Recommended Books

How Much, How Many, How Far, How Heavy, How Long, How Tall is 1000?

Helen Nolan

Australian Curriculum:  Description

This book gives a huge variety of contexts to the number one thousand. As the title describes, they explore collections, quantities, distances, weight, length and height as the children in the story try to understand how ‘big’ one thousand really is.

Teaching ideas
(1) Lots and lots of hands-on experience helps students understand large numbers. Use pasta, coins, beads, counters, other manipulatives; (2) using technology students could do a line of 25 'o', then copy and paste it four times to show an array of 100; (3) wrapping paper and patterned fabrics can be used to circle collections too.

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

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.

A place for zero

Angeline Sparagna LoPresti

Australian Curriculum:  Description

Establish understanding of the language and processes of counting by naming numbers in sequences, initially to and from 20, moving from  any starting point (ACMNA001); Connect number names, numerals and quantities, including zero, initially up to 10 and then beyond (ACMNA002); Yr1-Recognise, model, read, write and order numbers to at least 100. Locate these numbers on a number line (ACMNA013); Yr2-Recognise, model, represent and order numbers to at least 1000 (ACMNA027); Yr3-Recall multiplication facts of two, three, five and ten and related division facts (ACMNA056)

Teaching ideas
Explore adding numbers up to 10 then beyond and up to 900. Explore adding and multiplying by 0. Conduct some experiments with 'numberator' and 'multi-tube'.

One Thing : featuring Charlie and Lola

Lauren Child

Australian Curriculum:  Description

F.Y-Connect number names, numerals and quantities, including zero, initially up to 10 and then beyond (ACMNA002); Yr1-Represent and solve simple addition and subtraction problems using a range of strategies including counting on, partitioning and rearranging parts (ACMNA015); Yr2-Explore the connection between addition and subtraction (ACMNA029); Yr3-Recognise, model, represent and order numbers to at least 10 000 (ACMNA052); Yr3-Tell time to the minute and investigate the relationship between units of time (ACMMG062); Yr4-Recognise, represent and order numbers to at least tens of thousands (ACMNA072); Yr5-Convert between units of time (ACMMG085); Yr6-Select and apply efficient mental and written strategies and appropriate digital technologies to solve problems involving all four operations with whole numbers (ACMNA123)

Teaching ideas
Teach other vocabulary that is often used differently in everyday language such as the examples in the book; e.g. "how about no things" meaning 0 things. Explore time and how long the morning routine takes students in the class. Counting and counting on items.

Is a Blue Whale the Biggest thing there is?

Robert E. Wells

Australian Curriculum:  Description

Yr4 – Recognise, represent and order numbers to at least tens of thousands (ACMNA072); Yr5 – Choose appropriate units of measurement for length, area, volume, capacity and mass (ACMMG108);

Teaching ideas
Exploring some of these abstract concepts with concrete materials. Having the students create their own relationships between objects to aid in understanding large numbers, sizes and quantities.

Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens

Cindy Neuschwander

Australian Curriculum:  Description

2-Recognise, model, represent and order numbers to at least 1000 (ACMNA027); 2-Group, partition and rearrange collections up to 1000 in hundreds, tens and ones to facilitate more efficient counting (ACMNA028); 3-Recognise, model, represent and order numbers to at least 10 000 (ACMNA052); 3-Apply place value to partition, rearrange and regroup numbers to at least 10 000 to assist calculations and solve problems (ACMNA053)

Teaching ideas
Other place value sheets, activities, games, representations