Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats

Jim Arnosky
Genre: Informational
Grades: K-3

Have you ever wondered exactly where animals live?  Have you ever wanted to explore their habitats?  With Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats you can!  Come with Crinkleroot, the expert, and see what you can find.  He will take you all over the place searching high and low for creatures.

Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats stars Crinkleroot, a fun-loving quirky, jeep-driving animal expert.  Crinkleroot knows exactly where to look and with his pet snake, Sassafrass, travels to wetlands, the woods, cornfields, grasslands, and deserts searching for animals.  Along the way, Crinkleroot spots over eighty different species of wildlife and shares his knowledge with the readers in this fun exploration of the environment. 

Throughout his adventures Crinkleroot challenges readers to find creatures hidden in the illustrations and offers friendly facts about the animals that live there.  Crinkleroot names all of the wildlife he finds and gives children tips for spotting animals at home.  This book is great for teaching children about animals and their habitats.  It is very interactive and the illustrations are extremely engaging.  Children will love this book because it presents the information and knowledge in a fun way.  You know this book is definitely geared towards children because of the way it is written, and the animated, but factual pictures.  The Santa-like, lumberjack farmer makes learning fun, and is sure to win over the hearts of children everywhere.

Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats is a kid-friendly informational book I would have in my classroom library.  This book reads like a story, the information in it is easy to digest, and the language used can be understood by a kindergartener or a first grader.  This book would be used to familiarize children with different animals and their habitats.  Children will learn to identify animals they will see when they travel to different locations.  Children’s knowledge as well as their vocabulary will increase just by reading Crinkleroot’s adventures and the places he visits.  Crinkleroot reminds me of a Jack Hannah or a Steve Erwin, this book may very well inspire children to go look for animals and explore the world.      

Rainbow Fish to the Rescue!

Rainbow Fish to the Rescue!

Written and illustrated by Marcus PFister

Genre: Fantasy 

Grade Level- K- Second

Have you ever felt different then everyone else? Have you ever been ignored by others and not included? All of the fish in this school have one beautiful scale except one stripped fish. The other fish don't want to play with this fish because he is different from them. The school of fish surprise the striped fish when they come to his rescue.

    Rainbow Fish to the Rescue takes place in the deep blue sea. A school of fish are best friends and they do everything together. They all have one sparkling silver scale on their bodies and that they all adore. One day a striped fish without a special scale asks to play with them.The fish reject him because he is different from them. The striped fish is sad and swims away only to come face to face with a shark. The school of fish reach safety, but the Rainbow fish risks his life to save the lone fish. The shark grows tired and gives up on trying to eat the fish and swims away. All of the fish are so happy to be alive and well that they welcome the striped fish into their school. 

    PFister's Rainbow Fish to the Rescue is a good children's book because it is well written and has beautiful illustrations. The sparkling silver scales actually shine and glitter in this book which adds a nice touch. The illustrations depict the beautiful ocean that correlates perfectly with the story. The story itself has a nice message that all of us should act like the rainbow fish did and stand up for others and help them. The story is easy to read and comprehend. 

    Rainbow Fish to the Rescue is a children's fantasy story. This story is about a school of fish that are all best friends and have a lot of fun. When a fish that is different  from the school and he wants to join their group they are quick to reject him. Children will relate to this story because we all know what it feels like to be rejected. This story is fantasy because the fish in this story have human characteristics. For example the fish in this book talk, play games, have emotions, etc. The theme of this story is to treat others the way you would want to be treated. The message this story sends out to children is to include everyone and to go out of your way to be a good friend. 

    I would use this book to educate my students about bullying. This would be a perfect story to read before recess so the students will be kind to each other. After I read this story to the class I could have a class discussion about how the striped fish felt when no one wanted to play with him. I could ask my students how they think others should be treated. The rainbow fish is a good role model for students because he saves the striped fish from the shark and encourages his friends to help. The fish all become friends in the end and everyone is happy. 

