1. RING-O ROCKS! Brian Carr EDUC-356 Book themed activities for Language Arts and Math standards and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

2. Spaghetti and Meatballs for All!By Marilyn Burns Mr. and Mrs. Comfort are having a family reunion! Mr. Comfort starts cooking up his famous spaghetti and meatballs, while Mrs. Comfort carefully arranges eight tables and thirty-two chairs so that everyone will have a seat. The tables look lovely, the food is ready, and here come the guests--with their own seating plans! This delightful Marilyn Burns Brainy Day Book uses wit and humor to draw children into thinking about area and perimeter. (from Amazon.com)

3. Help Mr. & Mrs. Comfort! Use square pieces of paper to copy the table arrangement from the book. How many people can sit? With the paper squares, students will model the changing tables as guests begin to arrive. What happens to the seating? What is the problem that only Mrs. Comfort seems able to see? Each time the tables change, students should figure out how many people can sit. Use paper and pencil if it helps.

4. Standards and Gardner Language arts standards: 2.3.5 Confirm predictions about what will happen next in a story. 2.3.7 Identify the meaning or lesson in a story. Math standards: 2.3.4 Create, describe, and extend number patterns using addition and subtraction. 2.6.2 Use tools such as objects or drawings to model problems. Gardner’s multiple intelligences: Visual-spatial, logical-mathematical

5. Zachary Zormer, Shape Transformerby Joanne Reisberg Each Friday, Ms. Merkle has her students share objects as part of a mathematical show-and-tell. Zachary has a tendency to forget and must use his ingenuity to meet the assignment's requirements. One week, he uses a piece of paper to create a Moebius Strip, which serves as something to measure. The following Friday, he uses a scrap of paper to make an expanding frame for his lesson on perimeters. For his third assignment, he uses a flashlight to show the area of a rectangle. The text has realistic dialogue, and Zachary's ability to explain his projects to his classmates ensures that readers also have a very good chance of understanding the lessons. The plot also includes a rivalry between Zachary and another boy to give the most interesting presentation each week. This rivalry is well developed, and readers will recognize the classroom dynamics in action as the story builds. The resolution is believable and positive. Hohn's illustrations bring the story to life with plenty of detail. Sharp-eyed readers will notice that the blackboard lists the Friday assignments, further reinforcing the terms and concepts. At the end of the book, each of Zachary's three transformations is explained in well-detailed steps so children can try them on their own. Youngsters will find Zachary's quick thinking and solid explanations both entertaining and educational. (from Amazon.com)

6. What Do You Want to Be? Zachary would like to be an astronaut. Have you ever thought about what you might want to do? Discuss what students like and what they are good at. Students can draw a picture of themselves in their job, then explain for other students what their job is and why they chose it.

7. Standards and Gardner Language arts standards: 2.7.6 Speak clearly and at an appropriate pace for the type of communication. Science standards: 2.2.5 Draw pictures and write brief descriptions that correctly portray key features of an object. 2.4.8 Give examples of different roles people have in families and communities. Gardner’s multiple intelligences: Verbal-linguistic; intrapersonal

8. Here Comes the Sun! Zachary’s demonstration with the flashlight was pretty cool! The specific information he discussed – surface area – might be a bit advanced for 2nd grade, but it can be adapted to help explore the Sun, Earth’s rotation and day/night, as well as Earth’s orbit around the sun that determines seasons. Like Zachary, use a small flashlight and a globe to model the Sun and Earth. First, shine the light on the globe and spin the globe in place, demonstrating day and night. At the same time Earth is rotating, it revolves, or moves in a circular pattern, around the Sun. This creates the year, and Earth’s tilt is what causes the seasons. All of this can be modeled with the globe and flashlight!

9. Standards and Gardner Language arts standards: 2.2.6 Recognize cause-and-effect relationships in a text. 2.7.2 Ask for clarification and explanation of stories and ideas. Science standards: 2.3.1 Investigate by observing and then describe that some events in nature have a repeating pattern, such as seasons, day and night, and migrations. 2.3.2 Investigate, compare and describe weather changes from day to day but recognize, describe and chart that the temperature and amounts of rain or snow tend to be high, medium or low in the same months every year. Gardner’s multiple intelligences: Visual spatial; logical-mathematical; naturalistic

10. The Great Math Tattle Battleby Anne Bowen Harley Harrison is a math whiz and a tattler. The second grader observes his classmates and then writes detailed reports filled with simple numerical evidence of their wrongdoings. The reports are shown in full-page illustrations that incorporate numbers, objects, and childlike printing: Erwin chewed the erasers off 8 pencils on Monday 3 pencils on Tuesday...=21 erasers. The adults deal with the boy's disclosures as his classmates complain. Then a new student arrives, and Harley finds his match. Emma Jean corrects his mistakes and begins to tattle in an oddly familiar manner, using calculations to prove her points. The two tell on one another until their teacher pairs them in a math challenge. After working separately and losing time, they cooperate, and the results are rewarding–extra time at recess. They inform their teacher that they will be too busy playing to write any more reports. (from Amazon.com)

11. Friends or foes? Put students in groups of 2-4 and let them work together to solve these math problems based on The Great Math Tattle Battle: There are 95 students in 2nd grade. 81 of them like math (including Harley and Emma Jean, of course!). How many students don’t like math? Luis drinks 10 milks each week at lunch. How many will he drink in 4 weeks? 8 weeks? 10 weeks? Working together, compare The Great Math Tattle Battle with Zachary Zormer, Shape Transformer. Record your thoughts in full sentences.

12. Standards and Gardner Language arts standards: 2.3.1 Compare plots, settings and characters presented by different authors. 2.6 Students write using Standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level. Math standards: 2.1.1 Count by ones, twos, fives and tens to 100. 2.2.3 Subtract two whole numbers less than 100 without regrouping. Gardner’s multiple intelligences: Interpersonal

13. Fifteen Animalsby Sandra Boynton Fifteen Animals I really like animals, I like them a lot. Fifteen animals is what I’ve got. I’ve got fifteen animals – they’re friendly and tame, And I’ve given each one a special name: I’ve got a cat named Bob and a dog named Bob, and two fish called Bob and Bob. Then there’s Bob, my hamster, And Bob, my horse, And my piglet, known as Bob, of course. Yeah, I really like animals, I like them a lot. Fifteen animals is what I’ve got. I’ve got fifteen animals – they’re friendly and tame, And I’ve given each one a special name: Well there’s my rabbit, Bob, And his bunny wife, Bob, And their kids, Bob, Bob and Bob. There’s Bob the mouse, and Bob the bird, And my turtle Simon James Alexander Ragsdale III.

14. Animal Math Fifteen animals – that’s A LOT of pets! How many pets would there be if Bob and Bob rabbit had five more baby bunny Bobs? Have five students stand to represent the new additions. (Write new pet total on the board.) Three dogs and four cats thought this Bob party sounded fun; have three Bob dogs and three Bob cats stand up to help us figure out how many pets are now present. (Write new pet total on the board.) With all of the cats hanging out, the two Bob fish, Bob bird and Bob mouse were worried for their safety, so they left. Have more students be the scared Bob pets and figure out how many pets are left.

15. Standards and Gardner Language arts standards: 2.7.1 Determine the purpose or purposes of listening (such as to obtain information, to solve problems or to enjoy humor). 2.7.13 Recite poems, rhymes, songs and stories. Math standards: 2.2.2 Add two whole numbers less than 100 with and without regrouping. 2.2.3 Subtract two whole numbers less than 100 without regrouping. Gardner’s multiple intelligences: Musical, bodily-kinesthetic.