Book 216: Grapes of Math by Greg Tang

The Grapes of Math

The Grapes of Math

by Greg Tang, illustrated by Harry Briggs

The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang is a picture book of math problems that require out of the box thinking to solve.  The title makes the book sound like it is very difficult, but it really isn’t.  The idea of the book is to help children see beyond counting by 1′s, to see patterns in math, so it could be used as early as first grade.  The illustrations by Harry Briggs are big and bright and there is only one problem per 2-page spread.  The author says the book teaches four important lessons in problem solving:  be open-minded, think strategically, save time by using skills, and organize information by identifying patterns and symmetries.  Greg Tang has more math picture books, as well.  Parents and teachers, it is probably best to read this book prior to reading it with a child or students as the solutions may be more obvious to the children and you won’t want to be outsmarted!  There are four pages of solutions explained at the end of this book.  See also my post about MATH POTATOES with more freebies.

My 3 pre-reading free items, all the same in different formats:

find patterns quickly to add zip folder with a short SMART board lesson FREE

find patterns to solve problems quickly short Power Point, FREE

find patterns quickly PDF, FREE

I would take the problems in this book a little farther by using it along with CGI  or Cognitive Guided Instruction when the students were learning to be efficient in finding solutions.  Over and over in The Grapes of Math, the author warns that counting by 1′s takes too long, and provides hints to help solve the problems.  In CGI, we tell children counting by ones is not only inefficient but is also can be inaccurate as you can lose your place when counting a larger number of items.  In Children’s Mathematics, it says:  “Children choose strategies to solve problems for a variety of reasons, and they can be encouraged to move to more mature solution strategies.”  The Grapes of Math can help some children see beyond counting by 1′s to find solutions.  This will help some students take the leap to try and use more efficient problem solving strategies.  Here is a link to all my CGI PDF’s, FREE on TpT.

Happy reading,