Links to the Frameworks:

Grade 1- 1.   Ask and answer questions about key details in a text

Grade 1-2. Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

Grade 1-3. Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

Grade 1-7. Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

Eric Carle Museum

Eric Carle Museum

Fiction children’s books

            Over the weekend I went to the Eric Carle Museum where I had the chance to see two different illustrators work, as well as having had the chance to talk to a children’s book author and illustrator. I saw an exhibit of artwork done by Eric Carle featuring all different types of art he had done while growing up. A lot of the different styles of artwork displayed weren’t his usual tissue paper artwork; some were carvings that he had done and then stamped onto paper. Others pieces of art were made of tinfoil that he had bent into different shapes and painted. Some of the tissue paper work the museum had on display were pieces of work that haven’t been seen in his books. Only a couple famous illustrations from his books were featured in the museum from books such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I also got to see paintings done by Lucy Cousins who is the illustrator of Maisy the mouse; a children’s book character and television show is based off of the books. Some of her work that was shown in the exhibit done by Lucy Cousins were all different stages of the artwork she had done. There were rough drafts of sketches and paints as Lucy Cousins tried to work through ideas of how the character was going to look to a whole variety of different paintings of her character. It was really neat to see the whole process Lucy Cousins when through to come up with the final painting. After looking at all the paintings I went to listen to a story reading. At the read aloud an author/illustrator Iza Trapani read one of the books she had created and talked about how the book was made. She answered many questions and signed autographs afterwards. I thought it was really interesting to hear about the whole process she went through in order to write a book. I think it was also neat hearing about how growing up Iza Trapani wanted to be a children’s book author, but it took her a long time to get into writing the stories herself.

            My visit to the Eric Carle Museum was extremely fascinating. Being able to have the chance to actually talk to a children’s book author/illustrator was really helpful. I learned about all the different stages an author went through to publish a story. I discovered that there are many rough draft of just one picture in a story. I learned that it takes much longer to do the illustrations of a story than it is to actually write the story. I heard about how illustrators sometimes struggle when doing pictures for a book they didn’t write because they are trying to capture someone else’s ideas and two people might view a book differently. I found it very intriguing to see the connection made between authors and illustrators and how they work together to make a story come alive. I would love to someday bring my students to the museum. I feel as though giving students the chance to see famous artwork they’ve seen in a story is an experience they’ll never forget. I would have the field trip be a conclusion to a unit in which the students learn about literature and artwork and how they are all connected. I would have students write their own stories and illustrate them. I would possibly even have one student write the story and another illustrate to experience what it’s like to try to capture someone else’s idea. At the end of the unit I’d take the students to see the work to learn what they had done to make a story come to life. I feel as though it’s an experience everyone should try to have at some point or another, whether a teacher or a student it will inspire anyone.

The Massachusetts frameworks that would apply to the Eric Carle Museum:

RL 1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting,   

or events.

RI 1.7 Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.

Storm in the Night

By: Mary Stolz

Illistrated by: Pat Cummings

Grade 4

 

                Have you ever been scared of a thunder storm? I know I have and so has Grandpa, Thomas and Thomas’ beloved cat Ringo. In the Realistic Fiction story Storm In The Night by Mary Stolz we get a glimpse into a night when a big storm hit, and all the lights went out. What is there to do when the lights go out? Grandpa decides to tell stories of when he was a young boy.

                This story starts off during a huge storm that has knocked the power out at grandpa and Thomas’ house. They are deciding what there is to do when you have no electricity; it was dark and they knew it was still too early to go to bed. Grandpa wanted to tell Thomas stories from when he was a boy. Thomas thought grandpa was too old to have ever been a boy. He decides to listen any ways and grandpa starts off by answering questions of how he looked when he was Thomas’ age.

                Grandpa always told Thomas stories and Thomas loved to listen. This particular story that grandpa decided to tell during the storm was about his dog and how much his dog hated storms. We found out that grandpa needed to hide under the furniture with his dog to ensure the dog wasn’t to be more scared then he always was. He remembered a time when there was a huge storm after his dog went outside. Grandpa went and his under his bed once the storm had started only to remember his dog was still outside.

