Measuring Penny by Loreen Leedy
Measuring Penny
Written and illustrated by Loren Leedy
Parents often ask how they can help their children at home, and ask about using worksheets. Worksheets should be used sparingly at home, but math stories can be read and discussed providing some depth and thinking skills in different math areas. This link is to a free grade one fall and spring math test, for parents and teachers, on TpT (it just has a little measurement in it). A free login and password are required, and TpT has about 10,000 free lessons (really). Parents may not understand why lessons about measurement using non-standard units at taught at school, but this book will help explain all the thinking skills involved in such activities.
Lisa’s teacher gives homework about measuring something in as many ways as possible. Lisa explores many ways to measure her dog (Penny), and it seems to me her approach is gifted and talented! I have a MS in the area of gifted and talented, and what Lisa does would certainly be an excellent project. Mr. Jayson, Lisa’s teacher, is even surprised by the quality of her work in this story.
Lisa measures Penny’s weight in relation to other dogs using a seesaw as a scale. She finds out how many minutes per day she spends brushing Penny’s fur. This and more data is entered into Lisa’s impressive charts. The artwork is fun, especially for children who like dogs. Lisa and Penny make learning math concepts fun. This is the type of math story that helps students in math class, whether read at home or at school.
Often children do not measure much at home, and it helps them in school if incorporated in some fun or necessary ways. Children who haven’t used rulers at home will have more difficulty than children who have used such tools at home. Link to a second grade math site full of links to online activities in several areas of math.
Happy reading! You will be impressed with this book.
Carolyn
