and wonderful archive of Early Math & Early Childhood Ed activities.
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Hello Everybody!
Are you on Instagram? I am! And lately I have been experimenting with short videos. Check them out!
The week’s featured I See I Learn story is Left, Right, Emma! (learning left and right). This is one of my favorite stories because it’s about Grandparents’ Day, one of my favorite holidays! Emma is going to lead the band in the parade so she has to know her left and from her right. Pickle, Emma’s wonderful green bulldog, helps her practice!
Do you know your left from your right? Scroll down for a FREE poster!
This week’s three featured MathStart stories are:
A House For Birdie (understanding capacity - I can’t wait for the Spring migration!)
Super Sand Castle Saturday / Sábado de Súper Castillos (Measuring / Medir - And after all the birds come back, it’s time for the beach!) *Scroll down for the video in Spanish.
Room for Ripley (capacity — Ripley is one lucky little fishy!)
Your friend,
Stuart
* fyi, The New America Foundation recently posted a collection of articles on the work of the US Department of Education.
Mathstart is a series of 63 storybooks organized into three levels for Pre-K through Grade 4. Each story teaches a different mathematical skill.
You can buy individual books, sets by level, or a complete library! Here is list of where to find MathStart books!
• Level 1, Pre-K/ Kindergarten:
A House for Birdie (understanding capacity)
Poor little Birdie! He doesn't have a house to protect him from the wind and rain. So his buddies — Spike, Queenie, Goldie, and Fidget, who range in shape from tall, thin, and narrow to short, fat and wide—decide to help him find one.They fly all over the neighborhood, but each house they come to is either too tall, too wide, too fat or too short for Birdie, but perfect for one of them. Just when the skies begin to cloud over and things look their bleakest, Birdie's friends pitch in to build a house that's just right for Birdie.
Capacity is an important concept in geometry.
• Level 2, Kindergarten / Grade 1:
Super Sand Castle Saturday (measuring)
Juan, Sarah and Laura are building sand castles. But which one's tallest? Juan's is only two shovels high, while Sarah's is three. Laura's moat is one big spoon deep, while Juan's is two little spoons deep. Too bad their shovels and spoons aren't the same size. But "an inch is always an inch," says Larry the Lifeguard, using a tape measure to determine the winners.
Children learn that it is helpful to use standard units of measure to make accurate comparisons.
Sábado de Súper Castillos (medir)
Juan, Sara y Laura están construyendo castillos de arena ¿Pero cuál castillo es más alto? El castillo de Juan mide tan solo dos palas de altura, mientras que el de Sara mide tres palas de altura. El foso de la Laura mide un poco más de una cuchara grande de profundidad, mientras que el foso de Juan mide dos cucharas pequeñas de profundidad. Qué lástima que sus cucharas y palas no sean del mismo tamaño. Pero “una pulgada siempre mide una pulgada”, dice Larry el salvavidas, cuando determino los ganadores usando su cinta métrica. Los niños aprenderán a usar las normas de unidades de medidas para hacer comparaciones precisas.
• Level 3, Grades 2 - 4:
Room for Ripley (capacity)
The guppy in the pet store ripples through the water as he swims, so Carlos names him Ripley. Carlos wants to buy Ripley, though first he needs to set up a fish bowl at home with a little help from big sister Ana. He pours a cup of water into the bowl, but it isn't nearly enough. Then another cup, which makes a pint. But he needs more. How many pints make a quart? How many quarts in a half-gallon? In a gallon? It sure takes a lot of water to keep a little fish happy!
Children need to understand the relationships between the various units used to measure liquid capacity.
I See I Learn is a series of 16 stories that follow the adventures of the children in Miss Cathy’s class at Ready, Set Pre-K in See-and-Learn City (see map).
Each story focuses on a different social, emotional, health & safety and cognitive skill important for success in school and in life. For Pre-K / Kindergarten.
20% off on book sets on the I See I Learn store!
Left, Right, Emma! (knowing left and right)
Emma loves to march around her house. She is excited to lead a march at school. But how will Emma know when to turn left and when to turn right?
Understanding basic directions allows young children to follow instructions, give others directions, and develop strong spatial sense.
Let’s go! Left! Right!
FREE PDF POSTER
Do you have a story or a question? Please send me an email!