Recommended Books

Anno’s Magic Seeds

Mitsumasa Anno

Australian Curriculum:  Description

Solve word problems by using number sentences involving multiplication or division where there is no remainder (ACMNA082); Find unknown quantities in number sentences involving addition and subtraction and identify equivalent number sentences involving addition and subtraction (ACMNA083)

Teaching ideas
Explore other patterns such as square numbers, triangular numbers, Fibonacci sequence etc.

Wild Fibonacci: Nature’s Secret Code Revealed

Joy N. Hulme

Australian Curriculum:  Description

Describe, continue, and create number patterns resulting from performing addition or subtraction (ACMNA060); 4-Find unknown quantities in number sentences involving addition and subtraction and identify equivalent number sentences involving addition and subtraction (ACMNA083)

Teaching ideas
Puzzle collaboration to create some summary notes for the maths workbook. Like the clip titled Fibonacci Numbers: Identifying Patterns on Teaching Channel

Miss Lily’s Fabulous Pink Feather Boa

Margaret Wild

Australian Curriculum:  Description

Identify questions or issues for categorical variables. Identify data sources and plan methods of data collection and recording (ACMSP068); Collect data, organise into categories and create displays using lists, tables, picture graphs and simple column graphs, with and without the use of digital technologies (ACMSP069); 4-Use simple scales, legends and directions to interpret information contained in basic maps (ACMMG090); 4-Construct suitable data displays, with and without the use of digital technologies, from given or collected data. Include tables, column graphs and picture graphs where one picture can represent many data values (ACMSP096); 4-Evaluate the effectiveness of different displays in illustrating data features including variability (ACMSP097); 5-Construct displays, including column graphs, dot plots and tables, appropriate for data type, with and without the use of digital technologies (ACMSP119)

Teaching ideas
Information poster on an Australian animal depicted in the book; - Scientific Name - Description - Location (map and description) - Habitat - Diet - Status (Endangered/Not Endangered) - Life Cycle - Data/statistics - Other interesting facts - Pictures/illustrations; or a trifold brochure with the above. With or without the use of technology.

Can you count to a googol?

Robert E. Wells

Australian Curriculum:  Description

Recognise, model, represent and order numbers to at least 10 000 (ACMNA052); Apply place value to partition, rearrange and regroup numbers to at least 10 000 to assist calculations and solve problems (ACMNA053); 4-Recognise, represent and order numbers to at least tens of thousands (ACMNA072); Apply place value to partition, rearrange and regroup numbers to at least tens of thousands to assist calculations and solve problems (ACMNA073); 7-Investigate index notation and represent whole numbers as products of powers of prime numbers (ACMNA149)

Teaching ideas

Grandfather Tang’s Story: A tale told with tangrams

Ann Tompert

Australian Curriculum:  Description

ACMMG009; ACMMG010; ACMMG022; ACMMG042; ACMMG064; ACMMG088; ACMMG089; ACMMG091; ACMMG112; ACMMG113; ACMMG141; ACMMG142; ACMMG165; ACMMG166

Teaching ideas
Constructing tangrams, barrier games, jigsaws, tangram teasers, exploring triangles, oblongs, parallelograms, trapeziums, areas, polygons, hexagons, angles

Maths Curse

Jon Scieszka

Australian Curriculum:  Description

3-Tell time to the minute and investigate the relationship between units of time (ACMMG062); 4-Investigate equivalent fractions used in contexts (ACMNA077); 5-Choose appropriate units of measurement for length, area, volume, capacity and mass; 6-Continue and create sequences involving whole numbers, fractions and decimals. Describe the rule used to create the sequence (ACMNA133)

Teaching ideas
There are lots of concepts explored in this book that could be extrapolated and explored further; (1) time, (2) timelines; (3) multistep problems; (4) conversions between units; (5) fractions; (6) cross KLA references; (7) charts, (8) binary, (9) Fibonacci; (10) money

Mirror

Jeannie Baker

Australian Curriculum:  Description

Sort and classify familiar objects and explain the basis for these classifications. Copy, continue and create patterns with objects and drawings (ACMNA005); Investigate and describe number patterns formed by skip-counting and patterns with objects (ACMNA018)

Teaching ideas
Other activities that involve recognising patterns of objects.

The Animals went in two by two

Wendy Straw

Australian Curriculum:  Description

Investigate number sequences, initially those increasing and decreasing by twos, threes, fives and tens from any starting point, then moving to other sequences (ACMNA026)

Teaching ideas
Show students the concept of the jumping kangaroo on the number line. Use the animals from the book to show counting in 2s, 3s, 4s etc on the number line.

How much is a Million?

David M. Schwartz

Australian Curriculum:  Description

Recognise, represent and order numbers to at least tens of thousands (ACMNA072); Apply place value to partition, rearrange and regroup numbers to at least tens of thousands to assist calculations and solve problems (ACMNA073)

Teaching ideas
The author suggests his favourite inside the front cover of the book; I would like a million …; what do we have a million of in this school?; can we walk a million millimeters?; Read a million!

One is a Snail Ten is a Crab

April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre

Australian Curriculum:  Description

Recall multiplication facts up to 10 × 10 and related division facts (ACMNA075)

Teaching ideas
Use other objects to represent multiplicative thinking