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Also Available: General Teacher Resources
Burton, G., Clements, D., Coburn, T., Del Grande, J., Firkins, J., Joyner, J. et al. (1992). Curriculum and evaluation standards for school mathematics, second grade book. Reston: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
This book focuses on changing ideas of how to teach mathematics to second graders. The activities suggest ways to guide all students to determine the rules, algorithms and formulas that are the foundations of mathematics. Pictures and worksheets allow for easier understanding and practice of the ideas expressed in this book.
Gravett, E. (2007). Meerkat Mail. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
This fiction book tells the story of Sunny, the meerkat, who lives in the Kalahari dessert with his family. Sunny leaves his family to explore other places meerkats live but in his adventures he discovers that the best place for him is with his family. The book contains postcards that Sunny writes to his family while on his trip. It is appropriate for ages 4-8.
Weaver, R. (1999). Meerkats. Mankato, MN: Capstone Press.
This non-fiction book relates basic information about meerkats. It includes high quality photographs and easy language suitable for ages 6-9. Also, at the end of the book there is a glossary.
Coulter, B. (March-April 2007). Sketching a path into geometry. Connect, 20(4), 16-17.
This article discusses the (free) software SketchUp and its uses in geometry lessons. The program allows students to visualize, manipulate and think about a variety of shapes while they create three-dimensional houses and landscapes, as if they were professional architects.
Ham, J. (April 1999). Playground mathematics: Playing with space. Teaching Children Mathematics, 5(8), 474-475.
This article presents activities for student in k-2, 3-4, and 5-6 that involve designing playgrounds. These activities provide students with opportunities to use measurement concepts and skills and allow them to use the design process to solve problems of space and to justify and communicate their solutions.
Jacobson, C. and Lehrer, R. (2000). Teacher appropriation and student learning of geometry through design. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 31(1), 71-88. Retrieved February 15, 2008, from http://www.jstor.org/view/00218251/ap020149/02a00050/0
This article describes a study done in four second grade classrooms in which students learned about geometry by designing a quilt. The authors and participating teachers demonstrate how best to teacher the concepts of symmetry, rotation, and patterns. A further appreciation for young students’ understatdings and misconceptions regarding these topics may also be gained from this article.
LaSaracina, B. A., & White, S. K. (February 1999). The restless rectangle and the transforming trapezoid. Teaching Children Mathematics, 5(6), 336-337, 366.
This article describes a lesson in geometry involving a group of third-grade students finding the area of a trapezoid on the basis of prior work finding the area of rectangles. Some of the students’ methods and solutions are presented.
Reynolds, A. (March 2006). A Mathematical Exploration of Grandpa’s Quilt. Teaching Children Mathematics, 12(7), 340. Retrieved February 15, 2008, from http://mynctm.org/eresources/view_media.asp?article_id=7391
This article describes a mathematics unit developed with second-grade students based on the story, Grandpa’s Quilt. The activities encourage students to make connections with a number of areas of mathematics, particularly patterns and relationships, measurement, geometry, and spatial sense, as well as, multiplication activities.
Battista, M. T. & Clements, D. H. (1998). Exploring solids and boxes: 3-D geometry. White Plains: Dale Seymour Publications.
This unit includes a series of activities as part of a third grade (or possibly fourth grade) geometry curriculum. In each activity, students are active learners and practice mathematical communication. They will also collect and analyze real data. The unit also includes supplemental materials.
Confer, C. (1994). Math by all means: Geometry, grades 1-2. Math Solutions Publications.
With a detailed 30 day unit, this book helps teachers engage students with the concepts of shapes, patterns and mathematical relationships. The unit emphasizes mathematical communication, as well as, the manipulation of shapes. Assessment tools are also included in the unit so that teachers can determine students’ understanding.
Gonsalves, P. & Kopp, J. (1995). Build it! Festival: Teacher’s guide. Berkeley: The Regents of the University of California.
This book is comprised of eight different lessons as part of a unit on geometry. Students will construct two- and three-dimensional shapes as they also construct their own understanding of geometry. Pictures and worksheets allow for easier understanding and practice of the ideas expressed in this book.
Cohen, Caron Lee. (1996). Where’s the fly? New York: Greenwillow.
A fly on a dog’s nose is viewed from a variety of perspectives. This beautifully illustrated book helps children develop an understanding of spatial relationships.
Crosbie, Michael, & Steve Rosenthal. (1993). Architecture: Shapes. Washington, DC: Preservation Press.
Shapes are featured with line drawings opposite photographs of architectural elements.
Emery C. and Whitley M. (2005). Measurement with a Pop! Retrieved December 7, 2007, from The Core Knowledge Foundation web site: http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/resrcs/lessons/05_2_MeasurementPop.pdf
In this unit, students will develop an understanding of the many uses of measurement. They will learn about linear measurement using inches and centimeters, use scales to determine weight in ounces, and measure volume in cups. Using prediction, students will record information and present their findings. This unit can be taught while studying Native Americans in conjunction with the study of Westward Expansion. However, it may also be taught independently.
Kubota-Zarivnij, K. (December 1999). How Do You Measure a Dad? Teaching Children Mathematics, 6(4), 260. Retrieved February 21, 2008 from http://my.nctm.org/eresources/article_summary.asp?from=B&uri=TCM1999-12-260a
This article describes a unit on measurement in which second grade students collected, analyzed, and interpreted data of their father’s shoes. The unit began with the book Shoes, Shoes, Shoes (Morris 1995). They used both standard and non-standard units of measurement and categorized their data using a Venn diagram. The investigation culminated in a Father’s Day gift each student made that included pictures and written description about their dad’s shoes. The article concludes with a reflection of what the unit accomplishes.
Dacey, L., Cavanagh, M., Findell, C.R., Greenes, C.E., Sheffield, L.J., & Small, M. (2003). Navigating through measurement in Prekindergarten-Grade 2. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc.
This book introduces students in grades PreK-2 to the basic ideas of comparing and ordering lengths, weights, time and capacities. It includes engaging hands-on activities that develop these ideas, along with the concepts of units and measure and the use of measurement tools. Explorations with various nonstandard and standard units lead students to generalize the measurement process as the assigning of a numerical value to an attribute of an object or event.
Carter, David A. (1988). How many bugs in a box? New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
This pop-up counting book contains a variety of boxes, each holding a specific number of bugs. It provides an introduction to the concepts of capacity and leads children to similar investigations.
McBratney, Sam. (1994) Guess how much I love you. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.
In this book, little and big nut-brown hares show their feelings for one another by jumping, running, and describing many different length measurements. Children love to make and record their own measurements, to tell parents how much the love them.
Say, Allen. 1982. The bicycle man. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Japanese children holding a sports festival in their country schoolyard are charmed by two American soldiers’ bicycle tricks. This engaging story suggests how many measurement skills are necessary in judging sports events.
Silverstein, Shel. (1964). Giraffe and a half. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
“If you had a giraffe and he stretched another half…” is how this humorous story begins. The book provides an introduction to measuring length and measuring half of a given length. Children love to make models of their bodies that are half of their real height.
Bix, C. O. & Rauzon, M. (1995). Water, Water Everywhere. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books for Children
This simple book examines all of the forms of water on earth. Stunning full-color photographs are interspersed with poetic yet informative descriptions of what water is and why it is important. The book makes the subject very accessible as it shows familiar scenes of gulls and other wildlife; children sitting on the beach, walking in the rain, and having a snowball fight; and such natural phenomena as storm clouds and geysers.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0733189. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation