A Collection for Kate (Math Matters AE Series) (Math Matters (Kane Press Paperback)) [Paperback]

Barbara deRubertis (Author), Gioia Fiammenghi (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Math Matters (Kane Press Paperback)

In A Collection for Kate, the focus is on addition: the meaning of addition; counting on to add; using doubles; fact families; mental math strategies; estimating sums; three and four addends; and regrouping. It's Collection Week at school and Kate signs up to show a collection-which she doesn't have! She searches her house but can't find enough of any one thing to make a collection. Then, Kate comes up with an incredibly creative solution to her problem! Math Concept: Addition, 32 pages, 6.5 x 9, Ages 5-7

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-In Collection, Kate is concerned about what to take to school during "collection week." She anxiously watches and counts the mounting number of magnets, shells, postcards, and toy pigs displayed by her classmates, certain that her assemblage will pale in comparison to theirs. Finally, she takes her clever offering-a collection of collections-a few frogs, a few shells, a few postcards, etc. In Count on Pablo, the boy helps his abuela pick, wash, and count out garden produce to take to market. He counts the limes one by one, the onions by twos, the peppers by fives, and the tomatoes by tens. When no one buys anything, Pablo suggests that they make salsa, which then attracts many customers. Both books have colorful, realistic drawings that clearly show what is being counted or grouped. While the math is an integral part of the stories, it doesn't overpower them. The back covers suggest related activities. Welcome additions to beginning-reader collections.
Nancy A. Gifford, Schenectady County Public Library, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A new series of books called MATH MATTERS(tm) is just the ticket to practice skills at home or at school." -- Teaching K-8

"The Math Matters stories are good stories! While directly connecting math to the child's everyday world, they do so in a way that will make sense to children. The math vocabulary is appropriate." -- Dr. Juanita Copley, Associate Professor, College of Education, University of Houston, TX

"The Math Matters stories do a very good job of building math confidence. Children connect the math concepts they are learning in school to real-world situations, making math more accessible and their own experience with it more successful." -- Linda Dacey, Professsor of Mathematics and Education, Lesley College, Cambridge, MA

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Kane Press (January 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575650894
• ISBN-13: 978-1575650890
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,189,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Collect a Collection for Kate, April 26, 2002

By 

"jobythebay" (MA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Collection for Kate (Math Matters AE Series) (Math Matters (Kane Press Paperback)) (Paperback)

A Collection for Kate is one of a series of books in the Math Matters collection. Each Math Matters book looks at one concept and features a character with a predicament to be solved.

About the book

Written in 1999 by Barbara de Rubertis and illustrated by Gioia Fiammenghi, this 32-page book was published by Kane Press. It is for children ages 5-7 or kindergarten through 2nd grade. The math concept in A Collection for Kate is addition.

The story

The setting for this book is Kate's classroom. The children signed up to bring in a collection and share it with their classmates. Kate had less than one week in which to come up with a collection. Kate went home and rummaged through all her things. She had "a little of this. She had a little of that." But she didn't have enough of anything to make a collection. She wasn't even sure how many things made up a collection so she decided to see what the other kids would bring.

On each day a different child brings in his or her collection and talks about it. Joseph had 2 tote bags with books. Nine books were about snakes and 5 were about lizards. Kate added that up and it came to 14, which sounded like a lot to her. The book continues with the children bringing in their collections: one child collected 2 kinds of magnets - 13 animal magnets and 11 food magnets. Kate was really worried because that added up to 24!

Kate went home and looked again but couldn't come up with a large collection. The book continues with many children sharing their collections, counting them out and Kate adding up the numbers. In some cases it was more than 2 numbers; some she had to add a row of 3 numbers. One child had so many types of pigs (glass, plastic) that Kate had to regroup to find the sum. (For those of you who learned math like I did - the old-fashioned way and don't teach, regrouping is the new way that math is taught. Rather than carrying for addition or borrowing for subtraction, children regroup.)

Kate ended up coming with a very creative collection to share with the children that they all though was "cool" and "a great idea." Her teacher commented on her collection and Kate answered, "Right...for me that just didn't add up."

The illustrations:

This is a very cute book and the pictures are adorable. The children look real. They are all sizes and colors with a variety of expressions on them. The pictures aren't intricate. They are simple faces, for example with a line for a nose and in some cases the faces don't have eyes. It adds to the appeal of the book as a children's book - one just to have fun with and not take too seriously. They are colorful and detailed when necessary. When Ben shows his shell collection, the shells are shaped like shells and in a box labeled with different states on them.

What your child will learn

The point of the book is achieved and achieved well. The point is to have a child read the story and get drawn into it so that he or she doesn't even know he is doing math.

You will find two important pages at the end of this book. One page is an addition chart with problems that you and your child can solve together or perhaps he can solve alone. I really feel after reading this fun book, it won't seem like work.

The other crucial page is the last one, which guides parents and teachers on how to use the book. For example, you can talk about different kinds of things people collect and what Kate might want to collect. You can look at a map and find the states that are mentioned in the book adding Social Studies to the lesson. You can have your child check to make sure Kate's math is correct. Of course it is, but your child won't know that and will want to make sure she is correct! You can have your child count the items in her classmates' collections, talk about less than and more than with your child, and write down some of the math words that he or she may have learned for the first time.

My thoughts:

This book can be used to read to your younger child or the child who can read alone can enjoy it by himself. Many of the words will be much too difficult for a 5-year old but most children at 7 will be able to read this by themselves or with just a little bit of help from you. I think this book (I would probably have the whole series!) is super for children who love math and who don't. If your child loves math he or she will love reading this and doing the activities at the end of the book. Have him do it on a separate sheet so he can do it more than once. You can also make up your own problems and hide them in the book for your child to find the next time he goes to read it.

If your child is math phobic this is a really fun way to get them interested in learning math or at least gets them to learn math even if they never get interested. I highly recommend A Collection for Kate. This book is perfect for the homeschooler also!

This book is available in hardcover or paperback. [...]

5.0 out of 5 stars Great way to encourage new math skills!, March 16, 2007

By 

D. FRIES "just my opinion" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Collection for Kate (Math Matters AE Series) (Math Matters (Kane Press Paperback)) (Paperback)

This book and series are great!
An interesting story, great pictures and good ideas about using math in our everyday life.