                He raced around the house trying to find his parents; he had forgotten that they went out for a while. As soon as he raced outside to find his beloved dog who was so scared of storms a large black figured approached him. It was his neighbor carrying his dog. He knew that when they were together his dog and him they were less scared. When the story was finished the story had stopped and Thomas realized that if his grandfather and cat were not with him during the storm he may have been frightened just like his grandfather and his dog.

                In my opinion this is an amazing book for students. The way it is written uses a lot of descriptive writing which makes the story come to life. This book teaches the students new and more interesting and creative ways to write. This will help them realize how interesting their writing can become if they were to write as Mary Stolz did. Also the pictures in this book can tell the story for themselves. These are very detailed and they follow the story beautifully also ensuring the story comes to life. The story is so realistic and students will be able to relate and feel this can happen to them. This can be a great book or students to do self to text connection due to the reality of this.  

                As a teacher I would use this book to help show new ways of writing. The amount of descriptive writing is so amazing it will open new doors for my students. I would read this book aloud to my students and while I read I would ask them to name the types of writing being used for example simile for example “Thunder like mountains blowing up.” Another way I would utilize this book would be in what sense is being used in “Thunder like mountains blowing up.” They would say we are using our sense of hearing, if we were in the story we would be hearing the thunder. This story is a story almost all children would love to listen to.

                Connections to Ma ELA Frameworks 4^th Grade

 

RL 7. Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.

        

RL 8a. Locate and analyze examples of similes and metaphors in stories, poems, folktales, and plays and explain how these literary devices enrich the text.*

 

W 3a. Write stories, poems, and scripts that use foreshadowing, similes, and/or metaphors.*

Spookley

The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin

Written by Joe Troiano

Illustrated by Susan Banta

Genre: Fantasy

Grade Level: Pre-K – First

 

Have you ever been told that you were different? Have you felt left out because you couldn’t do what everyone else was doing? In this pumpkin patch all the pumpkins are round and enjoy rolling around the field, except for one pumpkin, Spookley. Spookley is the odd pumpkin; he is square and is unable to roll around with ease like the others. That is until one night when Spookley’s flat edges come in handy and saves many of the other pumpkins in the patch.

            The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin begins in the pumpkin patch where Spookley was “hatched”. Spookley quickly notices he is different, every other pumpkin in the patch as curves, and he had edges. He wasn’t round like his friends, but he was square. Being square disabled Spookley from rolling around the patch; while all of his friends were having fun Spookley sat there watching. Then the night before Halloween a storm approached the farm, the winds were strong and snapped the vines of the pumpkins in the patch. The pumpkins whose vines gave away rolled around without control, hitting and bashing into one another. Spookley watched in fright, until the fence gave away and some of the pumpkins rolled away. Spookley was strong and he was able to move himself into the hole in the fence, which stopped any of the other pumpkins from rolling into the bay. The other pumpkins exclaimed that Spookley had saved the day. The next morning the farmer tended his crop, moving all of the pumpkins, he saw what was blocking the hole in the fence, a bruised, square Spookley. The farmer knew just then that Spookley’s seeds were special and the next year those seeds filled his patch. From then on the patch was filled with odd pumpkins, some red, others blue, some flat, triangular, and some perfectly square. At the end of the story the other notes “…maybe one day we will all discover – you can’t judge a book, or a pumpkin…by it’s cover.”

            Joe Troiano’s The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin is a good children’s book. This book is very well-written and the illustrations add to the verses throughout the story. Joe Troiano has a strong sense of the right words to get his point across at a reasonable pace and tempo for young emerging readers. The rhyming throughout the story adds to the meaning and supports children while they are reading the story. The illustrations add to the story in ways that children will be able to pick up on, Spookley’s emotions although noted in the text are conveyed more throughout the illustrations. Theses emotions are extremely relatable for each child who picks up the book The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin. Through the story children are able to conceptualize the importance of being accepting and that it is not tolerable to bully someone because they are different than you. The idea of tolerability and acceptance is extremely important to emphasize throughout childhood and even into adulthood.

            The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin is a children’s fantasy story. The story describes the setbacks of being different and how it affects an individual through the character, Spookley. Although Spookley is a pumpkin many children are able to relate to the character. When Spookley’s other pumpkin friends are rolling around having fun in the patch Spookley is sitting there watching them, this often occurs with children who are disabled and may be restrained to a wheelchair. These children have gifts and talents, but are often times taken for granted until there is a situation in which their talents can be showcased, like Spookley blocking the hole in the fence. This story is fantasy in the sense that pumpkins don’t bully each other, nor are there square, blue, or rainbow pumpkins, but the overall concept of the story is becoming more and more relevant in today’s society. The theme is one of acceptance of others who may be different and that often times being diverse is one of the best things there is.

            I would use this story in my classroom around Halloween, because of the symbolism of pumpkins and the fall atmosphere of the story. This story would also act as a reinforcer of the anti-bullying and acceptance rules in the classroom. I would probably use this book as a read aloud and then have students think about what it would be like to be a square pumpkin, or another different type of vegetable/fruit. Depending on the grade I was teaching I may have students write a couple journal entries on how they feel taking on the emotions of this object.

Links to Massachusetts ELA Frameworks:

RL 1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

RF K.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

a. Recognize and produce rhyming words.

b. Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.

W K.3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

W 1.3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

Animals Up Close: The Deer

Serge and Dominique Simon

Genre: Non-Fiction Informational

Grade Levels: 3-6

Have you ever wondered why you see deer more during a certain time of a year than you do another?  Maybe you’ve wondered about baby deer, or why it is okay for people to hunt deer more than another animals?  The book Animals Up Close: The Deer, provides readers with knowledge about bucks, does, and fawns and the life that they live in the forest.

        The book begins with a large picture on the first page; the introduction to the buck.  Even though this is an informational text, the buck is the key player in the story.  First off, the book discusses the noise that the buck makes within the forest and how other bucks know it is one of them making the noise.  The book then talks about how the buck's antlers make a statement to the other deer and other bucks.  The antlers tell them that he is strong and powerful and should not be approached.  The buck also must be able to watch the does in his group and protect them from predators, as he is the "father figure" of the family.  The buck then enters the winter season and the snow creates difficulty traveling throughout the woods.  This cold season is only for the strongest deer and bucks; it is difficult to make it through the whole season if you are a weak deer.  Later in the season, the buck loses his antlers and begins to grow a new pair.  Springtime arrives and the buck and does begin to shed, just like dogs do.  Then the fawn is then born and begins to learn how to walk along side of his mother.  By summertime, the bucks antlers have grown back and the fawn has also grown into a well functioning deer as well.  At the very end of the book, it talks about hunting and the reason why people are allowed to hunt deer is because there is an over abundance of deer in the forests.
  
       By having the book set up in the format of a story with the buck being the main 'character' so to speak,  I think that the children would like to read this book because of how it is set as a story.  It is not just a book with facts listed on each page; it gives organization to the book, which I believe would be easier to follow for the children.  The book also has a monumental amount of real life photos to help tell the story of the buck and what it faces.  The pictures are also accompanied by captions that go along with the image; giving the reader insight to what is going on in the photo.  The captions and photos makes it easier to understand elements such as how the antlers fall off and how they grow back.  They are also helpful to show the difference between what a buck is and what a doe is.  Just being able to see that bucks have antlers and doe do not does a wonder for children to help them grasp the concept easier.  Since there is text underneath the topic of the page and also text that go along with the images, I think it will excite the children because their eyes get to explore ever inch of the pages that they are reading.

The book is a non-fiction informational text which would be ideal for children to expand their knowledge on real life deer and would also be good as a resource tool for a project or paragraph on deer.  Having this book in a classroom library would be very beneficial for the students to understand what a non-fiction book consists of and that the text is true because it is an information text.  Not only would students be extending their vocabulary by reading this book, but they would also gain a lot of factual information that they can apply to their existing knowledge about deer.  Since this book would be appropriate for grade levels 3-6, they are already using books as references and doing book reports and even some form of an essay.  Not only would this book be a good addition to a class library, but the book could also be a good read aloud for an activity about how to pick out key facts out of a book an apply them to a project.  What came to my mind when reading this book was having a chart created about what the children knew about deer before reading this book.  Then once the book was read out loud, to make another chart about what the students learned after reading the book.  This would provide insight for the students about how to apply what they read to something relevant to the book.

