Subtraction Action

  

Author/ Illustrator:  Loreen Leedy                    
http://www.loreenleedy.com/

About the Author:

Loreen Leedy was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1959. She majored in art in college but didn't know what kind of artist to be, instead she made polymer clay jewelry and chess sets and sold them at craft shows. The pins, earrings, and chess pieces were whimsical pigs, cats, dragons, and other animals. At age 25 she began turning her jewelry into book characters.  She has written and illustrated about 40 picture books.

Genre: Non-Fiction
Grade Level: 1-3

                                                                                                                                                     
Synopsis:

This is a story about a teacher, Miss Prime who takes her class to the school fair, to solve problems using subtraction.  Some of the students subtract seconds to figure out if the obstacle course record had been broken.  Miss Prime used subtraction as magic and the kids loved it.

When kids use something they can relate to in their own lives, they understand it better.  Kids can learn the basis of subtraction and use it in real life situations.  They learn that subtraction really does make a difference.

Pre Reading Activity:

Questions:

What do you do if you are sharing a snack with the class and you give someone an extra snack?  How do you fix the problem of someone having an extra one? What do you call it when you take away something from something else?

Activity:

Pass out same amount of pipe cleaners to each student, give some extras to some students, then ask a student to make sure each student has the same number of pipe cleaners. If there are some students who have more they have to go to the front of the room.  Have students decide how to make everyone have the same amount using subtraction. 

Post Reading Activity:

Questions:

How did Miss Prime and her class solve some problems at the school fair?  How many students have been in an obstacle course? Is it easier to understand subtraction when it is real life examples?

Activity:

Have the students enter a race in the classroom, the teams start out with the same number of pipe cleaners,  teams must make their way through the obstacle course by stopping at each station and subtracting the number at the station from their total.  The first team to complete the obstacle course and has the correct number of cleaners left, wins!

Reflection:

I love this book for teaching children not only subtraction but that it has real life uses.  So often teachers present information to students and they do not teach the relevancy as well.  When children can see the use of what they are learning, it stays with them longer, and they get a deeper meaning.  I like the way this book introduces terms without students knowing, like the teacher's name; Miss Prime.  Prime being a math term, and vocabulary that students need to be familiar with.  The more students hear and use vocabulary, the more they will understand it.