Place Value
Children need to understand and apply concepts of whole numbers. Penguin Place Value provides practice with the concept of place
value. Place value helps us understand the value of a numeral (i.e. 9 has a different value in each of these numbers: 9. 90, 900, 9,000, etc.). Place value tells us if the 9 stands for nine, ninety, nine hundred, or nine thousand. Place value will also play an important role as children eventually learn how to do addition and subtraction with double- and triple-digit numbers (with and without regrouping).
Children should be given many opportunities to work with concrete examples (hands on manipulatives) before moving on to more abstract concepts. You will find several enrichment activities at the end of Penguin Place Value. Click here for additional activities and resources.
Children need to understand and apply concepts of whole numbers. Penguin Place Value provides practice with the concept of place
value. Place value helps us understand the value of a numeral (i.e. 9 has a different value in each of these numbers: 9. 90, 900, 9,000, etc.). Place value tells us if the 9 stands for nine, ninety, nine hundred, or nine thousand. Place value will also play an important role as children eventually learn how to do addition and subtraction with double- and triple-digit numbers (with and without regrouping).
Children should be given many opportunities to work with concrete examples (hands on manipulatives) before moving on to more abstract concepts. You will find several enrichment activities at the end of Penguin Place Value. Click here for additional activities and resources.
Algebraic
Concepts: Input/Output (Functions)
Riley the Robot provides children practice with the higher level algebraic concept of Input/Output or Functions. A number goes in, Riley does something to it, and another number comes out. Readers are encouraged to discover Riley's rule. Sometimes this skill is taught as missing addends and minuends.
At the end of Riley the Robot there are numerous enrichment activities to provide children extra practice identifying the “rule” for various problems. You may also find additional activities and resources by clicking here.
Riley the Robot provides children practice with the higher level algebraic concept of Input/Output or Functions. A number goes in, Riley does something to it, and another number comes out. Readers are encouraged to discover Riley's rule. Sometimes this skill is taught as missing addends and minuends.
At the end of Riley the Robot there are numerous enrichment activities to provide children extra practice identifying the “rule” for various problems. You may also find additional activities and resources by clicking here.
Number Lines
The number line is a wonderful tool for helping children strengthen their mental math skills as they actively construct mathematical meaning, number sense, and understandings of number relationships. As their math skills grow, children should be able to:
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of Number Line Fun and by clicking here.
The number line is a wonderful tool for helping children strengthen their mental math skills as they actively construct mathematical meaning, number sense, and understandings of number relationships. As their math skills grow, children should be able to:
- locate numbers on the number line
- determine if the number line is counting by ones, twos, fives, tens, etc.
- write numbers to show the value of each digit (expanded notation) … i.e. 57 = 50 + 7 (this skill will help when they eventually use the number line to solve addition/subtraction problems).
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of Number Line Fun and by clicking here.

Progression of Addition Skills
There are several skills that children need in order to be successful with addition. A firm understanding of place value is needed as is an understanding of decomposing numbers (pulling numbers apart). Providing lots of hands on experience with base ten pieces will help with this skill.
56 in base ten pieces would look like
which makes it easier to see that it is also 5 tens 6 ones.
Children also need experience using a hundreds chart, which they will get from Mason the Magician: Hundreds Chart Addition.
Included at the end of the book are several fun games to provide additional practice of these skills.. You may also click here to find additional enrichment activities and resources :
There are several skills that children need in order to be successful with addition. A firm understanding of place value is needed as is an understanding of decomposing numbers (pulling numbers apart). Providing lots of hands on experience with base ten pieces will help with this skill.
56 in base ten pieces would look like
which makes it easier to see that it is also 5 tens 6 ones.
Children also need experience using a hundreds chart, which they will get from Mason the Magician: Hundreds Chart Addition.
Included at the end of the book are several fun games to provide additional practice of these skills.. You may also click here to find additional enrichment activities and resources :
Division (Sharing Model)
Katelyn's Fair Share Picnic introduces children to division as sharing groups of food items. Research shows that the sharing division model is a relatively easy concept for young learners to grasp, partly because the language of division is familiar to them when presented as creating equal size groups. Presented in this manner, children are also able to see how division and multiplication are related. The last illustration of the book is an opportunity for children to problem solve how they would share twenty cookies now that there are five friends!
Children should be given many opportunities to work with concrete examples (hands on manipulatives) before moving on to more abstract concepts. Look at the end of Katelyn's Fair Share Picnic for a variety of enrichment activities. Don't forget to click here for even more activities and resources:
Katelyn's Fair Share Picnic introduces children to division as sharing groups of food items. Research shows that the sharing division model is a relatively easy concept for young learners to grasp, partly because the language of division is familiar to them when presented as creating equal size groups. Presented in this manner, children are also able to see how division and multiplication are related. The last illustration of the book is an opportunity for children to problem solve how they would share twenty cookies now that there are five friends!
Children should be given many opportunities to work with concrete examples (hands on manipulatives) before moving on to more abstract concepts. Look at the end of Katelyn's Fair Share Picnic for a variety of enrichment activities. Don't forget to click here for even more activities and resources:
Money
Children use a variety of skills when working with money. Not only do they need to learn the names of coins but also need to know the value of each coin. As they begin to count collections of coins they need to be able to skip count by one, five, ten, and twenty-five. Additional math skills are used when working with money; for example, when given two groups of coins to count, children can determine which group is “greater than” or “less than” the other group. They can also use their addition/subtraction skills when deciding if they have enough money to buy a specific item. If they don’t have enough money they should be asked how much more they would need. Eventually they will need to figure out how much change they would get back when purchasing an item. Opportunities to practice these skills can be found in Money Tree Mysteries: Adventures with Quarters.
Additional enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of the book and by clicking here.
Children use a variety of skills when working with money. Not only do they need to learn the names of coins but also need to know the value of each coin. As they begin to count collections of coins they need to be able to skip count by one, five, ten, and twenty-five. Additional math skills are used when working with money; for example, when given two groups of coins to count, children can determine which group is “greater than” or “less than” the other group. They can also use their addition/subtraction skills when deciding if they have enough money to buy a specific item. If they don’t have enough money they should be asked how much more they would need. Eventually they will need to figure out how much change they would get back when purchasing an item. Opportunities to practice these skills can be found in Money Tree Mysteries: Adventures with Quarters.
Additional enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of the book and by clicking here.
Even and Odd
Alien Even and Alien Odd introduces children to even and odd numbers in a fun and engaging story. Identifying even and odd numbers is an important number sense skill and will help children when they eventually work on more complex number skills such as division and prime numbers.
Additional enrichment activities can be found at the end of the book and by clicking here.
Alien Even and Alien Odd introduces children to even and odd numbers in a fun and engaging story. Identifying even and odd numbers is an important number sense skill and will help children when they eventually work on more complex number skills such as division and prime numbers.
Additional enrichment activities can be found at the end of the book and by clicking here.
Line Plot Graphs
"There's someone I'd like you to meet down at the Elma Zoo. She's a great mathematician named Kenly the Kangaroo. Along with Kenley, children will create a line plot graph of all the friendly feet they see at the zoo. Through the interactive text and engaging illustrations, children will be given opportunities to organize and interpret data on Kenley's (and their) line plots. Activities and topics are included at the end of the book to provide additional enrichment opportunities. You will definitely want to add this book to your library. It is an excellent way to integrate literacy into your math curriculum as you introduce, review, and/or reteach this important math skill.
Additional enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of the book and by clicking here.
"There's someone I'd like you to meet down at the Elma Zoo. She's a great mathematician named Kenly the Kangaroo. Along with Kenley, children will create a line plot graph of all the friendly feet they see at the zoo. Through the interactive text and engaging illustrations, children will be given opportunities to organize and interpret data on Kenley's (and their) line plots. Activities and topics are included at the end of the book to provide additional enrichment opportunities. You will definitely want to add this book to your library. It is an excellent way to integrate literacy into your math curriculum as you introduce, review, and/or reteach this important math skill.
Additional enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of the book and by clicking here.
Arrays
"Matthew the chef loves to bake cookies, candies, pies and cakes." Come join Matthew on his baking adventure and learn all about arrays. An array is an arrangement of objects, pictures, or numbers in columns and rows. Arrays are useful representations of repeated addition and multiplication equations.
Additional enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of the book by clicking here.
"Matthew the chef loves to bake cookies, candies, pies and cakes." Come join Matthew on his baking adventure and learn all about arrays. An array is an arrangement of objects, pictures, or numbers in columns and rows. Arrays are useful representations of repeated addition and multiplication equations.
Additional enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of the book by clicking here.
Fire Safety
“Firefighter Gary came to our school to talk to our class about fire safety rules.” Join our class as Firefighter Gary shares with us how to prevent fires and what to do in case of a fire.
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of Firefighter Gary's Fire Safety Rules and by clicking here.
“Firefighter Gary came to our school to talk to our class about fire safety rules.” Join our class as Firefighter Gary shares with us how to prevent fires and what to do in case of a fire.
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of Firefighter Gary's Fire Safety Rules and by clicking here.
Fractions
Fractions are formed when a whole is divided into equal parts. Children need time to explore and manipulate objects to truly gain an understanding about fractions. Using objects that children are familiar with will aid in their understanding. Quilt blocks make a great visual for children to use to identify fractions. From My Quilted Heart to Yours (Book 2) provides directions on the blocks and quilts used in Grandma’s Quilts.
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of Grandma's Quilts and by clicking here.
Fractions are formed when a whole is divided into equal parts. Children need time to explore and manipulate objects to truly gain an understanding about fractions. Using objects that children are familiar with will aid in their understanding. Quilt blocks make a great visual for children to use to identify fractions. From My Quilted Heart to Yours (Book 2) provides directions on the blocks and quilts used in Grandma’s Quilts.
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of Grandma's Quilts and by clicking here.
3D Shapes
Learning about 3D shapes is a great opportunity for a variety of hands-on activities. A great place to begin is by looking at real life examples of 3D shapes. As you discuss 3D shapes and their attributes it is important to use the actual names of each shape (i.e. cube rather than box) as well as other key vocabulary words including surface, curved, flat, face, corner, vertex, vertices, and edge.
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of Samantha's Search and by clicking here.
Learning about 3D shapes is a great opportunity for a variety of hands-on activities. A great place to begin is by looking at real life examples of 3D shapes. As you discuss 3D shapes and their attributes it is important to use the actual names of each shape (i.e. cube rather than box) as well as other key vocabulary words including surface, curved, flat, face, corner, vertex, vertices, and edge.
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of Samantha's Search and by clicking here.
Place Value and Expanded Notation
“More Penguin Place Value” is a sequel to the popular children’s book, “Penguin Place Value.” This delightful book provides opportunities for children to practice their place value skills with hundreds, tens, and ones. They will also be introduced to expanded notation form and number words. Children will enjoy reading the further adventures of this cute penguin family that they were introduced to in “Penguin Place Value.” The rhythmical text and charming illustrations, along with the interactive nature of the story, will keep young learners engaged. Suggested learning activities, included at the end of the book, provide further practice of this important skill..
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of More Penguin Place Value and by clicking here.
“More Penguin Place Value” is a sequel to the popular children’s book, “Penguin Place Value.” This delightful book provides opportunities for children to practice their place value skills with hundreds, tens, and ones. They will also be introduced to expanded notation form and number words. Children will enjoy reading the further adventures of this cute penguin family that they were introduced to in “Penguin Place Value.” The rhythmical text and charming illustrations, along with the interactive nature of the story, will keep young learners engaged. Suggested learning activities, included at the end of the book, provide further practice of this important skill..
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of More Penguin Place Value and by clicking here.
Multiplication With Equal Groups
Daniel's Day of Multiplication is a great introduction to multiplication using equal groups. Children need to internalize what multiplication means before memorizing facts. It is important that they understand about the reciprocal relationship between multiplication & division, equal groups & equal shares (Katelyn’s Fair Share Picnic introduces children to division through fair shares), and repeated addition & skip counting.
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of Daniel's Day of Multiplication and by clicking here.
Daniel's Day of Multiplication is a great introduction to multiplication using equal groups. Children need to internalize what multiplication means before memorizing facts. It is important that they understand about the reciprocal relationship between multiplication & division, equal groups & equal shares (Katelyn’s Fair Share Picnic introduces children to division through fair shares), and repeated addition & skip counting.
Enrichment activities and resources can be found at the end of Daniel's Day of Multiplication and by clicking here.
Telling Time to the Hour and Half Hour
Do you remember the rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock and the cute little mouse who went up the clock? Well she’s back to help children learn how to tell time. Children will enjoy learning to tell time to the hour and the half-hour as the little mouse takes them around to some of her favorite clocks. At the end of the book you will find additional activities that you can do to enrich their telling time skills. You may also click here for additional resources.
Do you remember the rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock and the cute little mouse who went up the clock? Well she’s back to help children learn how to tell time. Children will enjoy learning to tell time to the hour and the half-hour as the little mouse takes them around to some of her favorite clocks. At the end of the book you will find additional activities that you can do to enrich their telling time skills. You may also click here for additional resources.
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