Massachusetts English Language Arts Frameworks that could be applied to this book: 3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. 3.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language. 3.7: Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g. create mood, emphasize aspects of character or setting). 5. 2 Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

Life in the Ocean:  The Story of Oceanographer

Sylvia Earle

By: Claire A. Nivola

                   Did you know that there is more known about the planets in the solar system than the depths of our own oceans here on earth?  Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Claire A. Nivola is a biography of Sylvia Earle and how she became an oceanographer.  It is a story of determination and passion.  It gives readers a newfound appreciation of ocean life and its importance to us.

            Sylvia Earle grew up on a farm in inland New Jersey.  Since she was very young; Sylvia was an explorer.  She was very curious about the outdoors and wildlife since she was a young girl.  She began “investigating” a pong near her home; she kept a notebook to write down her observations as well as collected tadpoles and salamanders in jars.  Her interest in the ocean exploded when her family moved to Florida when she was twelve.  She began exploring the ocean and was fascinated by its creatures.  William Beebe became an inspiration to her; she read books about his dives deep into the ocean.  She wanted to explore the depths of the ocean herself.  As she grew up, Sylvia dove deeper and deeper as she explored many different waters.  She spent two weeks underwater to capture what it was like to live in the sea.  She found many similarities to the way humans live to the way creatures deep in the ocean live.  She dove deeper than anyone had before when she dove 1,250 feet to the ocean floor of Hawaii.  She wants to spread her knowledge with others and believes that we must know about the ocean in order to care about it.  Only 5 percent of the ocean has been explored; Sylvia works towards increasing this number in order to get people to take care of our oceans.

            This story is an example of a biography.  Illustrations support the text as the life of Slyvia and her adventures as an oceanographer are told.  However, I think real photographs would have done a better job in supporting the text.  Since the illustrations are not real; this might confuse readers.  Real pictures and snapshots of Sylvia would help the readers engaged and connect with this biography.  Pictures would make the text more accessible.  This is an informational text; information about whales, other ocean life, and facts about the ocean are given.   Lessons about following your dreams and doing something you love is something readers can take from this story.  Also, a lesson about the importance of keeping our oceans clean and respecting mother nature is another discussion that a teacher could have with students.  I think the language used helps grab the reader’s attention; the text is accessible and isn't overflowed with difficult terms.  The vocabulary is age appropriate for the most part.  The book is organized and goes in a chronological order from when Sylvia was a little girl to how she became an oceanographer.  Some information is a little confusing to the reader; it gives many examples of her accomplishments but doesn't give much detail on how she got to these different opportunities.

            Students should be explicitly told what a biography is and students should understand that the information is true and real.  It would be beneficial to go over any tough vocabulary before reading.  Words like “oceanographer, botanist, and biologist,” could be reviewed.  Teachers could have a discussion about investigations and encourage student connections with the story.  Perhaps students have already conducted experiments in class.  A discussion how Slyvia studied the ocean through observations and notes and how this relates to experiments students have done in class would be a way for students to connect to the text. This story would be a great way to introduce a unit on ocean life.  It would be an appropriate book to use during science.  This book would be appropriate for grades 3-6.  Teachers can work with students on making inferences.  Teachers can ask students about how they think Sylvia felt when she dove deeper and deeper into the ocean.  Teachers can ask students why they think it is important to keep our oceans clean.  This book can be used across subjects.  This book could be used during writing; students can improve on their writing by writing their own “ocean narrative.”  They could use their senses to add details and description to their writing.  I think this is a book that teachers can ask students questions but also I think it will naturally generate questions from students.  They may be interested in learning more about Sylvia or more about ocean life!  Maybe for older grades this could launch a research project.

            This book links to the ELA MA curriculum frameworks:

1.3: Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

3.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language. 

The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Fractions Book

The Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Fractions Book

Written by Jerry Pallotta and illustrated by Rob Bolster

Appropriate for grades 3+

            If you’re the type of person who enjoys mathematics, especially in real life situations this book will certainly appeal to you!  Find out through a variety of ways how fractions work and when they are present in day-to-day life.

            Jerry Pallotta uses his book The Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Fractions Book to introduce a variety of mathematical concepts to students and readers in a fun and engaging way.  Jerry begins the book with an illustration of a wrapped Hershey’s candy bar and explains that this is one or 1/1 chocolate bar, as the book progresses he demonstrates that the candy bar can be broken up into 12 equal pieces, 12/12 or twelve-twelfths.  Jerry shows students that no matter how you arrange the pieces you still have the same amount of chocolate and then moves on to the concept of what happens when you take some pieces away.  Jerry shows that if you take 1/12 away from 12/12 you’re left with 11/12 both through illustrations and a subtraction number sentence.  Next the book discusses the idea of equivalent fractions showing that one half of the candy bar is also made up of 6/12, among other examples.  Throughout the book Jerry takes “breaks” where he introduces the ideas that the book discusses through examples other than chocolate bars.  During these breaks we also learn about the history of Hershey’s chocolate!  The book tells us that the Hershey’s factory is located in farmland areas because of the high need for milk.  We also learn that the three main ingredients in Hershey’s chocolate are cocoa, milk and sugar.  The last mathematical concept that the book introduces is the idea of how to put a fraction into its lowest terms, which Jerry illustrates with pictures, numbers and division number sentences.

            The illustrator of this book, Rob Bolster, uses whimsical characters that are drawn and colored in conjunction with actual photos of a Hershey’s chocolate bar.  The characters in this book are all construction-type worker who work together to break the chocolate up with saws and tools while also trying to keep the page clean.  Several workers are seen throughout the pages painting boarders on the edges and filling in the number sentences and fractions.  A few times they accidentally spill paint and track footprints throughout the pages!  The illustrations help to add some comedy to the book, while also helping the kids visualize how the candy bar is broken up into each fraction.

            This book can be categorized under the nonfiction genre, specifically an informational text.  The book is informational because it gives specific factual information about a topic throughout the book.  It is organized in a way that allows readers to progress through the information in away that lets them build on prior knowledge, both established before reading and during the beginning of the book.   Jerry Pallotta talks about fractions, beginning with easy to understand information; such as 12 pieces out of 12 is one whole candy bar and progresses throughout the book working with equivalent fractions and how to reduce fractions.  In order to keep the book from getting to stale the author does a good job of breaking up the book, which is almost entirely based on mathematics, by adding some information about the Hershey factory and company itself that allows readers to become even more engaged in the book.  Students learn about the different ingredients found in candy bars and where they can be found. Lastly, the illustrations allow students to visualize the information that is presented in the text.  Not only are the students given a real life visual that they are most likely familiar with that is supported with words and numbers.

            I would use this book in my classroom to introduce the concept of fractions and demonstrate to students how they work most likely at the beginning of a unit.  I would read the story aloud to the students and potentially give them their own candy bars or manipulatives to use while we read the story.  As an extension I would have the students look for other real life examples of fractions and present them to their classmates.  Also, I could connect this story to a reading book Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith if I wanted to use a thematic unit.

            Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks used:

Grade 3 Math

Number and Operations—Fractions21            3.NF

Develop understanding of fractions as numbers.

1.            Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b.

3.            Explain equivalence of fractions in special cases, and compare fractions by reasoning about their size.

a.            Understand two fractions as equivalent (equal) if they are the same size, or the same point on a number line.

b.            Recognize and generate simple equivalent fractions, e.g., 1/2 = 2/4, 4/6 = 2/3. Explain why the fractions are equivalent, e.g., by using a visual fraction model.

c.            Express whole numbers as fractions, and recognize fractions that are equivalent to whole numbers. Examples: Express 3 in the form 3 = 3/1; recognize that 6/1 = 6; locate 4/4 and 1 at the same point of a number line diagram.

d.            Compare two fractions with the same numerator or the same denominator by reasoning about their size. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, or <, and justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model.

Grade 3 English Language Arts

RL 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.